Going Rogue: An American Life... due on Nov. 17th at a bookstore near you.

by Upinak

Yep, it is finally done, in print and coming to a bookstore near you!

Per Yahoonews.com

The 400-page book is the first for Palin, who has been an object of fascination since Republican Sen. John McCain chose her as his running mate during his 2008 presidential bid. The book will be called "Going Rogue: An American Life."


A huge first printing of 1.5 million copies has been commissioned by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Keep your eyes open for it, I have a feeling there will be a few more prints coming about.

Sarah: Going Rogue-Take That, Tina Fey: A Post by Conservative Girl with a Voice

I cannot wait until November 17th. Why? Well, fellow readers, it is the day Sarah's memoir is going to be released to those of us on "Mainstreet U.S.A." Since her memoir will be released just in time for the holidays, you wont have to stress over what to get your loved one for Christmas this year. Good thinking, Sarah! You've just made this girl's Christmas shopping a whole lot easier.




According Harper Collins Publisher Johnathan Burnham, Sarah's memoir is entitled Going Rogue: An American Life and is about 400 pages in length. In regards to the memoir itself, Burnham said:


"It's her words, her life, and it's all there in full and fascinating detail."


As the quote above states, the memoir was in her own words. Too bad the same can't be said for our president's books. Burnham also said:


"Governor Palin has been unbelievably conscientious and hands-on at every stage, investing herself deeply and passionately in this project."


This doesn't surprise me at all. Sarah is a hard-working woman who is not afraid of a little hands-on work.We have seen her independent streak and her love for God, family, sports, nature and country- She is truly an every woman.




Not only are we going to get to hear Sarah's side of the story, the true side, but we are also going to learn about her amazing life story. Like you, I cannot wait to hear all about it. Sarah has captivated the hearts and minds of so many of us. Daily, I find myself praying for her and her family. She has touched so many of us in so many different ways. Yesterday, my good friend, Adrienne Ross, who writes the blog: "Motivation: Truth," celebrated her birthday. In celebrating, she wrote a fantastic blog post about the gifts Sarah Palin has given to her. None of these gifts can be purchased in a department store; instead, they are gifts like friendship, love for country and love for life. I encourage you all to read Adrienne's birthday post (www.motivationtruth.com) because you will see a woman who has grown and become more because of the blessings Sarah has bestowed upon her.




Like Adrienne, I too feel blessed with all Sarah has given to me. I'm sure you all feel the same way. There is something very special about a person who has the knack for being able to bring people together. Like Adrienne mentions in her post, I too have met people and started doing things I never dreamed I would be doing prior to August 29, 2008. I never thought I would become politically active, start writing a blog, become a regular guest on #1 Alaska Talk Radio Show Host Eddie Burke's amazing show, as well as contemplate a career in politics. These are just some of the cool experiences that I have been given. I thank God everyday for allowing me to be surrounded by such amazing Sarah supporters, whom I'm proud to call my friends. This is all because of Sarah. In everything she does, Sarah has shown us that she truly does care about America.





With Sarah's book, comes a new chapter in her life, a chapter that will forever give us her side of the story. Just as I have been blessed to come to know so many amazing individuals, I will be blessed with the chance to read a book about a woman whom I am so proud to defend and call a role model! I hope to be given the chance to meet her face-to-face one day. If I am fortunate enough to be given this chance, I will tell her not only how much she inspires me to want to be a better person, but also how she inspires me to want to do great things. Thank you Sarah, and on behalf of all of us, "have a great night and a pleasant tomorrow."





(I'm a Conservative Girl with a Voice!!! Visit my blog and become a follower: http://www.conservativegirlwithavoice.com. I'm on Twitter too @rachellefriberg.)

Get in Line Now: Palin's Book Set for Early Release

By Adrienne Ross - www.motivationtruth.com

H/T LoLornaMarie)

The Associated Press has reported that Sarah Palin has already completed her book. It wasn't expected out until spring 2010, but it will be released November 17, 2009 instead.

The word on the street was that Palin was reportedly out of the state of Alaska from August until recently, hard at work on the memoir. Working hard she was, for it is already completed--just four months after the public became aware of the book deal.

