Profile Facts, about celebrities,Country profiles provide information on geography, maps, flags, history, populations, cities, ethnicity, literacy, economics, government, current rulers,
Sunday, December 11
Sunday, October 2
Eade to be Buckley's mentor at Magpies Sydney
IMAGERY and perception. Those words may not tell the full story, yet they help shape many questions.
What was going through the minds of Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley, as they stood slightly apart, watching the Geelong players being feted on stage on Saturday?
For Mick, was it the cold realisation hit that his career had fluttered to the earth like the blue-and-white ticker tape around him?
And for Bucks, was it the immediacy of the loss, or was he already thinking about next year?
A premiership for your thoughts.
Amid the jubilation of the Cats, the visual disappointment - or was it coldness? - of Buckley and Malthouse standing on the Southern Stand wing will be an image for the ages.
And what about them?
It is said they aren't best friends and that the succession plan had driven a wedge so sharp and deep their relationship had deteriorated to strictly professional. And problematic at that.
They didn't appear to exchange words or warmth in the post-script. At the post-match dinner, Malthouse made only passing reference to the new coach.
At the Collingwood family day yesterday, however, Malthouse acknowledged that the club was in good hands and that "Nathan and the player group will make it even better again".
Perception is reality and so are the thoughts of people close to the Malthouse-Buckley relationship; that Malthouse imposed himself over Buckley and that Buckley despised Malthouse's treatment.
Suffice to say, when Malthouse announced he wouldn't be at Collingwood next year, Buckley wasn't about to use a Chinese burn to convince him to stay.
That it is all over, that the cold war between the two ended without ultimate victory, will clearly demand reference in Collingwood's booklet of history.
The journey this season grew increasingly about Malthouse.
A great of the AFL, he has earned the accolades, but there is a query about the fact the countdown to Saturday became as much about Collingwood as it did Malthouse.
Even as late as Sunday week ago, Malthouse announced on Channel 7 the Grand Final would be his last game as coach.
The role for Eade will partly incorporate functions that Malthouse would otherwise have performed had he stayed at Collingwood - overseeing high-performance strategies, innovations and development - but, unlike Malthouse, Eade will have a role on match day in the box. There may also be some element of opposition analysis.
Collingwood has already appointed Ben Hart to the club as defensive coach, while Scott Watters, who was defensive coach this year, will move to become midfield coach should he not succeed in his bid for the St Kilda position.
Malthouse made the surprising announcement in his post-match press conference that he would not be at Collingwood next year. Malthouse reached a decision with president Eddie McGuire and the club executive about six weeks ago that he would leave after the finals.
He yesterday bid farewell to the crowd of about 1000 who turned out at Gosch's Paddock, saying the club was well positioned to win the flag next year.
''Rest assured this football club can only get better because of yesterday,'' Malthouse said.
''I think you look at the age of our players Chris Tarrant is our oldest player and he is as fit as he was five years ago.
He had a fantastic year. Next oldest is
Leon Davis, All-Australian this year, Ben Johnson, who had a pretty good year.
They are our three oldest players.''
Leigh Brown is the only player confirmed to be leaving the club after announcing his retirement. Brown has indicated an interest in coaching and will speak with several clubs in the coming weeks.
The 30-year-old small defender has indicated an interest to return to family in Western Australia, but yesterday said he would ''definitely like to stay'' at Collingwood.
Leigh Brown is the only player confirmed to be leaving the club after announcing his retirement. Brown has indicated an interest in coaching and will speak with several clubs in the coming weeks.
The 30-year-old small defender has indicated an interest to return to family in Western Australia, but yesterday said he would ''definitely like to stay'' at Collingwood.
Manly Sea Eagles captain Jamie Lyon rules himself out of Four Nations tour Herald Sun
Hasler was already a Manly icon. Last night he became a legend as he led the club to its eighth premiership and second under his tenure. What next? Hasler has another year remaining on his contract but has been the subject of a massive offer from the Bulldogs.
After last night's game he indicated he would honour his contract and stay for next season. Beyond that, who knows? The Sea Eagles are locked in talks with their coach and insist he is going nowhere. The Bulldogs have a big fat cheque that says otherwise.
"I haven't given it a thought to tell you the truth. The only thing I have been concentrating on is this moment, this grand final," Hasler said. "I am at Manly for next season. Now that this grand final is over we will continue some discussions."
