Two legends of Science Fiction have left us. Sniffles, everyone, sniffles.

Ricardo Montalban dies at 88 (1920 - 2009)


Montalban's son-in-law Gilbert Smith tells PEOPLE that Montalban had been in declining health for months and died from "complications of advancing age."

"He was in peace," said Smith, who said that the actor was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. "He will be missed." Montalban was proceeded in death by one year by his wife of 63 years, Gorgiana Young, the younger sister of his frequent co-star Loretta Young.

"[She is] the only love of my life," the actor said in 2004.

------

Patrick McGoohan "Number Six" Dies in LA


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Patrick McGoohan, an Emmy-winning actor who created and starred in the cult classic television show "The Prisoner," has died. He was 80.
McGoohan died Tuesday in Los Angeles after a short illness, his son-in-law, film producer Cleve Landsberg, said Wednesday.

McGoohan won two Emmys for his work on the Peter Falk detective drama "Columbo," and more recently appeared as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film "Braveheart."

But he was best known as the title character Number Six in "The Prisoner," a surreal 1960s British series in which a former spy is held captive in a small village and constantly tries to escape.

The stolen 2004 election? Investigation into Karl Rove's IT hacker suspicious death continues...

Under-reported but important, investigations into the suspicious death of Mike Connell still continue. As mentioned in a previous post (LINK) Mike Connell was a top Republican party Internet strategist who was under investigation on allegations that he was involved in possible tampering with the counting of Ohio ballots in the 2004 presidential election. He died in a plane crash on Dec. 19 after multiple sources reported that his life was in danger from Karl Rove, the alleged architect of the election grab, after it was clear Connell was ready to start talking to authorities.

Cliff Arnebeck, the Ohio investigator who took Connell's original deposition and is investigating the crash spoke to news site Between The Lines:

...we believe that the criminal activity that we've identified and we have plenty of evidence to support it. You know, it starts not with the Republican Party, it starts with Karl Rove. The first target of this conspiracy is John McCain's campaign in South Carolina in the 2000 primary. So it's really a criminal enterprise, rather than a Republican enterprise.

I'd encourage any readers to get acquainted with this story, as it doesn't appear to be on the radar of corporate media services as it should be. As it involves the direct theft of votes that decided the 2004 election, it is critical we flush out this situation and either bring the guilty to justice or prove it false and trash it. Either way, it needs to be presented to the public.

Read the transcript, listen to Real Audio or MP3 of the interview.

More Links:

In-depth interview with Cliff Arneback, conducted by Scott Harris, Counterpoint, Dec. 29, 2008

Rolling Stone: Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Video from Michael Connell Plane Crash

Velvet Underground: 1/7/09: Connell Investigation Intensifies

Obama appears to listen to opposing viewpoints... goddamn socialist.

After two Bush stories which drip with his arrogance and lack of humility, I have an Obama story which illustrates the opposite...

As you may know, Barry-O has been running around Washington trying to get members of Congress to sign on for his stimulus package. This isn't an easy sell, cause Congress has been catching hell for being stupid enough to expect the money they all ready handed to Bush would be spent appropriately (or at least could be tracked in some way).

So Obama has been laying out his plan, and has encountered some criticism. Notably, Paul Krugman (who I think is super – read Conscience of a Liberal) wrote quite a rebuke of the plan last week in The New York Times in an article called The Obama Gap:

"Mr. Obama’s prescription doesn’t live up to his diagnosis. The economic plan he’s offering isn’t as strong as his language about the economic threat. In fact, it falls well short of what’s needed."

Rather than ignore his critics, Obama issued a statement looking to talk to Krugman: 

"I want this to work," said the president-elect. "This is not an intellectual exercise, and there's no pride of authorship. If somebody has an idea for a tax cut that's better than we've proposed, then we'll embrace it... If Paul Krugman has a good idea, in terms of how to spend money efficiently and effectively to jump-start the economy, then we're going to do it."

Say what?  

And Krugman took him up on the statement in his latest column: Ideas for Obama.

