Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Levi Johnston responds to TMZ article.
Well this article is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I plan to run the Iron dog 2015. It has always been a dream of mine to run. Same with my partner. I'm still working on getting sponsors and making sure I have everything I will need to run. I'm running this race for my two beautiful children, my wife and all my family. This has nothing to do with Todd. I heard he was retired from it this year so idk how anyone would say that. But I'm not going to let this stop me. I'm really excited about this and I hope and pray everything works out. Thank you everyone who has already helped me get this far!!
You know I didn't think that sounded like Levi in that post yesterday.
In fact it sort of sounded like something the Palin's might leak in order to smear him.
Just saying.
Well anyhow my point about Todd being stuck between a rock and a crazy place is still valid. I don't think he will be allowed to simply retire despite what he might have been saying before Levi entered.
And though I am sympathetic to Levi's desire not to make this about him and Todd, I do not think that is going to be possible at this point.
Right now my television is deluged with commercials about the Iditarod, yet during the Iron Dog there was barely a whisper.
In fact I had to do Google searches in order to find information on the race to report here. (And of course you guys sent me links as well. Thanks for that by the way.)
So my point is with Levi in the same race that many people in the lower 48 ONLY know about because of the Palins, it is likely that if it gets any coverage from outside news sources at all it will be solely because of the drama, real or imagined, of having Sarah Palin's husband racing against the man who knocked up his daughter and then told the world what a phony she was.
I imagine that Levi's main concern is how this kind of publicity might hurt his child custody case. But to be honest I don't think it makes any difference at all to a judge trying to determine how much time Tripp should spend with his father.
After all having friction between the parents of the woman who is fighting over custody, and the father of the child, is by no means an unusual circumstance.
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Joe Miller decides to risk an interview with the mainstream media. Things do not go well.
Here are a few of his batshit crazy answers.
Reporter: The Employment Non-Discrimination Act that passed the Senate – would you have voted for it?
Miller: No. I would not have. No, I think that private employers should be able to make decisions as to what they do in their private businesses, and I think the people then are entitled to make decisions as to whether or not they use their services.
And we all know how well that philosophy worked out during the Civil Right era, don't we?
Reporter: Should a hotel be able to turn away a couple because they’re gay?
Miller: I believe that if you’re a private employer, you have the right to do what you want with respect to your business, and that the people of the country then have the right to do as they will, with respect to whether or not they boycott or take other action to financially penalize. I don’t think the government has a role in that.
Hating on the gays? Check.
However the reporter dug a little deeper.
Reporter: So at the federal level, then, should it be legal for that hotel to turn someone away because they’re African-American?
Miller: Again, that’s all I’m going to say about it. The state has the right to act. The federal government should be more of a libertarian stance. And that’s all I’m going to talk about on that issue. I’m a state’s right advocate in those areas.
Reporter: So should a restaurant then be able to turn someone away because they’re African-American?
Miller: Again, I’ve said my piece on that.
Reporter: And so would you repeal the Civil Rights Act?
Miller: Again, I’ve said my piece on the issue.
Reporter: And –
Miller: And of course not. I would not. I’ve said my piece on the issue of ENDA. That was your specific question, that’s my response to it. If the states want to act in that area, they certainly have the ability to do it.
Reporter: Specifically the public accommodation portion of the Civil Rights Act — should that be repealed?
Miller: I’ve already made it clear what my position is.
So that would be a yes?
Boy somebody is getting a little prickly aren't they? After all, this NEVER happens over at Fox News.
Miller then attempts to obfuscate his statement that “The President of the U.S. and his allies are engaged in a form of systematic spiritual and religious apartheid.”
Miller does a lot of talking with not much substance, and ends up making the claim that the Affordable Care Act infringes on the religious rights of the American people hoping that will put the issue to rest.
It doesn't.
Reporter: And if someone has a religious objection to serving an African-American at their business, then –
Miller: I’m — again, I’m not going there. I already talked to you about the Civil Rights Act.
Reporter: Are religious objections to interactions with African-Americans equivalent to religious objections to interactions with gay people?
Miller: They’re – look – I’m not even going there. I mean, we’ve already talked. We’ve talked about ENDA that was the discussion that you had. The Civil Rights Act is not up to debate. It’s not something that anybody, with any reasonable approach, would ever even consider repealing. So that’s not even – it’s not even a dialogue. I mean, what you’re doing is playing “gotcha” journalism. I’m not gonna play that game with you.