Given what happened at ANZ Stadium, Manly would be well advised to shell out whatever it takes to keep its coach. Hasler is worth every cent. Wayne Bennett may be the game's reigning super-coach but Hasler is closing fast.
"We were in a shambles before he turned up," backrower Anthony Watmough said.
"This club wouldn't be the same without him. I don't really know much about the coaches history at Manly, but he has to be one of the greatest.
"He has done such a great job over the years he has been here. How could you walk away from something you built? Give him $2 million a year."
Hasler won his first premiership in 2008, re-built his team and won a second only three years later. He did it with a new set of halves, two 20-somethings who were among the club's best performers last night.
"Tim Sheens knows I don't want to play so I don't think he'd pick people that don't want to be here. They have Chris Lawrence, Michael Jennings, Willie Tonga, Brent Tate, plenty of other centres who want to be there. I am looking forward to a rest."
After producing his best grand final display with a performance that included seven tackle busts, Lyon revealed he had played most of the year with a series of niggling injuries.
"It is just great to get the win," Lyon said.
"And I am glad it is over. I have had a few bumps and bruises and have been carrying a few injuries. I am definitely glad it is all over."
Lyon said he was feeling "old" but was adamant he had at least another two years of football to play. He is contracted with the Sea Eagles until the end of 2013.
"Yeah, I am feeling it in my body," he said.
"But I have another two years after this year and I am hopeful I will get through."
Lyon was happy with his display, leading the way as the Sea Eagles fought off a spirited charge home from the Warriors. He made 13 runs for 88m, while making 13 tackles in a five star performance.
"I have some bad grand final memories," he said.
"2001 (when he played for the Eels against the Knights) was bad but in 2007 I had a shocker. It took me a couple of months to get over that and even my missus said I was terrible so it scared me a bit."
Labour adverts slam Liberals' migrant boat stance
The radio advertisements will be played on high-rating AM and FM stations down the east coast and feature a man and a woman questioning why the Coalition would oppose offshore processing. The campaign will run into the next parliamentary sitting week, beginning on October 11, when a vote is expected on the government's amendments to the Migration Act, which seek to put the controversial Malaysian solution and offshore processing beyond legal doubt.
But the opposition was sceptical last night about the impact the campaign would have, saying the public had come to distrust the government on the issue of border protection. "Two weeks of spin on radio won't make up for years of policy failure," opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said.
"After all their failure, Labor still don't understand that you can't spin the boats away. You need proven policy."
Labor is emboldened by internal research showing the majority of voters believe the opposition should support the government's amendments.
t could then resurrect its deal to send up to 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in return for 4000 confirmed refugees. Mr Abbott wants an amendment that would restrict offshore processing to countries that have signed UN refugee conventions - which Malaysia has not.
Labor believes there is confusion in the community over Mr Abbott's stance.
The advertising campaign, authorised by ALP national secretary George Wright, capitalises on this and will run on capital city commercial stations over the next few weeks.
The Government is desperate to stem a flow of boats that has begun since the High Court effectively scuttled its Malaysian policy.
On Saturday, the fourth boat in about a week sailed into Australian waters. It was carrying 70 people.
The four boats held about 320 asylum seekers.
Bikini babes bust the record
The world record for the largest bikini parade was broken today in the City of the Gold Coast, Australia
The event was organised by a local newspaper, the Gold Coast Bulletin.
The bikini-clad women started the parade at a Gold Coast shopping mall, after which the women paraded for the required distance of 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) along Surfers Paradise beach.
Officials from the Guinness Book of World Records were there to confirm that with 357 women in the procession, a new record had been set.
The previous record was set by the Cayman Islands in June 2010 with 331 participants.
In all, 357 women wore bikinis to strut their stuff in a parade from Cavill Avenue on to the Surfers Paradise beach.
Four had to be disqualified for being overdressed.
The feat smashed the previous record of 331 set in the Cayman Islands last year.
Surfers Paradise councillor Susie Douglas said it was fitting the Gold Coast held the record.
"We have beautiful beaches ... we've got a great foreshore and got healthy young women and a sense of fun," she said.
Bushfire threatens south of Gladstone
Authorities were stretched to the limit on Sunday as they worked to contain about 50 bush and grass fires across the state.