How un-Bushian!  How Obama-rific!  Here is Jon Stewart being mystified by all of this:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

President Goofus and President Gallant - Peer Pressers

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

And if you think that this blog is little more than an Obama lovefest/circle-jerk... you're right.  Until I hear different, I think this dude is an answer to the country's prayers.  

And, it should be noted that I am a cynical son-of-a-bitch.

Breaking news: Bush to waste another 15 minutes of prime-time to defend record.

Georgie is going to talk on Thursday to the nation. Let's call it his "The Past 8 Years Haven't Been A Disaster/Legacy Building Speech."

If he interrupts a brand new "Two and a Half Men" to tell me he ain't such a bad dude and we'll only know what a great job he did in a hundred years, I'll be mighty upset.

Read more

P.S. Looking forward to stop endlessly bitching about this man, but I will do so for no other reason to prevent him from remaking himself as a decent President.

Final Press Conference: President Bush doesn't understand what the word "disappointment" means

Excellent comment by Bob Cesca regarding Bush's last offical press conference (held today) before he finally goes away:

"As always, President Bush's utter lack of humility and his inability to fully grasp how he personally failed on numerous occasions is just staggering.  For example:"

(Go 20 secs in)

"'Not finding weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment.' No, no. We feel "disappointment" when there's no more ice cream. Or when our favorite sports team loses an important whatever. Not finding -- rather, deliberately ignoring the fact that there weren't any weapons in the first place but going to war anyway -- wasn't a disappointment. It was one of the biggest, most expensive, most damaging foreign policy disasters in American history."

Read the whole thing at BOB CESCA'S AWESOME BLOG!

As an aside, it appears turn out for this event was not as good as the White House expected.  While the announcements specified only "one correspondent per organization" and standing "room only for non-seat holders", the last 2 of the 7 rows were empty, and needed to be filled by White House interns.

Just sad.  Appropriate, but sad.

Bill Cosby on what it was like to vote for Obama

Kind of touching.

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Cheney and the new Senate

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While the economy burns, Laura Bush splurges on $500K dishes for the White House.

There are so many problems with this I don't know where to start... let's jump right in....

WASHINGTON (AP) - First lady Laura Bush showed off a new gold-rimmed set of official George W. Bush state china on Wednesday, with less than two weeks to use it before the family packs up for Texas.

The $493,000 set was inspired by a few pieces of green basketweave-patterned French china in the White House collection believed to have come from James and Dolley Madison. It was paid for by a privately funded trust of the White House Historical Association, which also purchased a second, less formal set.

Laura Bush said she commissioned the dinnerware because of breakage and a need for more settings for larger events, and added a second Magnolia-patterned set for $74,000 for use at private family dinners and smaller events.

She said she was aware of criticism her predecessors received for buying expensive china, but said it was paid for with private money and that when the process started, "the economy was a lot better than it is today."

Okay Mrs. First Lady, you seem awful nice and all, and you must have some amazing distortion reality field around you that clouds your ability to understand the real world and your husbands horrendous effect on it, but this should have been a no-brainer... may I explain?

1. $493,000 is an obscene price to pay for place settings, regardless of when you ordered it.  Even though the economy in 2006 was not as poor as todays, we were still in the red.  Would maybe the 100K set have sufficed?  200K?  Is 300K china too "Wal-Mart" for you?
2. You may not know this, but $500K is more than most people will ever see in a lifetime of working, including their homes.  Regardless of who paid for it, this sticks a thumb in the arse of every American who wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth.  That historical trust that paid for the dishes could have used that money for any number of other things, including historical preservation, grants to aspiring historians, or acquiring precious artifacts that are important to American history.
3. Especially now, in this current economy, you should have understood this as unacceptable.  If you were stuck with them, it'd have been better to auction them off and give the proceeds to charity.
4. I don't care if f#cking Blake Carrington was coming for brunch, a more modest dinner service would make a finer statement. There could be no finer message to world leaders than to eat off of modest dishes, as they are supposed represent the people... right?  You are not royalty, it's insane you expect to eat as one. 
5. I don't care if the Clinton's had pricey dishes too.  They shouldn't have.
6. Calling it the official George W. Bush state china adds insult to injury.  Have you no clue what the majority of Americans think of your husband's leadership?  