Through this book called Going Rogue: An American Life, the world will discover the true Sarah Palin and the truth to which we have not heretofore had access. She will give the public her own unfiltered message--untainted by the likes of the agenda-ridden mainstream media.

You might want to get in line now.

Read the story here.

American Thinker: Palin, Obama's 2012 Competition

By Adrienne Ross - www.motivationtruth.com

As President Obama fumbled badly at the UN and G-8 last week, Sarah Palin began redefining herself as presidential timber.

With these words James Lewis begins his American Thinker article. In it he highlights the disaster that was President Obama's speeches before world leaders last week but praises Sarah Palin's speech in Hong Kong. While the president seems to be on a downward spiral, showing himself to be unprepared to deal with many things, including America's enemies, Sarah Palin is showing herself to be stepping further into a leadership role to take America forward.

So we are seeing a president who is way over his head. Obama has great political talent, but not nearly as great as his overweening pride. So he keeps over-reaching, and there is a good chance that we will see him hit the first massive brick wall in his health-care power-grab in the coming weeks. The Democrats may pass a symbolic medical package to save face for Obama --- but then watch American seniors turn out in the tens of millions next year to throw the bums out of the House and part of the Senate. Seniors see their Medicare being stolen from them and they are not going to forget that by election time 2010.

Obama seems to be incapable of controlling his own egomania, and that means further humiliations in the years ahead. Remember that Bill Clinton looked unbeatable in 1992 and was impeached by a Republican House in 1998. No president since Richard Nixon has been brought lower than Clinton was ten years ago. Today we may be seeing Obama at the very peak of his ballistic orbit, and just beginning to curve down.

But you can't beat a strong candidate with a weak one, and the GOP notoriously nominates some real duds. Palin has scared the Left into mass hysteria because of her star quality on the campaign trail with a visibly creaking John McCain. Sarah Palin is our only charismatic leader at this profoundly dangerous time. That is why her actions are so important to the fate of the GOP, and to the future of this country and the world. Her use of Facebook to make public policy statements has been both effective and smart. Palin is using the web just as Reagan used radio and TV, to get around the murderous filter of the media.

Sarah Palin gave an extraordinarily well-crafted speech in Hong Kong, a real Reagan speech. It almost sounds as if Henry Kissinger is advising her.

[...]

Since the election campaign, it seems that Sarah Palin recruited a top-notch team of advisors and political talent. The Hong Kong speech goes straight to her alleged weakness in foreign affairs, and it is a very good first step toward re-making her media image to be more substantive. The truth is that most of our media heads would not recognize foreign policy substance if it hit them right between the eyes. But they know the image of substance, and the Hong Kong speech was good on both appearance and reality. She demonstrated "gravitas" -- in the pop slogan of the early Bush years. We need more of the same, but she has now shown convincingly that she can do it.

Obama is in for real competition in 2012; since world peace and our national well-being are clearly at stake, the more strong conservatives emerge, the better off we will be. Obama is the very worst president for these times. It is important to defeat him in a fair fight. Palin can do it; so can some others, but she is exceptionally talented.

Sarah Palin, now calling her own shots rather than being mishandled by the McCain camp, has only just begun her fight for America. As James Lewis points out in his article, she can get the job done, and she'll use--to borrow the words of Governor Palin herself--"commonsense conservatism."

Read the entire article here.

Obama defies Palin to cut off benefits for Alaska service members

In January of this year, after learning that the president was going to cut off retirement pay to a select group of individuals who had been members of the alaska Territorial Guard, then governor Sarah Palin sent a letter to the president:

Dear Mr. President:

It was with great concern that I learned of the recent decision by the Department of Defense to rescind the program that currently provides retirement payments to veterans of Alaska's Territorial Guard (ATG). This unfortunate decision was made without any notice to those affected and will cost a group of elderly Alaska veterans a significant portion of their retirement income at a time when the cost of living, particularly in rural Alaska, is substantially higher than in the rest of the United States.

In 2004, Congress fully vetted this issue and decided that service in the ATG was the same as military service. This is the right and proper way to honor these brave individuals who answered the call of duty during times of great national peril.