More than a dozen crews, two water bombing helicopters and a plane were sent to the scene of a large bushfire, south of Gladstone, which was surrounding a chemical plant.
But Assistant Commissioner Neil Gallant says with nightfall, winds have dropped.
"We've scaled back a few of the fires, thankfully as night has fallen, the winds have dropped off and the humidity has risen so the fires are not moving as quickly," he said.
"At this stage we're confident we've got a handle on them.
"Some of the fires are contained but not all of them.
"Hopefully tomorrow we'll just have crews patrolling those containment lines."
Assistant Commissioner Gallant says extra officers from Brisbane and Mackay in north Queensland have been sent to Central Queensland to help their tired colleagues.
"At the moment, we're just trying to release as many crews as we can to try and combat fatigue, a lot of the crews have been going fairly solid since yesterday morning," he said.
He says despite conditions having eased, residents still need to remain alert.
"At this stage they still need to be aware that there are fires in their area, conditions are still volatile and people who live in rural areas or on the fringe of urban areas people need to be aware that a fire could start tomorrow and endanger their property," he said.
The challenge for us yesterday was the intensity of the wind as it was coming through and we're expecting more winds today," he said.
"The humidity's picking up a little bit because the wind's changing, so we're going to have an interesting week given the wind changes.
"We're hoping it will ease a little bit by tomorrow."
Assistant Fire Commissioner in central Queensland Neil Gallant said a team of fire crews from Mackay and specialist staff from Brisbane will go to Rockhampton this afternoon to assist with 12 fires in the region.
"The record wet season that we had at the start of the year has meant that there's been enormous vegetation growth and unfortunately now that's drying out, so any fire that starts has plenty of fuel," he said.
"We're certainly looking ahead because a lot of our crews are fatigued, the volunteers in the rural service have contributed many of their hours to helping out."
It comes as Brisbanites feel the chill with below average springtime temperatures.
While the thermometer doesn't normally drop below 15.8 degrees in October, it's been down to 11 degrees in the past few days with those cold mornings set to stick around for at least the next week.
The cold, dry weather is responsible for some bushfires which are also being fuelled by extra vegetation from the January floods.
There are currently over 30 fires burning around the South Burnett and Burrum Heads area.
Backpacker's death in Italy linked to deep vein thrombosis
Died on Contiki tour ... Madelaine Crawley, the 23-year-old from Pottsville who attended Kingscliff High School, who died suddenly in Rome. Source: The Daily Telegraph
TWEED Coast backpacker Madelaine Crawley may have died from complications from Deep Vein Thrombosis, according to preliminary medical tests in Italy.
The attractive 23-year-old, who had been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime on a Contiki tour through Europe, was found motionless in her bed the morning after a party at Contiki's Seven Hills camping ground in Rome on Thursday.
She had suffered massive cardiac arrest and was rushed to hospital but could not be revived.
Initial media reports from Italian newspapers claimed she may have died after consuming a deadly cocktail of alcohol and drugs, but Madelaine's uncle Bruce Melville this afternoon said doctors believe DVT, a condition involving blood clots in veins after extended periods of air travel, was the most likely cause.
Untreated, DVT, often nicknamed economy class syndrome, claims the life of about three per cent of patients, with the risk of clots travelling to major organs such as lungs or the heart.
23-year-old, who had been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime on a Contiki tour through Europe, was found motionless in her bed the morning after a party at Contiki's camping ground in Rome on Thursday.
The Tweed Coast resort worker suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to hospital but could not be revived.
Initial media reports in Italian newspapers claimed she may have died after consuming a cocktail of alcohol and drugs.
But Madelaine's uncle Bruce Melville yesterday said doctors believed DVT, a condition that caused blood clots in veins after extended periods of air travel, was the most likely trigger for the massive heart attack.
Manly channels anger into victory
Most of the Manly players have been given Premiers t-shirts to wear. Just heard through the referees microphone an official say to Glenn Stewart, "mate, you have got to wear it".
Shaun Johnson says more success lies ahead for the Warriors: "The club is in pretty good stead and to have all three teams in the grand final is something special".
Glenn Stewart is the Clive Churchill Medallist. Stewart just shook hands with David Gallop and the pair spoke briefly.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Des Hasler just said of Brett Stewart: "I think he has finally got closure". Glenn and Brett Stewart are the first brothers to score in a grand final.