I can only hope that the Obama's are not as tone deaf as you are to the nation's struggle, and quickly dispense with this ridiculous symbol of excessive extravagance.  The new administration could make no finer statement than to receive incoming heads of state with elegant, modest, and economically appropriate dishes.

READ ABOUT IT:

USA TODAY

WTOP.COM

Your problems are meaningless....

BEHOLD! The sharpest, coolest picture of the galaxy. Courtesy of the Hubble.

Paul Krugman: "It's time for GOP to stop whining"

THWACK!!

"As the new Democratic majority prepares to take power, Republicans have become, as Phil Gramm might put it, a party of whiners.

Some of the whining almost defies belief. Did Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general, really say, "I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror"? Did Rush Limbaugh really suggest that the financial crisis was the result of a conspiracy, masterminded by that evil genius Chuck Schumer?

But most of the whining takes the form of claims that the Bush administration's failure was simply a matter of bad luck — either the bad luck of President Bush himself, who just happened to have disasters happen on his watch, or the bad luck of the GOP, which just happened to send the wrong man to the White House.

The fault, however, lies not in Republicans' stars but in themselves. Forty years ago the GOP decided, in effect, to make itself the party of racial backlash. And everything that has happened in recent years, from the choice of Bush as the party's champion, to the Bush administration's pervasive incompetence, to the party's shrinking base, is a consequence of that decision."

Read on...

Republican leadership candidate distributes "Barack the Magic Negro"

Top three reason's why Chip Saltsman is a total dick:

1. It's bad enough the guy's name is Chip Saltsman


2. It's worse that he's such a cheapskate that he makes mix tape CDs for gifts


3. It's worst of all he's a racist pig

(I had more but I'm trying to be less wordy.)

RNC candidate Chip Saltsman’s Christmas greeting to committee members includes a music CD with lyrics from a song called “Barack the Magic Negro,” first played on Rush Limbaugh’s popular, yet asinine radio show.

“I look forward to working together in the New Year,” Saltsman wrote in a note that came with the CD. “Please enjoy the enclosed CD by my friend Paul Shanklin of the Rush Limbaugh Show.”

Chip denies being a total dick: "I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies.”

Glad to see that the GOP has read the will of the electorate accept that they have nearly screwed the country with their agenda, and with humility (not to mention newfound wisdom) are moving forward with an eye toward reconciliation.

Now look at the picture above... do you think he became a total dick BECAUSE his mother named him Chip Saltman, or he looked like a dick right from infancy and his mom merely gave him a name to fit?

Read more at The Hill

If you must, listen to the song.

The way to an Afghan chieftain's heart is through his...

From the Washington Post:

"The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.

"Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people -- whether it's building a school or handing out Viagra," said one longtime agency operative and veteran of several Afghanistan tours."

FULL STORY by Joby Warrick

2008's Heros of the Evolution: Tina Fey and SNL

What good is a blog without an end of the year recap?  Here is my version.

Our friend Tina sure had a good year.  Taking circumstance by the balls, she became a 5 foot 4 inch antidote against the weaponized cheesecake they called "Sarah from Wasilla."

It was the GOP's ruling class that first saw Sarah Palin – the rookie Governor from Alaska – and could calculate her vast potential; the folksy wit, the shapely legs, the effortless star power, and the unfettered ambition.  McCain unleashed the pitbull with lipstick soon after, and Americans who valued the ability to relate to a candidate (or for the men, good old fashioned T&A) over intellectual acumen started piling in.  It was starting to look rocky for Obama, whose own sensational newness had begun to fade by late August.  I know that I for one was damn nervous.

