It’s official. You will now be able to not just watch Sarah Palin offering sage political advice on Fox News, but then switch over to Discovery Channel to watch her new reality show. In a reported $1 million per episode deal, Discovery will feature interesting people and things in Alaska with Palin as the guide.
The show is the brain-child of reality-TV rainmaker Mark Burnett and “will center on interesting characters, traditions and attractions in the 49th state – with the ex-VP candidate as a guide.”
My immediate reaction to this news is how far the Discovery Channel has descended into cultural junk. The channel was once a fascinating collection of shows on science-related subjects that elevated the overall quality of television. As with the History Channel (discussed earlier) with such mindless shows as Ax Men and Ice Road Truckers, Discovery now shows such junk television as American Chopper and Ghost Lab. The Channel has gone from featuring the likes of Carl Sagan to Sarah Palin. That is a study in de-evolution.
For the full story, click here.
Not to give the barbie bimbo anymore head lines but…I was just reading this and thought what?
Jefferson: a state beyond but within our border
According to a State of Jefferson website: “The abundant supply of minerals and timber in the region was largely inaccessible due to the lack of sufficient roads and bridges into the rugged mountain border country. The local pioneering people grew weary of unfulfilled promises from Salem and Sacramento to help fund sufficient highway projects in the region while building campgrounds in cities where there were more votes.”
Things got truly interesting in November 1941, when representatives from three northern California counties (Del Norte, Siskiyou and Trinity) and one southern Oregon county (Curry) met in Yreka to discuss the situation. With no apparent solution in sight, a serious secession movement was born.
Caught up in the ensuing excitement, the Yreka newspaper held a contest to name the new state. The winning nomination invoked our third president, Thomas Jefferson, who once said “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” At that point, Yreka was designated the temporary state capital, and groups of armed (but harmless) men began stopping traffic one day a week on the highway outside town to hand out their “Proclamation of Independence” to drivers.
“The 49th State …
Among the language in the officious little proclamation were these tidbits: “You are now entering Jefferson, the 49th State of the Union … This State has seceded from California and Oregon this Thursday, November 27, 1941 … Patriotic Jeffersonians intend to secede each Thursday until further notice.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2010/05/jefferson_a_state_beyond_but_w.html