Des Hasler just said: "We were deserved winners tonight. Full credit to the Warriors but I can't fault these guys."
Captain Jamie Lyon scores a deserved try off a Glenn Stewart pass to secure Manly's second premiership in four years. Michael Robertson kicks the goal from wide out in his last game for the club with players and officials running on to celebrate. MANLY 24 WARRIORS 10. Those with betting tickets for Manly to win by 13+ will be happy.
Locke just threw a forward pass in his own in-goal. Dropout. Manly have won.
Locke loses ball running off his own line.
Hot potato play by the Warriors but Manly hang on. They just want this game to end. Warriors are coming home strong but time will probably beat them.
Manly are now trying to wind down the clock. DCE deliberately kicked the ball dead.
Cherry-Evans kick straight down Locke's throat. Warriors up to halfway after four tackles.
Manly are off the hook now but this game isn't over. Watmough down injured now. He wouldn't be wasting time would he?
That passage of play was unbelievable. Johnson's kick and regather was freakish, Vatuvei no-look pass, Lewis Brown grubber and Cherry-Evans trapped in-goal.
Manly winger Will Hopoate came closest to handing his side the early advantage, but his effort was a reflection of the tight contest; his hip touched the white line as he planted the ball. Warriors five-eighth James Maloney showed a more direct route, but his opposite Foran stopped him.
No side really deserved to take the lead but Manly's interchange prop George Rose was probably grateful the Warriors' only reward for his elbow on Aaron Heremaia was two points. He came down heavily on the hooker and the Warriors were awarded the penalty, Rose being put on report.
But the Warriors dropped their guard. Fullback Stewart, running off the inside hip of Cherry-Evans, danced through to score the game's first try, half an hour into the match. Had the half ended that way, with a 6-2 advantage to the Sea Eagles, the Warriors would have felt good about themselves. But six seconds before the break, Cherry-Evans scored.
It came not long after Manly back-rower Anthony Watmough produced a play-the-ball which was many kinds of wrong; the Warriors might have found themselves deep in the Manly quarter but instead found themselves defending for their lives. Having said that, the Sea Eagles began the play deep inside their own half; Glenn Stewart grubbered for winger Michael Robertson.
Suddenly the brilliance of the play was followed by another tinge of controversy. Cherry-Evans prevented Heremaia from getting a clean shot on his opposite number Matt Ballin, who eagerly took the ball from Robertson. Ballin was tackled short, but the Warriors found themselves short - Cherry-Evans took advantage to score.
Manly took that momentum into the second half. The Sea Eagles skipped upfield with relative ease every time they touched the ball.
The Warriors were their own worst enemies. Winger Krisnan Inu did superbly to jink his way out of his quarter but lost possession when he was finally brought down. Inu was fortunate Foran was ruled to have knocked on after fumbling a grubber by the Manly five-eighth with 25 minutes remaining.
By this stage, it was becoming less a matter of if, and more a case of when Manly would clinch the contest. It took another two minutes, and it was some play. Hopoate was being man-handled into touch when he flung the ball in-field to find Glenn Stewart who scored the try. This was an occasion when the man with the assist should get most of the credit.
The Warriors took a while to be woken last night. After 62 minutes, Johnson sent Manu Vatuvei over. And just seven minutes later, Johnson helped set up Elijah Taylor's try.
But Manly, through skipper Jamie Lyon, responded. Manly's known to have a heck of a chip on its shoulder - but when the chips are down, it's also a heck of a team.
Pilot did not see fair ride
THE pilot of a light plane that crashed into a ferris wheel on NSW's mid-north coast says he didn't see the fairground ride before his aircraft slammed into it.
"I just went to take off, do a go-around and I didn't even see the ferris wheel there," pilot Paul Cox said.
The aircraft became stuck on the ride, 10m in the air, for about 90 minutes.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Recreational Aviation Australia are conducting separate investigations into the accident.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Recreational Aviation Australia are conducting separate investigations into the accident, which happened on Saturday morning at a fairground in the township of Old Bar, near Taree.
Amazingly, neither Mr Cox, his 32-year-old male passenger, nor any of the children on the ferris wheel were hurt.
Amber Arndell was among those on the ride.