Luckily, the fresh face of the GOP war machine had two fatal flaws; she wasn't well versed in affairs beyond Anchorage, and she looked A LOT like Tina Fey.  So much so that Tina quickly was able to jump back into her former gig at Saturday Night Live, dress up in a suit and up-do, and start turning public perception of Palin from serious VP potential to parody that spread across YouTube like wildfire.  Before long "I can see Russia from my house!" was a national joke.

Of course, Palin did as much damage to her own prospects as Fey, from horrific interviews to racially tinged hate mongering to alleged abuses of power.  That aside, it was Tina Fey and the excellent writers at SNL that were able to expose what was behind the curtain.  As a bonus, we were able to laugh our asses off in the process.

Thanks Tina, you helped us dodge a bullet.

2008's Heros of the Evolution: Economist Paul Krugman

If you need an antidote from the gray-faced economists that talk in jargony circles and make your brain hurt, meet Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman.

Krugman is both professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University and op-ed columnist for the The New York Times, but he does a hell of a lot more than that.  

He is smart, practical – and most importantly – KICKS TOTAL ASS.

Since 1988 Krugman has written extensively for non-economists. Because of  him, I've had the surreal pleasure of sitting in my truck riveted by economic theory.  Yeah, riveted.  His insights into political movements and their effect on American economic prosperity fly in the face of economics 101, but recent events have backed-up  his theories.  

In particular, his recent book The Conscience of a Liberal dissects the past 150 years of American history and comes to the conclusion that the GOP's takeover by extreme factions of the right (inspired by Reagan and perfected by Bush 2) precipitated a systematic attack on the advances made in economic equality from FDR's New Deal to the ever-improving middle class of the 1960s.  Erosion of health care benefits, lower wages, and the disintegration of the middle-class resulted.

It's an persuasive proposition, and especially prophetic in the 2 years since he wrote the book's first edition. Especially fascinating is that you can watch his theories work in real-time as you read the papers.

What's even better, Politico recently reported that President-Elect Obama has been accessing Krugman's ample intellect.

This is the best financial news I've heard in a long time.  Rock on, Economics Geek!

Karl Rove's IT Guru Killed in Plane Crash, Said Recently Threatened by Rove, Had Been Key Witness in OH '04 Election Fraud Case

I would encourage people to look into this developing story on their own, as there is a lot of conjecture. That said, I am deeply suspicious of anything involving Rove.

So far, web searches are showing this has only showed up on local news. Coverage has been totally missing from CNN, CBS, ABC (except from a brief summary of the crash lifted from the Associated Press), FOXNews, NPR, MSNBC (besides local news stating the crash occurred). The Wall Street Journal did post a press release.


Was the computer guru who helped Karl Rove allegedly steal votes that swung the 2004 election ready to talk? And if so was he killed to shut him up?

From Raw Story:

The Republican consultant accused of involvement in alleged vote-rigging in Ohio in 2004 was warned that his plane might be sabotaged before his death in a crash Friday night, according to a Cleveland CBS affiliate.

45-year-old Republican operative Michael Connell was killed when his single-passenger plane crashed Friday into a home in a suburb of Akron, Ohio. The consultant was called to testify in federal court regarding a lawsuit alleging that he took part in tampering with Ohio's voting results in the 2004 election.

Without getting into specific details, 19 Action News reporter Blake Renault reported Sunday evening that 45-year-old Republican operative and experienced pilot had been warned not to fly his plane in the days before the crash.

"Connell...was apparently told by a close friend not to fly his plane because his plane might be sabotaged," Renault said. "And twice in the last two months Connell, who is an experienced pilot, cancelled two flights because of suspicious problems with his plane."

Connell [was alleged to have been involved] in a ploy to "flip" votes from then Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry to then-President George W. Bush.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now interviewed Mark Crispin Miller, professor and author, took the story even further into motives:

"Velvet Revolution, a non-profit investigating Connell’s activities, revealed this weekend that Connell had recently said he was afraid George Bush and Dick Cheney would “throw [him] under the bus.” Cliff Arnebeck had also previously alerted Attorney General Michael Mukasey to alleged threats from Karl Rove to Connell if he refused to “take the fall.”

