The Knowledge Economy
Don't Misunderestimate Putin
Breaking News!

Correction about Goggle
Hi Folks - A very pleasant reader let me know that one of the Goggle guys is in fact a Russian, who would have thought that Russians know so much about computers and technology. I bet he just traded a couple thousand cubic feet of gas for the company after some Seattle guy started it. Anyway, it's probably OK because he came over here and therefore isn't a deep Commie. Unless he's a spy with the KBG. Whatever, let Goggle have their bikini picture searches and whatever, as long as they don't start owning actual valuable land that Americans should own. I mean, we bought Alaska from the Russians like 100 years ago, after they trapped all the otters and seals and it was worthless to them. I don't want to give it back. Sending a few crab fisherman over is one thing, but owning land is another.Strong Women to Guard The Treasure

Take No Prisoners John!
Hello people, I know I already wrote a lot of words at you earlier but I just have to say that I'm very excited about tonight's debate because Town Hall Meetings work for John. Instead of getting biased questions from a liberal moderator who is anything but moderate, the crowd has the chance to ask the questions. It has always been John's biggest strength on the campaign trail. So instead of getting Jim Lehrer, who everyone knows is as liberal as they come and whose network constantly asks the government for handouts (unlike FoxNews which is both very reliable and profitable), Joe or Jill Sixpack can ask a question directly. Some questions that people could ask tonight include:- Why do you think that the mainstream media report that the surge is anything other than wildly successful?
- Why aren't we drilling more in states like California, and oh, I don't know, Alaska?
- Is a president who didn't serve in the military, or who doesn't have a son in the military, able to make sound judgments as commander-in-chief? (You might think that Biden's son would count here but he's actually a military LAWYER so he's not exactly a soldier)
- How can the government call polar bears an endangered species when they're just a subspecies of the grizzly and grizzlies are in my garbage every other night?
- And so on
Who Can Fight the Rise of Russia?
One of the advisers was talking to Sarah about how she can make her case that her experience with Russia really does count, and he sent her this link. This is proof that Russia is going to be more important to the U.S. future than anything that liberal Barack Hussein Obama knows about in this election. I mean, who doesn't want a Vice President who has been on the front line with Russia, and especially if she has been on a front line that has a lot more oil and gas energy supplies could be flowing in America to keep us safe from these oil dictators?This will be John and Sarah In Washington
My Miss Wasilla belongs to America
Well people we had a BBQ to celebrate Sarah's victorious defeat of that Mid-Atlantic fraud (or elder statesman if you prefer) and we had the advisers leave us alone for a night. Most nights they are correcting some aspect of Sarah's behavior, but if they could have seen us tonight it would have seemed to them like my same old Sarah who charmed them during the initial picking process when they had that guy up here for almost 3 hours. She was so charming that half-day, like the times I remember that we would go to holiday parties for the station where she was a sports reporter and then she actually became the sports anchor. One time she got to meet Joe Montana who was here on a fishing holiday, and she absolutely connected with him. That's when I know that she could make it on the big stage. I never doubted it from the second that I first saw that in her.Technical Issues
Now here's a guy who calls it like he sees it!

I don't know where he lives, but it's not Alaska so he can't see Russians like we can, and he still gets it right about the commies.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hby_5Pku5ywmfC_rEtEV5BcYKR5gD93KDFPO0
Darn right Joe! An extra-strong spine must run in that family.
He's like another Joe M. that I idolize, the guy who tried to clean out Washington (and that sinpot Hollywood) back in the 50's.
Keep Up the Good Fight,
Todd
Thank The Liberals
Todd
Back to the Real World
Only a little over a day since I've been back in Alaska and I've come back to my senses. Dang, it's hard to believe that I got so swept up in that mess that I actually looked forward to those advisers carrying that coffee all the way from Arizona. I mean, it is pretty tasty coffee but I've never been a very fancy guy and I just kind of got used to having people serve me hand and foot. It's not my usual manner to care so much about things. I think part of it was that I spent so much time around Cindy, and she always has someone doing something to organize her stuff or her flowers or get her those skim decaf coffees that she drinks all day. I know I'm going to have to spend a lot of time with her when we move to Washington, it's just that I really don't know what to talk about with her. She's never fished or hunted, and I'm not a patron of the arts. I also haven't been to any of those countries where she goes to help all those harelipped kids. Maybe I can find some kids for Cindy to help here, and then we will have something to talk about.Good idea
One more thing
Finally in Wasilla
You reeled in a big one Sarah!