''When I turned around there was just this big plane right behind me,'' the 13-year-old said. ''I was so scared.''
The president of the Old Bar Beach Festival, Cozette Leonard, said the pilot clipped a tree before hitting the ferris wheel.
''He hit a tree, wobbled, pulled out to sea and that's when he crashed into the ferris wheel,'' Ms Leonard said.
''It's just a miracle. It could've been worse.''
Thursday, September 22
Sarah Palin Headed for Divorce
Todd Palin is alleged to be “fed up” over his wife’s scandals that have headlined papers since her rise to fame after running for vice president. According to a report by the National Enquirer, Todd is fed up with the scandals and is ready to file for a divorce.
To add to the trouble for the potential 2012 presidential candidate, the release of the book, “In the Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin,” written by Joe McGinniss, claims are made that Palin had a one night stand with a basketball star.
The “Rogue” book also accuses Palin of snorting cocaine, and having an affair with her husband’s business partner.
Author Joe McGinniss apparently moved next door to the Palins to write the biography on the former Alaska governor.
Todd Palin called the author a “stalker” saying, “This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife.”
Todd is said to be fuming over the allegations in the book.
Sarah Palin has been destroyed by Joe McGinniss' no-holds-barred biography. It exposed all her lies, cover-ups and secrets," a source close to the former governor told the Enquirer. "As a result, she has been told by her advisers that it would be political suicide to announce a White House candidacy. The press and her opponents would have a field day digging into the dirty details of her background."
All of these revelations, the National Enquirer source alleges, has culminated in the derailing of her marriage and career aspirations, particularly her relationship, after her brother Chuck Heath Jr. was quoted saying his sister and Todd's marriage was over.
"Todd felt as if he was stabbed in the back by his own brother-in-law after 23 years of being married to the guy's sister, and having five kids together."
The source told the Enquirer that Todd feels like he has been made a laughing stock; the Rice tryst became a joke on late night TV and was all over the Internet when it was divulged last week. He is also said to be "fuming" over the biography's confirmation that his wife had an affair with his business partner, Brad Hanson.
Both parties denied the affair, but Palin's former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, allegedly confirmed it, saying: "Todd and Sarah were headed for divorce, but Sarah got pregnant soon after, so they decided to stay together."
While Palin hasn't publicly commented on the new allegations, her husband released a statement decrying the book through her Sarah PAC Facebook page.
"This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife," Todd Palin said in the statement. "His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo, and smears," Todd Palin stated. "Even The New York Times called this book 'dated, petty,' and that it 'chases caustic, unsubstantiated gossip.
Todd Palin
Todd Mitchell Palin, born September 6, 1964 is the husband of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party. He is an American oil field production operator, commercial fisherman and champion snowmobile racer, winning the Tesoro Iron Dog race four times.
Early life
Palin was born and raised in Dillingham, Alaska to James F. "Jim" and Blanche Palin (née Kallstrom).
His father, a native of Seattle, Washington, is a former general manager of Matanuska Electrical Association. His mother, a former secretary of the Alaska Federation of Natives, is one-quarter Yup'ik, and his maternal grandmother, Helena (Bartman) Andree, is a member of the Curyung tribe. His paternal grandfather, Frederick William Palin, was born in Hartney, Manitoba, Canada in February 1905.
In 1982, Palin graduated from Wasilla High School, which is the same alma mater of his wife and their eldest two children, son Track and daughter Bristol. He has taken some college courses but does not have a degree.
Career
For eighteen years, he worked for BP in the North Slope oil fields of Alaska. In 2007, in order to avoid a conflict of interest that related to his wife's position as governor, he took a leave from his job as production supervisor, when his employer became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with his wife's administration. Seven months later, because the family needed more income, Todd returned to BP. In order to avoid potential conflict of interest, this time, he accepted a non-management position as a production operator.He resigned from his job on September 18, 2009, with the stated reason as a desire to spend more time with his family.
He is also a commercial salmon fisherman at Bristol Bay on the Nushugak River.
