Take 2: Arson at Wasilla Bible Church means more media for the Governor?

By GottaLaff

Celtic Diva, an Alaskan blogger, has an interesting analysis of the media coverage, including Also (formerly IWRC*) Palin's statement, of that church fire in Wasilla:

It was a terrible crime and I'm grateful that no one was hurt. However, I have to question not only some of the reporting, but the Governor's leading statement on the sad event.

In both yesterday's version of the story and today's, Wesley Loy (the reporter) identifies Wasilla Bible Church as "Gov. Palin's home church" in the first line of the first paragraph--the headline even states it as such.

In Journalism 101, I learned that in any newspaper story, the most important facts should be in the beginning, with the less important information following after. Yet, the fact that there were people in the church when the fire was set only made it to paragraph three.

[...] Does he know something the authorities don't know--that the Governor is definitely linked to this? Or is he just contributing to her media hype?

Despite that there is absolutely no evidence yet that there was any connection, the Governor seemed to jump on the opportunity to link herself to this tragedy:

Gov. Palin stopped by the church this morning, and she told an assistant pastor that she apologizes if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice-presidential candidate on Aug. 29. Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good.

The "facts" here are that they have no idea who did this or why. There are hundreds of people besides Palin who go to that church, thus hundreds of other potential possibilities for this arson...not to mention the possibilities that may have nothing to do with the congregation. Also, as Phil mentioned on Progressive Alaska, there are a number of motives for arson. In the article I referenced, it breaks them down into 10 categories...listing "Vandalism" first.

This brings me to a rather important "fact"; according to national FBI statistics on arson from 2007, the vast majority of arsons of community/public buildings (the categories where churches fit) are committed by suspects under 18 [...]

Percent of cases solved where perpetrators are under 18: 70.4

That's 70.4% of all solved arsons on community/public buildings in the country. Alaska, especially Anchorage and Mat Su, is well known for vandalism, especially when the vandals are underage.

I can also imagine vastly different motives for an arson than some kind of statement against Sarah Palin if the arsonist is under 18. [...]

[T]he truly negative attention went to her previous church...the one that she still occasionally attended despite her claim that she had switched churches...the Wasilla Assembly of God. [...]

Supposedly, she was no longer a member of this church and had switched to Wasilla Bible Church in 2002.

The other negative story on her that she discussed in the second video was regarding her "blessing" by the "witch hunter."

So the "negative attention" on Wasilla Bible Church was slim, while the "negative attention" on Wasilla Assembly of God was extensive. [...]

The point: no one knows anything yet about this crime, accept that the perpetrator(s) must be brought to justice. Assumptions can only make that job harder.

*In What Respect, Charlie?

Helping the fire victims: Obama's big rolodex and bigger heart

By GottaLaff

After the election was over, President-elect Obama still had an enormous stash of names and addresses. Remember what he did after Gustav?

At the end of August, as Hurricane Gustav threatened the coast of Texas, the Obama campaign called the Red Cross to say it would be routing donations to it via the Red Cross home page. Get your servers ready-our guys can be pretty nuts, Team Obama said. Sure, sure, whatever, the Red Cross responded. We’ve been through 9/11, Katrina, we can handle it. The surge of Obama dollars crashed the Red Cross Web site in less than 15 minutes.

The campaign still has an endless list of supporters, with up to 10 million email addresses and phone numbers. And he knows how to use them:

Today, Obama demonstrated one way in which the list will continue to be put to use: disaster relief.

BarackObama.com emailed supporters soliciting donations for wildfire victims in Southern California:

Over the past few days, wildfires in Southern California have destroyed nearly 900 homes and burned over 37,000 acres of land, forcing many more families to evacuate their communities.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by the fires.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are coordinating relief for the victims, and volunteers on the ground are being organized to help with long-term recovery efforts in the days and months to come. If you live in or near Southern California you can volunteer now, and no matter where you live you can help by donating to the relief efforts.

Throughout the campaign, we saw time and again that when ordinary people act together, they can make a huge difference.

Visit CaliforniaVolunteers.org for more information on how you can help.

Pre-presidency agrees with Barack Obama. Pro-active, pro-people, pro-gressive, pro-digious.... pro.

Obama cares about my state

By GottaLaff

Getty

President-elect Obama called Ahnold to check in on the fires. I'm pretty confident that Schwarzenegger is now grateful to those "scrawny arms" since they're being used to reach out to him:

The president-elect speaks with the governor Monday "to express his concern over the wildfires and to receive an update on the situation."

Also makes a similar call to Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa.

Disastrous fires. KBR contract. Coincidence?

By GottaLaff

Well, well. Look what the Santa Ana winds blew in:

KBR Awarded Disaster Relief Contract by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Under Initiative for Emergency Power 11 Nov 2008 KBR today announced it has been awarded a disaster relief contract, valued at up to $75 million over a five-year period by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Pittsburgh District, for its advance contract initiative for emergency power for the Western region of the United States. The disaster relief contract was created by the USACE to respond immediately to power emergencies resulting from a natural or manmade disaster. KBR will provide all labor, transportation, equipment, materials, supervision and required internal logistics support to perform generator set activities in the Western Region, Geographic Area 3. KBR services will mobilize immediately upon activation by USACE to the "disaster" area. The company will work to quickly provide emergency power to the critical public facilities designated by the State and FEMA as directed by the USACE.

Timing is everything.

Los Angeles fears blackouts as wildfire burns --"The fire is threatening the power of the city of Los Angeles. We may have to move to rolling blackouts." 15 Nov 2008 A wildfire whipped up by hurricane-force gusts raged through northwestern Los Angeles foothills on Saturday, burning some 165 homes and threatening the power supply of California's largest city. More than 10,000 residents were under mandatory evacuation orders as the fire, which has burned more than 2,600 acres, spread westward fanned by dry winds. A separate fire burned a second day in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, where 111 homes have been destroyed. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the fire in the foothills at the edge of San Fernando Valley near Sylmar had destroyed more than any other in the past decade and that flames could take down power lines.