Sarah Palin, a former runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty contest, burst on to the political scene in 2006 by becoming both the first female and youngest governor in Alaskan history at the age of 42.
She had previously gained statewide attention as a gutsy maverick unafraid to speak truth after whistle blowing on ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders during her time on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
A “soccer-mom” type with telegenic appeal, Mrs Palin is a real life Miss Congeniality — she won the title in the Wasilla beauty pageant back in 1984.
But the mother-of-five combines her homely air with a keen grasp of the issues and a formidable campaigning style.
A strong social conservative and a staunch supporter of gun rights, she is hugely popular in Alaska — a poll published last month showed her approval rating at 80 per cent.
Mrs Palin is strongly pro-life — typified, observers say, by the fact that her fifth child, born in April, has Down’s Syndrome. The Palins also have teenage son, Track, and three young daughters, Bristol, Willow, and Piper.
She also opposes same-sex marriage, but has often sympathised with the concerns of gay community about discrimination and has implemented legislation ensuring equal benefits for same-sex couples.
After running her gubernatorial campaign on clean government, Mrs Palin has successfully pushed through an ethics Bill as well as shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. She is a spending hawk, having slashed the state’s construction budget by $237 million - the largest cuts in Alaskan history.
After taking office, she followed through on a campaign promise to sell a Windward II jet purchased on state credit. Placing it on eBay three times, she eventually sold it to the highest bidder for $2.7 million.
Mrs Palin’s energy stance dovetails nicely with that of Mr McCain — promoting resource development while also taking steps to address climate change and environmental issues. She has recently announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisers, tasked with reducing greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.
However, Mrs Palin is not entirely free of scandal. She is currently under investigation by the state legislature for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal of the commissioner for public safety, Walter Moneghan. Mr Moneghan alleges that he was fired because he was reluctant to sack a state trooper who was involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with her sister, Molly McCann. The governor is said to be co-operating with the investigation, which is being overseen by Democratic State Senator Hollis French.
An Alaskan through and through, Mrs Palin grew up with a love of traditional outdoor pursuits. As a child she regularly got up before dawn to go moose-hunting with her father and is still a strong believer in gun ownership. She is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.
Before entering politics she had a number of unconventional jobs including sports reporter and commercial fisherman, the latter alongside her husband Ted, who is a Yupik Innuit.
Actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died at the age of 50.
The star was best known for film roles in Ocean’s Eleven, Charlie’s Angels and Transformers while achieving critical and popular acclaim for the long-running sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, which earned him two Emmy award nominations.
Mac was admitted to hospital in Chicago last week and died early on Saturday morning due to complications arising from pneumonia, his publicist said.”We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected,” said Damica Taylor.
Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, Illinois in October 1957.
According to his uncle, there were once as many as 10 people living in the two-bedroom apartment in which he grew up.
Mac was raised by his mother and grandparents.
“We learned to entertain ourselves,” Mac wrote in his 2003 autobiography, Maybe You Never Cry Again.
“I used to have long conversations with the living room wall.”
His memoir told how, as a child, he had discovered his mother doubled up with laughter at Bill Cosby appearing on Ed Sullivan’s TV show.
“‘That’s what I want to be, Mama, a comedian’” he recalled saying.
“Make you laugh like that, maybe you never cry again.”
He began performing as a stand-up at a church dinner at the age of eight, progressing to open mic nights and a regular stint at Chicago’s Cotton Club by the time he was 20.
His success was far from immediate and along the way he worked as a janitor, furniture mover, appliance hauler, and delivery man to supplement his comedy income.
It wasn’t until he was featured in the Kings of Comedy stand-up tour in 1997 - which was filmed and broadcast by HBO - that he achieved national prominence.
One of his co-stars in the show, Steve Harvey, paid tribute to the comedian on Saturday, saying: “The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac, he gave them their money’s worth.”
Mac often attributed his dogged persistence of a comedy career to his mother who, he said, had imbued him with a strong work ethic before she died of breast cancer when he was just 16.
“Parents today don’t get it,” he wrote in his memoirs. “They don’t want to be parents. They want to be cool. They want to be hip. They don’t want to be the bad guy.
“But guess what? Being the bad guy is your job.
“My mama knew better. She wasn’t there to make me like her; she was there to shape me; she was there to make me a good person.”
Mac’s view of parenting was reflected in his hit TV show, which was based around a man’s attempts to raise his sister’s three children.
The Bernie Mac show won a Peabody award for excellence in television in 2002. At the time, judges said they had singled it out for transcending “race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion - and cool”.The sitcom, which ran for more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006, made Bernie Mac a household name,receiving several awards and nominations for his film and TV appearances for several years. Film roles starting with a small role in the Damon Wayans movie Mo’ Money in 1992, he then topped the box office with Guess Who? - a remake of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn classic Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? - in 2005.
Earlier this year, he was at the center of controversy after making some off-color jokes at a fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicago native Barack Obama.
Controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.
“Wherever I am, I have to play,” he said in 2002. “I have to put on a good show.”
Bernie Mac had a history of ill health and suffered from the inflammatory lung disease sarcoidosis.
He contracted pneumonia for the first time in 2004 while filming Ocean’s Twelve.
Mac told his home newspaper The Chicago Sun-Times that the disease, which had nearly killed him, had acted as a wake-up call.
“My life was slipping away. I was missing out on so much stuff with my family, and I will never do that again,” he said.
In 2007, he told late night show host David Letterman he was planning to retire from comedy.
“I’m going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit,” he said.
Mac is survived by his wife Rhonda, daughter Je’Niece and a granddaughter and will be laid to rest on August 16 th.
At 11:42 am on Tuesday, July 29, 2008, the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area experienced its largest earthquake in years as a magnitude 5.4 event occurred 8.5 miles beneath the Chino Hills. This earthquake was felt across much of southern California, and as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada.
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