Advertisement: Valentine Day Shopping, Jewellery and Clothes of First Ladies, Lifestyle of the First Ladies, Save 50.0% on select products from VANLAMS with promo code 50EAYVTV, through 1/31 while supplies last. Founder of cryptocurrency
Public life
Voter registration
Palin first registered to vote in 1989. From October 1995 through July 2002, except for a few months in 2000, he was registered to vote as a member of the Alaskan Independence Party. In late August 2008, The Politico reported that Palin was registered to vote as an independent (undeclared), and had never registered as a Republican. In her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, Sarah Palin confirms this, writing, "My husband... isn't registered with any party, for sound reasons, having been an eyewitness to the idiosyncrasies of party machines." Sarah Palin reaffirmed that Todd is not a registered Republican again in her February 6, 2010, keynote address to the national Tea Party convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
Husband of the Governor of Alaska
Palin in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Palin was First Gentleman (or "First Dude," as he was often nicknamed) for two and a half years. Early on in that role, he encouraged young Alaskans who could not afford college to consider jobs in the oil and gas industry as an effective training ground, and advised the Governor on workforce development issues for the natural gas pipeline she supported.
In February 2010, the state of Alaska released to msnbc.com reporter Bill Dedman about 1,200 e-mails, which totalled 3,000 pages, that Palin exchanged with state officials. Almost 250 additional ones were withheld by the state, under a claim that executive privilege extends to Palin as an unpaid adviser to the government.Gregg Erickson, columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, said, in September 2008, that Palin "obviously plays an important role… I've seen him in the governor's office and I know that she's conducted interviews in the governor's office with him present." The emails showed Palin discussing a wide range of activities: potential board appointees, constituent complaints, use of the state jet, oil and gas production, marine regulation, gas pipeline bids, wildfires, native Alaskan issues, the state effort to save the Matanuska Maid dairy, budget planning, potential budget vetoes, oil shale leasing, "strategy for responding to media allegations," staffing at the mansion, pier diem payments to the governor for travel, "strategy for responding to questions about pregnancy," potential cuts to the governor's staff, "confidentiality issues," Bureau of Land Management land transfers and trespass issues and requests to the U.S. transportation secretary.
Other
As of late 2009, Palin was a community volunteer who worked in youth sports, coached hockey and basketball. Palin was a judge in the 2008 Miss Alaska pageant.
Champion snowmobile racer
Palin is a four-time champion of the Tesoro Iron Dog, the world's longest snowmobile race. and traces the path of the Iditarod race with an extra journey of several hundred miles to Fairbanks added.
Palin has competed in the Tesoro every year since 1993. His racing teammate is Scott Davis, with whom he won in 2007. He has previously raced with Dusty Van Meter in the race, and they were co-champions in 2000 and 2002. In 1995, Palin partnered with Dwayne Drake for his first win.
In 2008, 400 miles (640 km) from defending his Tesoro Iron Dog championship, he was injured and broke his arm when he was thrown 70 feet from his machine.He was sent to the hospital but managed to finish in fourth place.
Personal life
In 1988, Palin married his high school sweetheart, Sarah Heath. The Palins have five children: Track Charles James (b. 1989), who has enlisted in the United States Army and deployed to Iraq on September 11, 2008; Bristol Sheeran Marie (b. 1990);Willow Bianca Faye (b. 1994); Piper Indy Grace (b. 2001); and Trig Paxson Van (b. 2008), who has Down syndrome; and two grandchildren: Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, born in 2008 in Palmer, Alaska, to Bristol and Levi Johnston and Kyla Grace Palin, who was born to son Track and his wife, Britta, in 2011.
Palin fishes and holds a Private Pilot Certificate. He also owns his own aircraft, a Piper PA-18 Super Cub.
Palin's stepmother, Faye Palin, ran unsuccessfully in 2002 for the position of Mayor for Wasilla, Alaska, to succeed Palin's wife, Sarah, who was term-limited. Faye Palin, who is pro-choice and a registered Democrat, lost to Dianne M. Keller, a candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin.
Public Safety Commissioner controversy
Todd Palin's name has appeared in news reports regarding the firing of Commissioner Walt Monegan and the actions of Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten. At one point, Todd Palin brought information prepared by himself and a private investigator to Monegan.
On September 12, 2008, the Alaska Legislature subpoenaed Palin to testify on his role in the controversy. On September 18, the McCain/Palin campaign announced that Todd Palin would refuse to testify because he does not believe the investigation is legitimate. State senator Bill Wielechowski said that the witnesses could not be punished for disobeying the subpoenas until the full legislature comes into session, then scheduled to be in January 2009.