Howdy folks! I'm so dang proud of my Sarah that I could just burst. Not only did she answer every question better than that America-basher at the other podium, she looked graceful and effortless doing it. Everything that liberal host (didya know that she's writing an Obama book?) threw at her she answered, and she dropped the hammer on that old socialist Biden.But that doesn't mean it was fair. For one, I did think that the moderator personally wanted to make Sarah appear a little uncomfortable about the gay marriage stuff. I think that's for personal reasons that the moderator has, you know, if you read about how she's not too worried about not being married, hint, hint, hint. She really meant to make Sarah squirm under those lights. Hey, just because Sarah and me toe a firm line by God's law doesn't mean that we look with scorn upon those men who like to decorate the living room or women who play softball better. I mean, we watch those home makeover shows up in Wasilla and there's always some guy who knows too much about decorating with pillows and candles. That's OK as long as he doesn't want to have his 'marriage' made legal which would lower the value of the concept of marriage which has existed since the bible times.
It's important that your president share the same values that you do, and John and Cindy and Sarah and I just happen to believe that marriage is between one man and one woman for life. If you look at someone deeply honorable like John McCain, you see that what he and Cindy share is a lifetime commitment to each other. That may not be common in today's society, but the only way we can keep the value is by keeping that just where it is.
Tight Lines,
Soon-to-be Second Dude Todd
PS Oops, at the beginning of the debate I actually thought that guy was some used boat salesman who was warming up the crowd, until someone said that it was Joe Biden. I didn't realize that he had such a big dopey grin and that spray on tan. At the end when I shook his hand, I was still worried that he was going to try to sell me a used 52 foot Beneteau with twin Cummins. Thanks but no thanks mister. And I don't want to buy your tax-and-spend policies either.
Countdown to Action!
Howdy Howdy Howdy everyone! I am so excited for tonight because Sarah has been preparing really hard and she's finally ready to bag and skin herself a liberal who has spent the last 30-some years holed up in Snafu (that's what we call DC up around 60 North latitude). He's about a 36-pointer, so I prefer a head mount, but maybe she'll also hang the pelt in our living room next to the moose she shot 2 years ago. It probably won't look as good as the moose because the moose doesn't have plugs. Sarah Doesn't Need Help Finding Her Voice
Howdy folks. I'm still holed up down here in Sedona and I'm gettin' pretty bored since I can't go out shootin' or haulin' anything with my truck. I've been spending a lot of time on the internet just goggling different things to try to help Sarah get ready.The advisers keep using Hilary Clinton as a good example of how women politicians can connect with other women, so I looked at all kinds of pictures and videos and articles about Hilary. At first, I was pretty unimpressed with her. I mean, in one video she made some comment about finding her voice, and I was thinking - is that the same voice that you use to scream at Bill when he porks another intern? If that's the voice she found, I'll pass on listening to it. I've heard that she throws a lot of lamps too. In that case, she must be channeling her voice through her arm.
But then I got to thinking about women and my better half to understand Hilary. I mean, Hilary really represents all of the women who have stood in the shadows of their men, and who have even been embarrassed or shamed over some aspect of his behavior that they couldn't control. I don't believe that I've ever done anything to shame Sarah. In fact, she always says that she's proud of me for winning the Tesoro Iron Dog, 4 times in fact, even though that's not the only reason she vetoed Alaska House Amendment 117 (Amendment Authorizing Personal Taxation on Snow Endurance Event Monetary Prizes). In her quest for the second-highest office in the land, I sure hope that I don't drag down her image.
On the other hand, I can't find God's love in my heart for all women. That Katie Couric is a bitter shrew. Did you see the muck that she was slinging in that interview? If that's the state of liberal yellow journalism in the United States, maybe we don't want to live in that house on Washington Avenue.
I have other reasons for being nervous about moving there, like when I asked if Camp David was a moose- or caribou-hunting camp. The adviser guy just looks at me and shakes his head. I guess that means it's just deer.