Prior to World War II, Alaska's territorial Governor was authorized by Congress to organize a two-branch military response organization - the organized National Guard, and the ATG, which would mobilize to help defend Alaskans in the event of an invasion. An estimated 6,600 men and women, mostly Alaska Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts, responded to that calL Instead of hunting, trapping and fishing, they patrolled rural Alaska and served as the eyes and ears of the Army for more than five years without pay and benefits.

It took our nation almost 60 years to have these defenders of our territory honored for their time in the ATG, and for their service to be counted the same as federal military service. While most died waiting for their recognition, some have survived to receive their honorable discharge from the United States Army.

Now they are being told, again, that their ATG service is not worthy of federal recognition, and that is not right.

These people are our heroes.

The stellar service of these mostly rural, mostly Native, soldiers is to Alaska today what the service of the militia at Lexington and Concord was to New England.

I urge you to remember all that these valiant members of the ATG sacrificed while defending this country and ask that you reconsider this decision and immediately reinstate the retirement benefits that Congress already recognized in 2004 and that these heroes have certainly earned.

Thank you for considering my views.

Sincerely,
Sarah Palin

Senators Murkowski and Begich helped to define service for active duty, and as a stop gap measure, the Territorial Guard vets would continue to receive their retirement payments from an emergency fund until congressional legislation could define their service and help them to continue to receive benefits.

I can't help but wonder if our fine president has a vendetta against our state, and Sarah Palin, when he does some of the things he does. Now comes this article from the Anchorage Daily News:

Senators fight for Guardsmen's war pension

PROTECTED SHORES: 26 members of Territorial Guard could lose funds.

WASHINGTON -- In a strongly worded message to Congress outlining presidential priorities for a military spending bill, the Obama administration said Friday it disapproved of including money for pensions for 26 elderly members of the World War II-era Alaska Territorial Guard.

The White House move drew swift rebuke from the state's two senators, Republican Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Mark Begich, who had together sponsored the pension fix.

The legislation honors 26 elderly Alaskans who are the few remaining survivors of a military unit that served the country with valor, Murkowski said, calling the administration's direction "deeply disappointing, bordering on insensitive."

A Senate military spending bill up for a vote in the Senate allows the former Guard members to count their service as part of active military duty, and it reinstates the pension payments.

State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year to fill the pay gap until Congress made a permanent fix, but the White House said Friday it didn't think it was "appropriate to establish a precedent of treating service performed by a state employee as active duty for purposes of the computation of retired pay."

"We are talking about 26 brave, elderly Alaska Natives who served honorably for this country during World War II," Begich said in a statement. "I, frankly, find it puzzling how the administration could object to giving these men the recognition they deserve. The federal government deserted these men at the end of the war, and I hope the Congress and my colleagues in the Senate won't let that happen again."

Murkowski doesn't appreciate the apparent minimization of Alaska's Guardsmen during the war.

"The administration's justification, which is that the legislation will set the precedent of treating service as a state employee as federal service, defies logic and history," Murkowski said in a statement. "Sixty-two years after the Territorial Guard was disbanded, the Obama administration minimizes the contribution of this gallant unit to America's success in World War II by calling its service 'state service.' "

The Guardsmen are among those assigned to protect Alaska from the Japanese during World War II. The Army decided this year it would no longer count service in the Guard when it calculates the military's 20-year minimum for retirement pay -- although it still counts for military benefits. As a result, those eligible for pensions saw them decreased in January.

An estimated 300 members are still living from the original 6,600-member unit formed in 1942 to protect Alaska, then a territory, from attack. The 26 men have enough other military service to reach the 20-year minimum for retirement pay but would see it decreased if their Territorial Guard service doesn't count.

The Senate is set to vote next week on the defense spending bill. The Obama administration objected to a number of items in the legislation other than the territorial pensions. They include the decision by the Senate to provide money for what the White House described as "10 unrequested C-17 airlift aircraft" and the decision to cut $900 million in funding for the war in Afghanistan.

Alaskool.com defined this group very well: The Alaska Territorial Guard was formed to allow the United States the means to identify further potential incursions of the Japanese in Alaska along the vast coastline of the territory. There was some initial controversy in recruiting and arming Alaska Natives as at the time there was legal and social segregation by race across Alaska. The participation of Alaska Natives in the military during World War II, in spite of these bitter circumstances, speaks well of the patriotism and hopefulness of that generation of Alaska Natives.

