REGISTERING ON THIS BLOG WILL ALWAYS BE FREE. Soapblox charges Blue Oasis a monthly fee for the blog platform as well as the yearly charge for the website domain. There are also occasional fees for records gathering activities (CDs of meeting minutes and copying fees for letters and other documents from APOC). If you can support the blog and all of our work towards justice for ALL Alaskans and to hold ex-Governor Palin accountable, please visit the drop- down list above. Any contribution is much-appreciated!
Thank you!
ADVERTISING ON BLUE OASIS
(Click picture to go to Facebook page)
CLICK IMAGE TO PURCHASE
Though many of us suffer from Palin Factor Fatigue, it is irrefutable that there is a nagging curiosity to have the question answered, ?How in the world did Sarah Palin become so popular and why do we still need to hear about her?? My book answers these questions in detail and urges us all to be vigilant. She is one of a small pool of ?rising stars in the republican party? as John McCain stated as recently as January 25, 2009 on Fox News Sunday.
As unbelievable as her meteoric rise was we cannot delude ourselves, turning our backs once again, into thinking that she and those like her are going away. This woman is joined by millions of loyalists whose perception is that she was persecuted in the media, stifled by McCain, and mocked by liberals - and now the theocratic conservatives are regrouping with a vengeance!
"Blue Oasis" began in 2005 in its Blogger format (now an archive) and became possibly the first Alaska Blog on Progressive Politics. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis was honored to represent Alaska as the state blog.
Transition--Community Blog
In September 2008, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis moved to a Soapblox Community Blog format. Readers can become full participants by registering on the blog to comment and write "diaries." Diary titles appear on the right sidebar for folks to read and provide comments. Blog editors may choose to move some of these diaries to the front page.
While this Community was formed specifically with Alaska in mind, all "friends of Alaska" are welcome as members!
**Note about registering** Scroll down the right side until you find the link to register. Then, just follow the instructions!
**Note about comments** To comment on a story, click on the heading and then look for the "comment bar" at the bottom (it's light grey, I can't seem to change it). I believe the font color NOW permits you to see the "post comment" text.
YOUR BLOGMISTRESS
My name is Linda Kellen Biegel and I am a former 15-year Federal employee. Thirteen of those years were spent working for the US Army Corps of Engineers. I am also semi-retired from the Alaska music scene (singer, sound tech, stage manager, logistics).
When the blog was chosen to represent Alaska in the DNCC State Blogger Pool at the Denver Convention, I attended with the help of Alaska Real blogmistress, Writing Raven and my daughter Morrigan. On August 29th, one day after Barack Obama's inspiring speech at Invesco Field , my life took another turn as it did for all Alaska bloggers when Gov. Sarah Palin was chosen to be John McCain's VP running mate. Since then, I've either assisted or have been interviewed by media from the UK, Italy, Australia and Germany as well as national media outlets such as Wall Street Journal, NY Times, ABC Good Morning America's Kate Snow, National Journal, Dallas Morning News, LA Times, and NPR.
Presently, I work as a freelance writer, PR, event coordinator, community organizer, wife to computer programmer Josh and mother to 11-year-old Morrigan. Our family especially enjoys our summers in Alaska where we get to subsistence set-net fish Sockeye salmon as well as halibut fish/whalewatch in the family's homemade aluminum boat, "The Neverdone" (when it's working). We reside in Anchorage, Alaska.
Origin of "Celtic Diva"
I've used "Celtic Diva" as a screen name since the early 1990's on Web TV.
"Folks have asked about my Celtic heritage, especially in light of my name. What they don't realize is that I'm adopted. I was born Valerie Morehead of the Clan Muirhead. I was adopted at three-months-old by the Kellens. I always "knew" I was Celt even before really knew. I was drawn to all things Scottish, especially music. That's why my parents eventually told me at age 16."
"Linda is well-known in Alaska & beyond as the prominent progressive political blogger Celtic Diva of Celtic Diva?s Blue Oasis. But back in the day, the early 1990s, I knew her as Linda Kellen, a member of the local folk/rock band Sky is Blu, which amongst other things performed in at least a couple or so of the annual women?s show Celebration of Change, in which I also performed. And if you don?t already know, let me tell you: Linda is one fine damn singer."
I went on after the break-up of "Sky is Blu" to perform with various Alaska musicians and work with national folks like Bo Diddly, Coco Montoya, Debbie Davies, Taj Mahal, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bad Company, Creedence Clearwater, Carny Wilson, etc...
USA Women's Olympic Hockey Team Star Kerry Weiland with our friend Isabella and my daughter Morrigan at St. Baldrick's Day
(Scroll down to find posts.)
(Please register to participate in diaries and comments! We'd love for you to join our Community!)