Tight Lines,
First Dude Todd
Holed up in Sedona, Arizona
Well folks, they have Sarah and me holed up down here in Arizona while all the consultants do their magic to help Sarah come up with perfect answers. This stuff sure is a lot tougher than up in Wasilla. When she was running for mayor, her debate took place next to the barbecue stand in the gravel lot in front of the Wasilla Sportsman's Show and Game Feed. Sarah had good answers but didn't even need them because her opponent had BBQ sauce all over his cheek for the first half of the debate and the citizens found it hard to listen to what he was saying. Plus, the crowd was about 90% men who had mostly all gone to the Sergei's Kamchatka Bride Service booth and they were kind of 'interested' to see a woman who could talk as good as Sarah. Nothin' sexier than a smart woman, I'll tell you that.In Sarah's debate for her Governor race, it was town hall style, and she had to field a lot of really tough questions just like any citizen in any state in the nation would ask. I expect there will be a lot more of those on Thursday night. The good news is that, once again, Sarah had all the right answers on all of these subjects.
When that Vice Presidential debate moderator asks her about her personal beliefs, it will really help the American people understand what Sarah will be fighting for against those liberals in Washington. I can't tell you any secrets about her answers, but if you are concerned like me about the following issues:
- Drilling: Which slope should be next?
- Assault rifles: Mandatory?
- Registration fees for float planes and personal snowcraft
- Salmon bag limits
- Grizzly nuisance shooting - porch shots or not?
- Personal taxation on snow endurance event monetary prizes
- Halibut fishing season regulations
What makes me a little worried, though, is that Sarah will be urged by these debate advisers to take a position that's not natural for her. For instance, building code in Wasilla requires that Douglas fir logs used in log homes be at least 12 inches in finished diameter. What if those advisers are influenced by lobbyists from the building industry who try to sneak in laws allowing 11 inch logs? Or even 10? What would that do to the logging industry?
No way, I tell Sarah. Stay strong and keep your values for the American people.
It's the only way, and it's the American way.
Tight lines and Right answers,
First Dude Todd
Hippies Need Not Apply
Hi Everyone - We just got back from golfing like 28 holes on a beautiful course outside of Sedona, and I really got sunburned after I had a few too many beers. It was pretty cool because we saw rattlesnakes and all, but I'm too tired to write something about today. Here's a little something that I wrote before we left Wasilla for the debate preparation. I miss Wasilla. Send me back!Folks, I'm really pretty steamed today. It appears that either a hippie or a meth head siphoned all the gas out out of my truck. While I did see a few fellas with nubby teeth hanging around the gravel lot where my truck was parked, I'm leaning toward blaming the hippies.
You see, a lot of people think Alaska is full of tough frontier types like yours truly and the whole Yuu'taak clan over in East Wasilla. Well, it's true that Alaska is really America's frontier, where people who working hard in the forests, on the fields, and in the boats can make a good living and raise a family in God's country. What surprises a lot of people is just how many gosh-darned hippies there are up here. They're everywhere!
I don't really know when they started to wander up here. I say 'wander' because a hippie never has a plan, and by cripes, they are so aimless with their lives, relying on other peoples vehicles to bring them up from Berkeley or San Francisco or whatever sin-pot they come from. They hitch rides in on the long-haul trucks coming from anywhere and everywhere. They grab some unsuspecting young person who just happens to have four wheels and a trust fund to be able to drive his crappy VW bus all the way up here. I really don't know why someone in Wasilla doesn't own a VW Bus repair shop. It would serve 2 purposes, first it would make money off liberals, what I like to call perfect capitalism, and second it would help them get their cars fixed so that they could leave Wasilla and get the heck back to Portland or San Francisco. A win-win as we like to call it on the oil fields when we find both gas and oil in the same well.
I mean, look at that whole San Francisco area. What have they ever done for the national economy? When I look at all the technology coming out of the University of Alaska, and I see real innovations like making roads out of peat moss, They could probably put a few oil wells underneath that fancy golden gay bridge, but it wouldn't be worth it. That's not a win-win.
Tight lines and Gushers,
First Dude Todd
No Passport Required
A lot of Wasilla folks have asked me if I need to get a Passport once Sarah reaches the White House. Cripes, no, I reply, why would I need to have that new 800cc model from Snow Wolf if we're living down in Washington DC where there's no snow? No, not the Snow Wolf Passport, they say, a United States Passport that allows you entry to foreign lands? Well, first of all, if I want to visit a foreign land, I would just take the Piper across the Bering and glance down at Commieland. Second of all, why would I want to spend the taxpayers' hard-earned money to act like a tourist in some liberal country like Paris, where I have to eat cheese and horse entrails? Thanks but no thanks, I say.But this raises a few interesting points.