The cutting off of benefits for these men is totally uncalled for and unnecessary. These 26 men and the men who served with them are heroes. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many measures were taken to protect the United States mainland. The Aleutian Islands of Attu and Adak were battlegrounds and American servicemen were brought to Alaska to help defend it. The Alaskan Highway (Alcan) was built mainly for purposes of bringing men and materials to Alaska to help defend it. Alaska's Territorial Guard was a big part of this effort. Alaskan Native men were very prepared for the climate and it's challenges and proved invaluable to the cause. It is unconscionable that the Obama Adminstration is thinking of denying these men what little financial security they have left after their brave service.

Please follow these links and check out the video to learn more about this brave group of men who deserve better than what they are receiving from our current administration.

The Alaska Territorial Guard on Wikipedia

A continuation of Sarah was right.....

by Upinak

I mentioned a couple days ago about the problematic issue with Iran and nuclear facilities they have and their missiles, when Obama is dismantling ours, and showing Sarah Palin was right about missile defense.


Now that we have been threatened by North Korea, which bluffed and now warned by Iran… how off is Sarah Palin now concerning Missile Defense in our own country? Even Defense Secretary Gates is beginning to wonder what the deal is and is saying letting Afghanistan go is a bad idea, even after he as well as our federal law makers stopped the F-22’s manufacturing. I wonder what the “Law Makers” are thinking now. Yet Obama is letting the Gitmo detainees out one at a time, so not to draw attention is seems.

It really doesn’t matter. We are at the mercy of what Iran and their leaders may do. Israel is telling the U.S. to take a stand and take action, but unfortunately it looks as though Israel is on its own, as we are under the missile bubble as well. Yet Obama still sits and grins and campaigns as usual, this time for his kids and a longer school session. Isn’t there something to worry about then worrying about children’s education later? How about Americans and ALL of their children?

I also mentioned that Venezuela is seeking its own uranium, and possibly with help. What a concept, Russia is helping them. I also saw that China is going to be involved. It seems I was right about that as well, but one country that I thought would be on our side, India, is now in the battle who can have the most nukes. When is Pakistan going to get into the mix, is anyone’s guess, but I am thinking soon.

So while all this is going on in the world which we should be on high alert, what is going on in the House is the Democrats are PUSHING for all illegals to have healthcare. Where was the plan to have Obama make them citizens as well?

Yes, I know this isn’t good news, this is depressing news. Does anyone see anything positive under the Obama Administration?

Sarah Palin and those like her, should start talking and soon about the upcoming events. This is not the time to remain quiet. Nor is it the time to look past the issues that are right in the face of the world.

As I was posting this, FoxNews.com reported that 2 medium range missiles have been fired.  It is now 8:18 PM in Alaska.  I will post the story when available as there is no link .. yet.  Say an Our Father, soon.

Update 8:26 Alaska time:  From Reuters.com

Iran has test-fired medium-range missiles, state TV reported on Monday, a day after the Islamic Republic's elite Revolutionary Guards launched short-range missiles as part of several days of war games.

 So Obama, should Americans be worried now?????

cross posted at www.thepalination.com

Despicable: Barack Obama Orders Pensions Cut Off To WWII Veterans

Once again, Barack Obama proves he is not fit to serve as commander-in-chief to our armed forces. In a continuing despicable act, Obama is refusing to honor WWII veterans who fought for our nation in it’s darkest hours.

From the McClatchy News Service:

WASHINGTON -- In a strongly worded message to Congress outlining its priorities for a military spending bill, the Obama administration today said it disapproved of including money for pensions for 26 elderly members of the World War II-era Alaska Territorial Guard.

The Guardsmen are among those assigned to protect Alaska from the Japanese during World War II.

The Army decided this year to no longer count service in the Guard in calculating the military's 20-year minimum for retirement pay, although it still counts for military benefits. As a result, their pensions were decreased in January.

An estimated 300 members are still living from the original 6,600-member unit formed in 1942 to protect Alaska, then a territory, from attack. The 26 men have enough other military service to reach the 20-year minimum for retirement pay but would lose it if the Territorial Guard service doesn't count.