AMY GOODMAN: Alright, well, we had you on right before the election, because that’s when Mike Connell was being deposed. This news that came out of his death in a plane crash on Friday night, talk about what you understand has happened.

MARK CRISPIN MILLER: ...I think we’re obliged to investigate this thing very, very thoroughly. And that means, first of all, taking a close look at some of the stories that were immediately circulated to account for what happened, that it was bad weather. That was the line they used when Wellstone’s plane went down. There had been bad weather, but it had passed two hours before. And this comes from a woman at the airport information desk in Akron. We’re told that his plane was running out of gas, which is a little bit odd for a highly experienced pilot like Connell, but apparently, when the plane went down, there was an explosion, a fireball that actually charred and pocked some of the house fronts in the neighborhood.

When asked about Connell's methods and motivations, Miller said this:

MARK CRISPIN MILLER: [Connell was believed to have said that] one of the primary reasons why he helped Bush-Cheney steal elections was to save the babies. He was an ardent anti-abortionist, it’s true, but he wasn’t quite as hardcore as the others. And in fact, you know, he was a little bit alienated from the others, and that’s one of the reasons why he was inclined to talk, and so on.

READ MORE AT:

- UPDATED 12/25: HUFFINGTON POST
- RAW STORY
- DEMOCRACY NOW
- BRAD BLOG
- VELVET REVOLUTION
- Sourcewatch
- Wikipedia

MORE ON CONNELL:
BRAD BLOG

See how Connell fits into the big picture in the 2004 Ohio Election according to "FREE FOR ALL!: The High-Tech HighJack of Ohio":

FOX News ridicules PETA, Children, Eat KFC

As someone who takes my little blogging outpost here seriously, I feel obligated to get my info so I can be "fair and balanced". That said, I try and avoid FOX News, as it is neither, though claims both. I just can't take that kind of a hit for readers. Turning into Uncle Rupert's brainchild is a little too much like having my brain starved and raped simultaneously.

That said, many others do. Many consider it their primary source of news/talking points. Fox usually returns their loyalty with standard issue corporate mindfucking, feeding those with lazy minds with plenty of information that supports their simplistic world views. Too harsh?

Here's a case in point: Listen to them rag on PETA during a protest of KFC...



These hosts are so half-witted, I'm shocked that FOX actually archives their videos online. Not only slamming PETA people as "a bunch of lonely people," they give KFC on-screen product placement as well. They also slam the bikini girls PETA is using to attract attention as sexist while having the Ann Coulter look-alike with them in the mini and open blouse.

After that, they go after kids who are trying to get their parents to think more eco-conscious, then top it off by mocking people who think you should avoid having large families.

I would actually feel bad for them, if they went hurting the country.

By the way, KFC has an awful track record in regards to chicken cruelty, etc. It's not just a protest of eating chicken. Here's a clip from last year showing some KFC workers bash the living shit out of some poor animals. Don't watch if you are squeamish.



Story originally found on ecorazzi.

Mr. Spock gets deported

This animated short, Don't Deport Me, Scotty, is a promo for the human rights organization Breakthrough, and their campaign to restore due process for US immigrants. Nicely done. :-)

Thanks to io9, the awesome sci-fi blog.

In ever so slightly related news, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry – Nurse Chapel of the original Trek, and the voice of the Enterprose computer in most of the movies – has joined her husband and Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in the great beyond. She was 75. Thanks for the great sci-fi, Majel. Full scoop here.

I DARE YOU TO PLAY THESE TWO VIDEOS AT THE SAME TIME

Both our current and future leaders released some videos recently... I will show you both.





If this Barney thing was made with tax payer dollars, I am going to lose my shit.

Bush's initial reaction to the meltdown...