******************************************************************************************
Hat-tip to "midnightcajun"--he mentioned in the comments below an interview with whack-job John Zeigler that Palin did on July 3rd...the day she resigned...where Zeigler called us all "terrorists" and she didn't disagree:
I suspected this had been suggested elsewhere before it made it to Glen's show and I thank midnightcajun for pointing it out.
Tuesday on the Glen Biegel Half Hour Show (following Eddie Burke on KBYR), Glen had a caller who had some rather...uhhh..."strong" views (from the podcast of 7/7/09):
"...There are tactics that are being used by those left-wing Marxists who hate our country and use our own Constitutional rights against the very fact that are our country. The whole attack against Governor Palin was done within the parameters of what is legal only because we never, ever had internal terrorists attacking our country using our country."
Glen's response:
No, I agree with you. Look, they are trying to destroy our system of government. That is what their goal is and they want to make it the worst thing you can do is to win office.
(2) the term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents;
the term "domestic terrorism" means activities that-
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended-
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping;
and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
So, exactly how is holding Sarah Palin accountable to display the same ethical behavior she demanded of the Administration before her (when she filed complaints against Ruedrich and Renkes) a terrorist act? Under what definition can that be found, exactly?
Should we infer that, in Biegel's mind, our completely legal, non-violent, non-aggressive citizen activism, initiated to hold Sarah Palin to the standards that she requested in her inauguration speech and again during Troopergate, is somehow worse than all of those murders?
In a related topic, Glen said this in response to the last caller:
The left loves to use offensive language...as offensive as they can possibly make it.
Really? So, are you saying that "people on the right"...supporters of Sarah Palin especially...detest the use of "offensive language?" Are you saying that these people are far above using that language in order to insult, threaten or intimidate?
That has not been my experience.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 10:30:19 PM
From: Ryan Bailey (baileyosu24@yahoo.com) To: celticdivaak@yahoo.com
Subject: you+sarah palin=scared little girl
Linda,
You as well as all the other terrified liberals afraid of Sarah Palin will eventually get yours. You are degrading her?! Well darling, you are nothing to look at either. Fat and guarantee you are a lazy no good liberal bitch. You are the reason why this country is going down the drain. But don't worry, when we take it back from the liberals and their white trash followers like you, you'll wish you had never lived.
--An American tired of crying white trash welfare people
Actually, this is one of the milder ones. I just printed it to point out a) the cursing and insults, b) the threats and c) that I'm not on welfare nor am I on disability, but MY EXPERIENCE with Sarah Palin supporters is they just MAKE IT UP AS THEY GO ALONG.
That's only one. There are 600+ more of them in varying degrees. I'll share a few more.
You are a fat cow. I hope you die. If you have kids i hope they are retarded. Die bitch die!!!!!
Of course, Palin supporters aren't limited to cursing, insults and threats of violence...they like to toss in a bit of racism (or, according to KBYR's Eddie Burke, "rascism") for good measure. Some of them also seem to like attacking my daughter.
(Note: The rest of the emails are vile enough that they must be "under the fold" so that whoever wants to read them must click deliberately to do so.)
There's an excellent article by Jacob Alberin-Sheriff who I've been communicating with for the past several days. Through his research, he put all the pieces together and found out that Sarah Palin WAS responsible for sexual assault victims having to pay for their rape kits:
It turns out that Wasilla did not bill sexual assault victims for the cost of rape exams while Irl Stambaugh was chief of police. As chief, he had included a line item in the budget to pay for the cost of such exams. He had only just heard about the Mayor Palin/Chief Fannon policy today, and was just as shocked to hear about it as I was.
Checking the budget confirmed former Chief Stambaugh's claim. He had included a contingency of $15,000 in his budget for the department's 1st year of existence (1993-1994), $5,000 for 1994-1995 and 1995-1996, and $13,000 for his final year as police chief in 1996-1997, spending $11,625.
Duwayne Charles Fannon, his replacement, halved the budget request in 1997-1998, with a request of $7,298, spending $3,454. However, it seems he began the "victim pays" policy in the 1998-1999 fiscal year. That year, he requested $3,000 but spent only $205. This data can be found in the Document Central section of Wasilla's website.
The Document for the 1998-1999 fiscal year begins with a message "To the Citizens of the City of Wasilla:"
The comprehensive annual financial report of the City of Wasilla for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999, is hereby submitted. The City's Finance Department prepared the report. Responsibility for both the accuracy of the data, and the completeness and fairness of the presentation, including all disclosures, rests with the City. To the best of our knowledge and belief, the enclosed data is accurate in all material respects and is reported in a manner designed to fairly present the financial position and results of operations of the various funds and account groups of the City. All disclosures necessary to enable the reader to gain an understanding of the City's financial activities have been included. ...
At the end of the letter, under the words "Respectfully submitted," is the signature of Sarah Palin.