On October 10, 2008, Palin was cited in special investigator Stephen Branchflower's report to the Legislative Council. One of Branchflower's four main findings was that Governor Palin violated Alaska's Ethics Act when she "wrongfully permitted Todd Palin to use the governor's office...to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired."Blanchflower also states: "Todd Palin is not an employee of the (Alaska) executive branch, so his conduct is not a violation of (the Ethics Act)." and " . . . I make no finding as to Mr. Palin's conduct..
Levi Johnston Say: Bristol Palin wanted to get pregnant
.
They kicked her around, victimized her, tried to destroy her. But all of a sudden, the lamestream media is coming to Sarah Palin’s defense.
Faced with a barrage of negative portrayals — a much-hyped investigative book, a Levi Johnston memoir and a new movie — Palin is finding support in the unlikeliest of places.
Film reviewers have slammed the British documentary “Sarah Palin: You Betcha!” Newspapers have refused to run comic-strip excerpts of Joe McGinniss’s rumor-mongering tome “The Rogue.” Johnston’s accusations have been consigned to the gossip pages. And none other than The New York Times has angrily taken Palin’s side in a brutal takedown of the McGinniss book.
Reviewer Janet Maslin called “The Rogue” a work of “caustic, unsubstantiated gossip,” accusing its author, who rented a house next door to the Palins for a time, of sloppiness, attention seeking and a lack of neighborliness.
“‘The Rogue’ is too busy being nasty to be lucid,” Maslin concludes, describing its many accusations as “indefensibly reckless.”
In a statement issued through a PR representative, Todd Palin trumpeted the Times review, pointing to it as proof that the book was so reprehensible that “even The New York Times” disdained it.
But it wasn’t the first time in recent weeks the Palins have found the Times — the print voice of East Coast intellectualism — in their corner. The Gray Lady also recently published an op-ed praising Palin as a person of ideas and calling for her to be taken seriously.
Sarah Palin was plucked from obscurity to be the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008.
The 'pitbull in lipstick' sparked a media storm after accepting the nomination, despite questions over her experience.
But she wowed the U.S. after a barn-storming speech in September 2008 in which she attacked critics for calling her 'small town'. A former mayor of Wasilla before she became governor of Alaska, Palin stepped down after the Republican defeat in the presidential election.
The mother-of-five has remained tight-lipped on whether she would stand next year, but said she would likely make an announcement at the end of this month.
The AP reports that Johnston writes that when Sarah Palin found out she was pregnant in March of 2008, Bristol was mad and thought she should be the one who was pregnant, so she told Levi they should become so.
Johnston also says that Bristol's claim in her book "Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far" that she lost her virginity on a camping trip with Johnston is not true - he says it happened much earlier in their relationship.
He also claims he was "too dumb" to use protection while dating Bristol, even though he knew getting pregnant was "what she wanted." And finally, he claims when the Palins found out about the pregnancy, Sarah's first reaction was that she and Todd adopt the baby to "avoid a scandal."
This is not the only scandalous book about the Palins hitting shelves Tuesday. Joe McGinniss' book "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin," which alleges Palin's cocaine use and extramarital affairs, also comes out Sept. 20.
Levi Johnston
Levi Keith Johnston, born May 3, 1990 is the former fiancé of Bristol Palin. He first received media attention in August 2008 when U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced that her daughter Bristol was five months pregnant with Johnston's baby and that the two were engaged. Johnston and Palin broke off their engagement in March 2009, and Johnston had several public feuds with the Palin family for which he later apologized. The couple announced they were engaged again in July 2010, but ended that engagement three weeks later.
After working in the Alaskan oil fields, Johnston began pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, aspiring to be a model and an actor.
Family life and education
Johnston is the first of two children born to Keith and Sherry Johnston. He has a younger sister, Mercede "Sadie" Johnston. The family is of Mexican and Canadian descent.
Johnston attended Wasilla High School, where he played on the hockey team, but dropped out of school in his junior year. He worked full-time on the Alaska North Slope oil fields as an apprentice electrician, quitting in January 2009.
According to Johnston, he and Bristol began dating during their freshman year of high school. After losing a promise ring on a caribou hunt, Johnston had Bristol's name tattooed on his finger.