A Senate military spending bill up for a vote in the Senate allows the former Guard members count their service as part of active military duty, and it reinstates the payments.

State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year to fill the pay gap until Congress made a permanent fix, but the White House said Friday it didn't think it was "appropriate to establish a precedent of treating service performed by a state employee as active duty for purposes of the computation of retired pay."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who along with Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, sponsored the fix, called the administration move "deeply disappointing, bordering on insensitive." The legislation honors 26 elderly Native people who are the few remaining survivors of a military unit that served the country with valor, Murkowski said.

"The administration's justification, which is that the legislation will set the precedent of treating service as a state employee as federal service, defies logic and history," she said in a statement. "Sixty-two years after the Territorial Guard was disbanded, the Obama administration minimizes the contribution of this gallant unit to America's success in World War II by calling its service 'state service.' "

This is beyond the pale, and just shows Obama’s continual disregard for what has made America the greatest nation on earth. To diminish these brave Alaska Natives as "state employees" is to diminish all of the brave men and women who served their nation in all sorts of ways during WWI.

For those that don’t know, the Japanese attacked and invaded Alaska’s Aleutian Islands at the same time the battle of Midway was about to take place. It was part diversion, part payback for Doolittle’s bombing of Tokyo.





Above: Japanese bombing of Dutch Harbor, 4 June 1942...

Historical Photo - Public Domain: Naval Historical Center

Department of the United States Navy





Above: Japanese transport burning after U.S. air attack on Kiska Harbor, 18 June 1942...

Historical Photo - Public Domain; Naval Historical Center

Department of the United States Navy





This was a tragic bit of history for Alaskans, more of which you can read here and here.

From Wikipedia:

The Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG) or Eskimo Scouts was a military reserve force component of the US Army, organized in 1942 in response to attacks on American soil in Hawaii and Alaska by Japan during World War II. The ATG operated until 1947. 6,368 volunteers who served without pay were enrolled from 107 communities throughout Alaska in addition to a paid staff of 21, according to an official roster.

The ATG brought together for the first time into a joint effort members of these ethnic groups: Aleut, Athabaskan, European American, Inupiaq, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Yupik, and most likely others. In later years, all members of some native units scored expert sharpshooter rankings. Among the 27 or more women members were at least one whose riflery skills exceeded the men. The ages of members at enrollment ranged from 80 years old to as young as twelve. (both extremes occurring mostly in sparsely populated areas)

Two things stick out in my mind. One, these 6,368 Alaskan Territorial Guards, of which the 26 men being denied by Barack Obama are part of, served their nation during war time, for NO PAY.

Second, the situation was so dire that old men and children all pitched in.

You can read more here.

Another historic perspective can be read here:

The Alaska Territorial Guard: A Debt of Honor Unpaid. As this article points out towards the end:

In 2000, largely due to efforts by former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens, a bill was signed into law ordering the Secretary of Defense to issue Honorable Discharges to all members of the Alaska Territorial Guard. The bill was intended to repay the debt of honor we as a nation owe these people, these Americans, and provided many of the surviving members (now in their 80’s and many living far below the poverty line) with retirement pay and survivor’s benefits and medial care.

However history views Ted Stevens it must be noted that he was largely responsible for righting a dishonorable and inexcusable injustice. However, the story of the ATG doesn’t end there – most of the elderly surviving members of the ATG live in remote and inaccessible locations. Finding them was long and difficult.

In 2003 Colonel Bob Goodman USA(ret), undertook the effort to find and assist the remaining members of the ATG, at first funded by the state and later out of his own pocket. So far he and his people have located over 150 former members of the ATG, and they estimate there are several hundred more – and they continue their efforts to this very day.

Many of those located in the last five years have since died of old age. For those who remain, the benefits provided aren’t much, some medical care and a couple hundred dollars a month, but for folks who now live far below the poverty line in villages where gasoline costs more than $10 per gallon – those benefits mean the difference between life and death.

Those benefits, that mere pittance in retirement pay, would seem to be the least we can do for those forgotten veterans of that long ago conflict.

It would seem to be the very least we could do.

But it’s not.

It turns out we could actually do less.

