Hello Mr. Strock,

I just want to kindly inform you of two things. One is that, for some reason, Alaskans take serious offense to the term "snow-mobile" and prefer "snow-machine". I think it has to do with the fact that they invented this mode of transport and that's what they called them in the beginning.

Now you compared hunting moose to shooting a cow and that's not exactly correct. Moose are extremely dangerous animals and are the only animal that a Alaskan grizzly bear is afraid of. They will attack you without provocation and are to be avoided if you are not actually pursuing them. An adult bull can have legs that are 6 feet long and antlers to match. Not exactly like a docile cow. Add to this the rough terrain, hunting areas so remote you need to fly in and possibly land on a river bank or sandbar, mosquitoes than want to eat you and the wild swings of the weather and you can see that an Alaskan hunt is not for the weak! But it has some of the most awe inspiring landscape that I've ever seen...

Sincerely,
Rick Herzog
Great Falls, MT

And now, a pregnant teenage daughter -

It doesn't get any more American than that!

Being for guns and God may be positive attributes to some prospective voters and to negative to others, but she appears to have an attribute that all can agree neither Obama nor Biden can claim: She has actually done some things in her life beyond speechifying and fuzzy feel good stuff. To wit: 1. She has worked on a fishing boat (it may not have been like those going after Alaskan king crab as shown on PBS), but I can say from limited experience, it ain't easy nor safe work. 2. She has managed a town as mayor (safer, but not easy at any level). 3. She has managed a state as governor, and from what has been reported, done a good and courageous job (which also wasn't easy considering the power of her adversaries). The only other current candidate who has ever been actively engaged in real work is John McCain (as an (unsuccessful) fighter pilot). BTW, the last president we've had with whom I could feel comfortable was also an unsuccessful fighter pilot (George W. Herbert Bush).

Mr.Strock- AS for your Prayer before Game comment , that was absolutely stupid. " Beat the daylights out of each other". No "Real" Christians pray for the team to honor God in all they do in the game they play that they will be a Godly example in sportsmanship,and whether they win or lose they shall honor God.

Dear Mr. Strock,

Thank you for giving us more information about the GOP VP pick.

In addition, I hope that your paper will report on the outrageous suppression of the press at the GOP national convention.

Amy Goodman, journalist from Democracy Now! a nationwide TV and radio program, was arrested last night along with two of the shows producers.

Apparently, the federal government has given St. Paul $50 million for "security" for the convention. One St. Paul lawyer said "This is nothing more than a large scale sting operation and the FBI is calling all the shots"

http://election411.org/blog/id/3531143/l...

I have noted that you are extremely interested in FBI sting operations. I also believe you are interested in freedom of the press.

Clearly, the federal government does not want journalists reporting on the protests in the streets outside the convention, and police have been raiding the homes of peaceful protesters all weekend.

Four journalists were arrested, including Amy Goodman, and a Associated Press photographer, Matt Rourke.

The regular media has only reported on of a small group of violent protesters (the term "agent provocateur" comes to mind - the police used these at the 2004 GOP convention), and not on the complete violation of civil rights the police have been visiting upon peaceful citizens in St. Paul.

See:

http://www.sitemason.com/newspub/fQKJvW?...

I'm not a hunter, and I oppose pro-life candidates. At best, I support candidates who are pro-_innocent_life. Our right to control our own bodies requires the right to shoot down those attempting rape or armed robbery. I think Sarah Palin is OK with this.

Well, let’s see.

To Flygood: I confess my experience with moose in the wild consists of one encounter with a cow and her calf in the woods of Maine. I stood and watched them at close range (maybe 30 feet) until I got bored, and the mother never showed the slightest alarm or interest in me. That’s where I acquired my understanding of what kind of game they might be for a hunter.
Snow machine is new to me.

To ehgauss: Do you really support Palin because she worked on a fishing boat and McCain because he had real work as a fighter pilot? Somehow I doubt that.

To coachmike: I’m glad to have that cleared up. I always wondered what they prayed for. Does the same apply to boxers who pray in their corners before matches?

To Lynne Jackson: Very interesting. I haven’t followed the doings in St. Paul … just too many other things to do.

To fsilber: I’m OK with it too. I think everyone is OK with it except the most committed of pacifists.

-------Carl Strock

Carl, You're darn tootin' I support Palin because she has done things in her life beyond political maneuvering, and mayor, governor, (and soccer mom) count too. I'll take a fisherman (or woman) to an orator (or journalist) any day I want to see something get done. My first choice for election this year was Mitt Romney, because he was a successful business manager and successful governor. He, like Palin, has had to face situations and make choices on courses of action when no good choices were available. In 45 years of working, much of it as a manager whose job and reputation were on the line every day, I gave preference in hiring to people who had worked at real jobs, and the dirtier and more dangerous the better, especially former military who had been in combat. Over the long run, that kind of people work out best when the going gets tough. Consider the more successful presidents of the past 50+ years. Harry Truman was a habidasher, albeit unsuccessful. Dwight Eisenhower, a general, Ronald Reagan, an actor, president of the actors' union, and a governor, George W. H. Bush, an oilman. On the other hand, Kennedy/Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton were professional politicians. Ok, I left out the peanut farmer - big deal. Obama's acceptance speech plucked every one of my strings - I could disagree with almost none of it. However, he has never shown he could get anything of material value accomplished.

Uhh, guys -

Don't you think intelligence might be a good trait for a putative leader to have? How come we hear nothing of Palin's academic record?

We know McCain finished near the bottom of his class at Anapolis -

Great, if they win, it might be a "Dumb and dumber" scenario -

That's the problem these days - anyone with any brains and a moral compass stays far away from public office.

Well, I'm glad to hear from "coachmike" that "real" believers in a myth "pray" for good things. My only question is: why bother to address a critter who isn't there?

Didn't we learn with Bush how well a Xtian governs ?

The first successful snowmoble was built by Polaris in Minnesota - Polaris did take one of there 1st. sleds for a media blitz in Alaska though.