As reported in the New York Times

It was Sept. 18. Lehman Brothers had just gone belly-up, overwhelmed by toxic mortgages. Bank of America had swallowed Merrill Lynch in a hastily arranged sale. Two days earlier, Mr. Bush had agreed to pump $85 billion into the failing insurance giant American International Group.

The president listened as Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, laid out the latest terrifying news: The credit markets, gripped by panic, had frozen overnight, and banks were refusing to lend money.

Then his Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., told him that to stave off disaster, he would have to sign off on the biggest government bailout in history.

Mr. Bush, according to several people in the room, paused for a single, stunned moment to take it all in.

“How,” he wondered aloud, “did we get here?”

Simply fascinating. Oddly, reminds me of a line from Lord of the Rings. Enjoy!

Your chance to toss a shoe at the President!

All the fun of beaning a Buster Brown off of W's noggin without the 15 years in an Egyptian prison!

PLAY IT NOW!

Stop Bush from selling off Utah's red rock wilderness

Actor Robert Redford is mobilizing a campaign against Bush's Giveaway gift of America's Redrock Wilderness to big energy.

Redford states in the Huffington Post:

"In three days, this Friday, 110,000 acres of majestic Utah wild lands go on the auction block, to be sold to the highest bidders in the oil and gas industry. It's a last-ditch effort by a corrupt administration to further enrich its friends in the dirty fuels business. If they succeed, they'll leave a wasteland behind them."

If you agree, you GO HERE and send a message to the Obama transition team, your Congressperson and you Senators and tell them your wishes.

600 pound shark killed for a fin: Is this really necessary?

A commercial fisherman reccently caught a 663-pound hammerhead off the Coast of Volusia County, Florida. The shark measures more than twelve feet long. To further prove this planet will be much better off when the last human is dead, the asshole decided he just had to kill it.

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Some user comments on this video say it better then I could:

"Commercial fishing has nothing to do with subsistence or sustainability; it is motivated by unbridled greed, just as surely as the yuppies trading derivatives on Wall Street."

"as an avid fisherman i can tell you that anyone who keeps a fish just to sell its fins and have the fish mounted is a neanderthal. the fins are the only edible part of a shark because its meat smells and tastes of amonia. the fins are an unnecessary delicacy that have to specially cured. a taxidermist makes a fiberglass replica and only needs the specimen for measurements and markings. something a fishermen can do with a tape measure and a camera before releasing the fish.
catch and release or only keep what you can eat ."

"I live on the coast where this shark was caught. Although we do have a high proportion of shark attacks here in Volusia County, the attacks are usually concentrated in areas where sharks feed like Ponce Inlet, a popular surfing spot. Vary rarely do hammerheads attack humans here. Sad end to a beautiful animal."

"Sad. Just sad."

Barney Frank slams Obama over Warren

Rep. Barney Frank (D - MA) is so upset in President-Elect Obama's choice for Reverend Rick Warren to participate in his inauguration.

In the Huffington Post, Frank states:

"I am very disappointed by President-elect Barack Obama's decision to honor Reverend Rick Warren with a prominent role in his inauguration."

Mr. Obama has explained his choice clearly:

"A couple of years ago I was invited to Rick Warren's church to speak despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion," he said. "Nevertheless I had an opportunity to speak, and that dialogue I think is part of what my campaign's been all about, that we're not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable, and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans."

Rep. Frank, perhaps your time would be better spent on the economic meltdown we are in, rather than spending your time writing critiques on the President-Elect's judgement. After all, as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, this disaster is happening on your watch.

I don't agree with Obama's choice either, but I do have some faith in his leadership, which is more than I can say for you at the moment.

PLEASE keep your eye on the ball and let the rest of us backseat-drive Mr. Obama until Jan 20. You can complain all you want then.

Iraqi Fun Fact: Tossing shoes is a way of honoring national hero

Did you know that Curly was a Suni? Check it out:

Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson

As much as I loathe the woman politically... this is deplorable on many levels. Kids were still in the church at the time.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.

He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn't know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn't know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.

"It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said. "We have no information on intent or motive."

STORY