Media attention
During the 2008 U.S. presidential election
Johnston attended the 2008 Republican National Convention with the Palin family. While Sarah Palin was delivering her prime-time nomination acceptance speech, the cameras frequently cut away to Johnston and Bristol. Johnston shook hands onstage with Sarah Palin's running mate, Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, and was treated as a member of Palin's family. Fox News commentator Dick Morris commented that McCain's decision to welcome Johnston to the stage was a good move, because it would help McCain show "a nonjudgmental", tolerant attitude, while still sending the message that unwed teens who become pregnant should marry.
2009 interviews
After his 2009 breakup with Bristol, Johnston gave a series of nationally televised interviews. He appeared on The Tyra Banks Show with his mother and sister, saying he wanted to dispel rumors that he had "done steroids and drugs and cheated on Bristol". Remarking on Bristol's public appearances to promote sexual abstinence, Johnston told The Early Show that "abstinence is a great idea, but I also think you need to enforce, you know, condoms and birth control and other things like that to have safe sex. I don't just think telling young kids, 'you can't have sex' - it's not going to work. It's not realistic." In another interview he said that he was "pretty sure" Sarah had known that he and Bristol were having sex in the family's mansion because "moms are pretty smart."
In August 2009, Johnston publicly speculated that Sarah Palin's early resignation from office was due to long-standing marital difficulties, the pressures of the job, and lucrative book and other media offers. In a September 2009 Vanity Fair interview, Johnston alleged that Sarah Palin initially wanted the couple to keep Bristol's pregnancy a secret and offered to adopt the baby and raise him as her own, but that he and Bristol rejected the plan. In response, Sarah told the media the statements were "untrue, malicious, and appalling", emphasizing that she highly appreciated her children and commenting that Johnston's photoshoots were "attention-seeking and desperate".
2010 apology and reversal
In July 2010, a week prior to the announcement that he and Bristol were engaged a second time, Johnston issued a statement expressing regret for his accusations against the Palins, "Last year, after Bristol and I broke up, I was unhappy and a little angry. Unfortunately, against my better judgment, I publicly said things about the Palins that were not completely true. I have already privately apologized to Todd and Sarah.
2011 Wasilla mayoral election
In August 2010, Johnston announced that he will be running in the October 2011 election for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Johnston stated: "Whether I win or not win, I want Tripp to look up to me and see what I've done and be proud of his dad."
The current mayor, Verne E. Rupright, responded to Johnston's announcement: "Well, it is a little early to declare. Usually most wait until the year the seat is up. But since I am nearly old enough to be Levi's grandfather I think it would be wise for him to get a high school diploma and keep his clothes on. The voters like that!"
Bristol Palin responded that she "never knew he had political aspirations. I'm glad that Levi has not given up on completing his education and is looking for steady employment."
Johnston's manager stated he hoped to copy the rise of Sarah Palin from mayor of Wasilla to governor of Alaska, "creating a rural, Alaskan version of the Bush political dynasty."
On 3 September 2010, Public Policy Polling reported that Johnston had become the most unpopular person polled in his home state, replacing former Democratic presidential candidate and senator John Edwards. Edwards was recorded in January 2010 as having a 15 percent approval and 72 percent disapproval rating in his home state of North Carolina. Johnston received a six percent approval and 72 percent disapproval rating in the state of Alaska.
Other activities
Johnston hired Anchorage, Alaska, attorney Rex Butler (who was previously best-known for representing criminal defendants and handling civil litigation) to represent him in his pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry.
According to Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Johnston was "shopping around a memoir" concerning his time with Bristol. Politico reported in April 2009 that focus of the memoir had been changed to show the true story of the Palin household. The Associated Press reported in July 2009 that Johnston was also pursuing a movie deal.
Johnston and comedienne Kathy Griffin attended the 2009 Teen Choice Awards together. She later stated that he was "surprisingly sweet and courteous" to her. Johnston and Griffin's acquaintance is documented in the sixth season of Griffin's reality television series, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. Additionally, as a gag in her stand-up comedy routine, Griffin often referred to the acquaintance as a relationship, and Johnston as her boyfriend.
In popular culture
On September 28, 2010, Ben Folds and Nick Hornby released an album called Lonely Avenue with a song on it entitled "Levi Johnston's Blues," in which they tell a fictionalized account of Johnston's story.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)