Tanning beds, Vitamin D and Alaska

One can only guess the reasons why Sarah Palin needed to have a tanning bed installed in the Alaska Governor's mansion.

Maybe it goes back to her beauty pageant days. Maybe it's a way to compensate for the relative lack of natural sunlight. Maybe it's the craze among all working-class Alaskans. Who knows?

Having been naturally blessed with plenty of pigment, I've never really thought much about it. All I really need to know about tanning, I learned from these people.

But, honestly, I can't imagine that Palin wanted a tanning bed to compensate for a Vitamin D deficiency. Thankfully, this isn't her line - goodness knows, she doesn't need to reveal herself to be that kooky. No, this bit of spin comes from the slightly loony people of the Indoor Tanning Association.

I am curious, however, as to what kind of people constitute the "sun scare industry" that the ITA refers to in its press release. Who even knew such an industry existed?

Anyway, speaking of beauty pageants, my wonderful aunt - and faithful reader of this blog - noted to me the other day that Palin's response to the Bush Doctrine question reminded her of someone else. Hmmm. Maybe. But Caitlin Upton didn't say "Charlie" quite as much.