Reporter: And if someone has a religious objection to paying taxes for foreign wars, that they don’t support, then –
Miller: Obviously the courts – no, obviously the courts have established a balancing act. And I assume that you’re knowledgeable enough in the legal area to understand that. I mean, just because somebody claims free exercise doesn’t mean that any moron that claims some sort of free exercise right can do whatever they want. You know that, I know that. And this interview is done.
Reporter: Well, I appreciate you taking the time…
Miller: You know, I’m willing to engage in a dialogue, but we aren’t going to go into the moronic on this, OK?
Reporter: What was moronic?
Miller: What is absolutely moronic is you suggesting that you don’t understand that there are limits to the free exercise clause. And you know there are, and you know that there are balancing tests that are imposed.
And with that the interview sort of crashed and burned.
And that ladies and gentleman is the man who seriously believes that the Alaskan people are going to elect him as their new Senator.
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Employer healthcare cost increases at fifteen year low. Cause cited is Obamacare.
U.S. employers this year face their “smallest increases in health care costs in 15 years,” according to a new survey showing the latest evidence of health inflation slowing.
Towers Watson (TW), an employee benefits consulting firm and the National Business Group on Health, an association of large employers, said the cost of providing employer-sponsored benefits will rise 4.4 percent this year. Employer costs, which were $9,157 last year, are projected to rise to $9,560 in 2014.
The trend comes as employers move to higher deductible health care plans that make workers think twice about choosing expensive tests and procedures, forcing employees to become better health care shoppers. Employers are also installing additional new strategies to encourage wellness activities such as financial incentives to stop smoking.
“To find more effective ways to manage health costs, many employers are focusing on reshaping their health strategy for the next three to five years,” said Towers Watson senior health care consultant Ron Fontanetta of the survey of 595 large U.S. employers that have more than 11 million full-time workers, including 7.8 million enrolled in health benefits.
Most respondents to the survey are “recalibrating their health strategy” with 18 percent having either adopted a new strategy or updated an existing one, the Towers Watson executive summary of the report said. Another 57 percent of respondents are “in process,” the summary added.
Two in five respondents cite the Affordable Care Act as the primary driver of their health care strategy.
Still, the survey shows little evidence that these large employers will drop coverage for their workers and send employees to the public exchanges under the health law to buy insurance. The vast majority, or 95 percent, of respondents said subsidizing health care coverage is a “very important” part of their benefits packages for active employees.
So to sum up, employer health care costs are rising at the slowest rate in fifteen years, employees are becoming better health care shoppers and making better choices concerning their health, and despite Republican propaganda employers have no intention of dropping employee health care plans.
And don't forget, this is being reported in Forbes Magazine, which is not exactly known for their cheerleading on behalf of Obamacare.
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| Time for your checkup Mr. President. |
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Joe McGinniss has died.
This from ABC News:
McGinniss, who announced in 2013 that he had been diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer, died from complications related to his disease. His attorney and longtime friend Dennis Holahan said he died at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass.
Brilliant and opinionated, Joe did not suffer fools lightly but if he called you a friend you were his friend forever. And that even included Roger Ailes, despite their diametrically opposing views on politics.
Joe McGinniss was a very good friend, and frequent source whose information inspired some of my best posts.
I will miss him.
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The return of Cosmos, last night was phenomenal and sent audiences reeling. Some in awe, and some in fear.
"Cosmos," the new, updated version of Carl Sagan's popular 1980 documentary series exploring the hows, whats and whys of the universe, premiered Sunday night on Fox, the National Geographic Channel and various corporate cousins.
Its "ship of the imagination" -- a vehicle to take viewers through wonders large and small -- now has a new captain, astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, but the reaction to the show's debut shows that entertaining, informative science never goes out of style.
"I'll be eagerly tuning in for future episodes," wrote the Los Angeles Times' Jennifer Ouellette, praising Tyson as "affable" and "engaging" and noting the debut episode's lively use of ideas -- such as the "powers of 10" -- that could turn to cliché in other hands.