It turns out that the Army could suddenly decide, say yesterday in fact, to reinterpret the law to read that these men and women of the Alaska Territorial Guard, these men and woman who came to defend our nation in its time of need, these men and women who fought bravely for a flag not even their own, who built the roads and the airfields and the hospitals and the bridges and who rescued downed airmen and stranded sailors and braved the cold and the isolation and the horror of war – these men and women – are not, in fact, entitled to even that small effort.

That’s right. The Army has decided to cut off retirement pay for the twenty-six surviving members of the ATG. Twenty-six, and applications from thirty-seven more identified by Colonel Bob Goodwin and his people have been suspended. Apparently we can not afford to take care of even this small handful of people, this small handful of veterans, this small handful of Alaskans, this small handful of Americans.

However, in a good hearted move, the Army will not seek to recoup past payments.

Big of them, wouldn’t you say?

It goes without saying that this issue has been boiling for some time. Senator Stevens indeed had worked to get these brave WWII veterans, these brave Native Americans, their due.

In what some might say was odd timing, or Chicago style politics, just two days after Barack Obama had taken the Oath of Office as Commander-In-Chief, ABC News reported:

The Army has decided to cut off retirement pay for veterans of a largely Native militia formed to guard the territory of Alaska from the threat of Japanese attack during World War II.

The change means 26 surviving members of the Alaska Territorial Guard — most in their 80s and long retired — will lose as much as $557 in monthly retirement pay, a state veterans officer said Thursday. The payments end Feb. 1.

Applications for retirement pay from 37 others have been suspended.

The state is pursuing a remedy for "these brave Alaskans, who did so much for the cause of freedom during a time of great national peril," Gov. Sarah Palin said.

The action comes almost a decade after Congress passed a law qualifying time served in the unpaid guard as active federal service. The Army agreed in 2004 to grant official military discharge certificates to members or their survivors.

An Army official said the law was misinterpreted. The law applies to military benefits, including medical benefits, but not retirement pay, said Lt. Col. Richard McNorton, with the Army's human resources command in Alexandria, Va.

"The focus is to follow the law," he said. "We can't choose whether to follow the law."

The Army doesn't intend to seek to recoup past pay, he said.

About 300 members are still living from the original 6,600-member unit called up from 1942 to 1947 to scout patrols, build military airstrips and perform other duties. But only a fraction had enough other military service to reach the 20-year requirement for retirement pay.

Among those who did is 88-year-old Paul Kiunya in the western Alaska village of Kipnuk. Kiunya was 16 when he joined the territorial guard and worked in communications, reporting by radio any unusual noises or the direction of aircraft, including some Japanese planes he spotted.

"We did not get one cent being in the territorial guard," he said. "And we worked hard."

Kiunya — who later put in 22 years in the National Guard and another decade in the Guard reserves — will lose more than $358 a month in his retirement package because of the Army's decision. With gasoline in his village at almost $10 a gallon, that's a huge amount to lose.

For her part, Governor Sarah Palin, in her role as Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska Defense Force, the modern day equivalent to the Territorial Guard, signed SB 89 which funded, these pensions until 2010.

For those that don’t know, the Alaska Defense Force is a federally recognized state militia, that trains as an auxiliary police force, as well as a military defense force, and is part of Homeland Security’s readiness plan, and is under the command of the Governor of Alaska.





This situation is incredibly disturbing. All indications are these brave WWII veterans served Alaska and the nation with honor. To purposely cut these aged men off, in the twilight of their lives, goes against everything America stands for. In fact, as this cuts off not only a substantial part of their paycheck, but other benefits, such as medical, one might even say this is sort of a death panel, especially knowing that winter is coming, and heating fuel is quite expensive in Alaska.

I can’t speculate what makes Barack Obama such a heartless and cruel man. I do know that once again, Obama’s radical, communist upbringing has shown it’s self front and center. Obama must really hate America, and Americans to pull a stunt like this.

Obama should be ashamed of himself, but I fear that is an emotion he is incapable of.

What can you do?

You can call your Senators and Congressmen and tell them that this dog just don’t hunt! Tell them cutting off pay to these brave WWII veterans is inhumane and un-American. Our veterans deserve better.

You can also call Barack Obama at the White House: (202) 456-1414

Tell Obama this cannot stand. Tell Obama this will not stand!