First, the United States puts a lot of effort into making friends in other countries and this is often a good thing. For all of our frontier abilities here in Alaska, we don't have 100 million people to assemble toys, circuit breakers, potpourri candles, or other things like that that don't need to be the absolute highest quality like snowmachine tracks or new chainsaw bars. For those of you in the lower 48, the highest quality parts are often made in countries like Sweden, where their dedication to the free market (unlike the socialist liberals) makes sure that they are the absolute highest quality. In the United States, all of the really good stuff comes from companies like Minn-Kota and Johnson, in Southern states like Minnesota where they completely reject liberal philosophies.
Second, sometimes history reverses itself, like what happened in Russia, where that one politician who liberated them ended up in charge of the KBG. I don't know how they brainwashed him, but now it affects everything like the price of titanium that goes into my snowmachine brakes to how many Kamchatka brides we can import annually up on the North Slope. By December, when it finally gets down under 30 degrees here, I'm hoping that the Russians keep the gas prices down. I'm not too optimistic, because it's all a bunch of reformed commies who are trying to extort money for that LNG on the markets. They just don't believe in the free market like us in the U.S.
Third, and this is most important, the United States has a kind of image to keep up and those clowns in Washington don't help. I bet the world thinks that we're completely incompetent with all of these liberals in Washington and how they've been behaving. We're about to go from the ownership society, which was working perfectly well, to a pinko state where the government owns all the banks. Well, that will never happen in Wasilla, because my Uncle Stanley Yuu'taak owns the biggest bank in town, which is the East Wasilla Savings & Loan and Small Motor Repair Depot. He's a trustworthy red-blooded American who is as honest as the day is long. Remember that he was acquited, no thanks to those commies at the Progressive.
I can't wait for Sarah to get to Washington so that she can clean them up for good. Uncle Stanley can't wait either, and he is curious about how many small motors need good repair services down there. I guess we'll just have wait till next January to see.
Tight lines and Tight-Sealed Pistons,
First Dude Todd
My Better Half and The Media
As far back as I can remember, these reporters would be lining up to ask Sarah all manner of questions about her family, life in Alaska, her kids, balancing her career with her family, balancing her career with her aerobics schedule, how to handle bad hair days, fashion tips, and so forth. Some of the tougher questions included things like:
- How do you manage your role as Mayor of the third-largest town in Alaska?
- What special activities do you encourage your family to do to get them through Alaska's long winters?
- What does your husband think of your success?
- How do you keep your kids off meth after the first episode?
- Do you have any special pemmican recipes for the holidays?
- Do you have any fashion tips for expecting brides?
Of course, those communists over at the Wasilla Progressive always tried to get her to answer some questions about her policies about birth control, abortion, and some other topics that Sarah though were pretty dang clear if you would just pay attention in church on Sunday morning and then make government follow those rules. Along with that hatchet job article about my uncle's Trading Post, that's why she banned them from her office. Good for her I said. Don't tell me Sarah doesn't know anything about Russian foreign policy. She's fighting communism right here in Alaska.
I guess there are just some in every crowd, but Sarah's a lot tougher than me. I'm not sure that I could handle such hard questions. Usually when I get interviewed by North Slope Petroleum Operator Quarterly or Musher, I just have to answer technical questions like how to how to manage flare lines or on-the-trail splinting techniques.
That's why Sarah really is my better half!
Tight lines,
First Dude Todd
PS Fellas, check out that issue of Alaska shown above! Your wife'll love it because of the article about Sarah, but she doesn't need to know that your bought if for the article about catching barn-door sized halibut in the Barren Islands!
Substance Abuse
My soon-to-be son-in-law Levi comes from a kinda wild family, and I'm not too sure that he has enough role models. I was a little bit the same way when I was his age, until Uncle Dwight Yuu'taak took me aside and gave me a little bit of advice. I think times have changed since my come-clean, as Uncle Dwight called it, but it's pretty clear that Levi needs a little wisdom from the elders. Levi is known to get a little bit rowdy on the beer, which is perfectly understandable for a young fellow who can skate and shoot the puck like he does. But there are 3 things that I'm going to tell him that he really needs to avoid.First, he should never get caught with more than a quarter pound of weed, and I would say even 2 ounces of that BC Dee-Lite might be too much. It just looks bad, and people in the lower 48 may not understand it. Sure, we have lighter laws up here, and a lot of us use it to get through the winter, but it's all about perception. Plus, with Cheetos at $6.95 a bag over at the Trading Post, this can be an expensive hobby.