I am embarrassed to say that I actually missed the premiere last night (I was instead exercising my guilty pleasure of watching the zombie apocalypse on the Walking Dead.), however I did catch it today on YouTube which unfortunately for this post has been taken down now.
The show did not shy away from pointing out the negative impact that superstition and religion have had on space exploration and recognizing our rightful place in the universe.
For me that was extremely gratifying, but for others not so much:
As I said I cannot show you the whole episode, since Fox had it taken down from You Tube.
However all is not lost as the wonderful introduction done by President Obama IS still available.
Somehow I think that having the President associated with this program did not exactly help with its acceptance among those folks who "cling to their Bibles, and their guns" do you?
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Sarah Palin takes to Facebook to explain why they are selling their faux campaign bus. Update!
For those who followed us in our travels during the One Nation Tour and “Sarah Palin's Alaska” TV show in our Country Coach Lexa, we want to say thanks for sharing the memories.
We're downsizing from our beautiful one-of-a-kind Lexa to a smaller class 'C' motor home that "Grandma Sarah" feels more comfortable driving. She loves to drive and really admires those hardcore lady RVers who maneuver their rigs and even haul trailers behind, but Sarah humbly admits there must be a better way than her white-knuckling on the highways behind the wheel of our Lexa. A smaller rig may do the trick for her.
There's no better way to see this great country than a road trip! It's our favorite. If you're interested in this fun bus, know that it comes with a lot of great American memories and the new owners can create their own.
Sarah Palin
Oh so that explains it.
You see it's not because the paint chip eaters are wising up and no longer sending all of their hard earned money to Granny Grifter, it's due to the fact that the old lady simply cannot handle driving such a large vehicle any more.
Because of course we all buy the fact that old lady Palin did the driving.
Right?
By the way I am with others who are wondering about the legality of selling a bus bought with SarahPAC dollars for a personal profit. Any lawyers in the house?
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TMZ reports on Levi Johnston's Iron Dog challenge to Todd Palin. Update!
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| Courtesy of Facebook |
Call it the Thrilla in Wasilla -- Levi Johnston's new plot is to hit Sarah Palin where it really hurts ... by crushing her husband on Alaska's legendary Iron Dog snowmobile race course.
Johnston tells TMZ he's decided to enter the next running of the world's longest and toughest snowmobile competition ... with the sole intent of burying his ex father-in-law, Todd Palin.
FYI .. Todd's won the thing 4 times, so Levi's odds are slim to frozen.
Levi says it's been a lifelong dream of his to compete in the race, which sounds like a ton of fun: pairs of riders tag team their way over a 36-hour, 2000 mile race through the Alaskan wilderness.
Palin had to drop out this year after just 100 miles due to mechanical problems ... so maybe Levi sees an opening next year.
As I mentioned before there is nothing but positives for Levi, and negatives for Todd, with him participating in this race.
Nobody expects a first timer to win this thing, so all Levi has to do to make news is to beat Todd.
Now that may not happen, but no big deal as, like I said, this is Levi's first race.
However if Todd wins the race it will appear that he did not give it his all in the last few outings, and only became super competitive when the opportunity to humiliate the father of his grandson presented itself.
The words "Palin" and "petty" are almost synonymous as it is.
However if Todd only does slightly better than Levi, all of the attention will still go to Levi and he gets to continue the feud by promising to "get him next year."
Not only that but Levi will also have the opportunity to discuss how the Palins have worked to keep him from seeing his son, discuss the lies about his child support payments, and tell the world that all he wants is to be allowed to be a father to his boy.
And if the Palins use Tripp as leverage to force Levi from participating in this race, well I am sure that TMZ, the National Enquirer, Star Magazine, and I would love to hear and write about it. (And believe me, I WILL both hear and write about it.)
TMZ ends their article by suggesting that Levi is not serious about the race, and that it will be as successful as Tank's idea for him to run for Mayor of Wasilla.
I beg to disagree, and to that point stay tuned for the unveiling of Levi's upcoming Iron Dog website.
Update: After reading your comments I have to say that I have no idea if TMZ quoted Levi accurately about his desire to "crush" Todd or "bury" him, but I will say that with that kind of talk out there it means that there is NO way Todd will not compete next year.
The Grizzled Mama would never let Levi talk smack about a member of her family and get away with it.
And yes Levi needs to take extra special safety precautions.
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