Second, avoid the gas. It's just too dangerous, because it never fails that you just get the tent set up when someone comes around with a lighter, which scares the cripes out of you. No gas, Levi.
Third, and this is really a must - meth has to be avoided at all costs. I should say most costs, because if you are a stripper, a roofer, or a Russian crab fisherman, it can actually make you more productive, until all your teeth turn brown and rot and you have to use all your savings to get the nubs pulled and to buy dentures. So, Levi, unless you find yourself in one of those professions, stay away from the meth.
I guess I'm gonna need Sarah to have this same talk with Bristol, although there's no way she could end up as a roofer or a crab fisherman.
Tight lines,
First Dude and Father-in-Law Todd
The Wasilla Town Hall
A lot of people have told me that people all over the world are looking at pictures of the Wasilla Town Hall. I know what they're thinking - we must be pretty proud to have a fine building like that in which government operates and does the will of the people and of God. I also want these people in faraway countries like Japan or London to know that our Wasilla government works because we've learned some lessons from the private sector.First, you'll note the thing that looks like a drive through window. That actually is a drive-through window, but instead of getting a caribou burger, you can take care of quick business with the town hall, like handling minor meth violations or registering your truck. The only time we had to make someone come inside was when my cousin Darryl Yuu'taak, who owns the East Wasilla Trading Post, tried to pay his fine for selling Jager in his outside vending machine. The paperwork took too long to do from the drive-through. He later co-sponsored the '2008 Paperwork Reduction Act' in Wasilla Town Council that made it legal to sell hippers of Jager in a vending machine, next to the spawn sacks and fuel additive.
Second, the sign looks really good, but it actually is a sign that we made up of the old sign from the "Wasilla City Mall", which was the old building. We just had my brother-in-law (not that one) replace the "M" with an "H"! See, cost savings and efficiency, just like BP or GM in the private sector!
The only problem that we need to fix is the roof, which sometimes lets go with a big pile of snow or ice onto the person in the car using the drive-through window. I'll get my brother-in-law on that right away, or at least before winter. We still have a few months because winter doesn't really start here anymore until December or so.
Plus, here's the best part. Because part of the strip mall used to be a dry cleaner, they have a sealed storage area where the Wasilla police can safely store chemical drums that they seize when they make a really big meth bust. It's a good thing that this hasn't happened since August, but at least we have it when we need it!
Tight lines and firmpacked tracks,
First Dude Todd
That's No Moose, That's Greta Van Susteren.
She's interviewing me. You'll see it on Fox.Cripes, you could see her hair move when she blinked. Good thing she's such a patriot, with her long ancestry of commie hunting.
http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2008/09/12/behind-the-scenes-todd-palin-the-first-dude/
Snowmachine Racing - Better than NASCAR!
I got a letter from Roger in Georgia asking about snowmobile racing. He likes NASCAR and wants to know if I like that too.
Roger, I try to be modest about my racing but I have won the Tesoro Iron Dog snowmachine race four times. The course is difficult but I rely heavily on the Lord Jesus Christ and my native heritage to guide me through the challenges of the track. I’m one-eighth Yup’ik and have some Curyung blood, but I haven’t huffed any gasoline in several years, despite what those liberals at the Wasilla Progressive wrote about me.
As for other motor sports, I am very happy at any endeavor that uses up what we up here on the North Slope like to call ‘black gold’. For NASCAR, I have seen a few races on the satellite but I haven’t gotten too excited. For one, the drivers don’t seem to need to navigate too many ravines, unstable ice shelves, wolf packs, or fallen trees to get to the finish. They seem to just go round and round. And also, the sponsors aren’t something that I can really see helping me push on and all. Home Depot? FedEx?
I even busted my arm in one race but got a doctor to brace me up for the finish. Believe me, if I believed in all that Darwin stuff I would think snowmachine racing is one of the best examples of survival of the fittest.
If you ever get a chance to come up here, you should try your hand at NASCAR of the North!
Tight lines and firmpacked tracks,
First Dude Todd