Politics

[Hogpatrol]

Another harbinger of November?

Democrat Mary Peltola wins Alaska special election to fill remainder of Rep. Don Young's term

Democrat Mary Peltola defeated former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the state's first ranked-choice voting contest to select a replacement to finish Rep. Don Young's term.

www.foxnews.com

My 2 cents, the votes are already bought for this year's mid terms.

 

[bowjijohn]

Nothing about this story adds up

I know I left the service a long time ago and much might have changed, but …

I don’t see how he would have made it to BRNC (Britannia Royal Naval College) had he expressed such anti-nuclear sentiments - and you are questioned about such things during the Admiralty interview Board (4 day interview and assessment process for a naval career).

Additionally there are vetting procedures conducted long before you get as far as basic training at BRNC - they would have flagged up concerns

A sub Lt is a very junior Officer rank and I’m surprised that he had been serving long enough to have completed mandatory initial seaman officer training which would have been conducted whilst serving in the ‘surface fleet’

Additionally, competition to serve as a submariner is extremely fierce and I would have thought that anti-nuclear sentiments would have sent you to the back of the queue ‘in short order’.

I don’t think we have any diesel boats anymore so serving as a submariner means serving on either an SSN (hunter killer) or SSBN (ballistic nuclear) - both nuclear powered and nuclear armed

I don’t know too much about the Christian religion, but I’m not sure there is a commandment that says “thou must not serve on a nuclear sub, but deploying conventional cruise missiles from a destroyer is all fine and dandy”

Naval Officers are given each 2 year posting by an “appointer” not a career manager (never heard of that expression)

I know appointers have a reputation for sending you where you don’t want to go, but you have to request the submarine service

I suspect he didn’t measure up, wanted out and tried to play the ‘discrimination card’

I could be wrong - like I said, I left the RN a long time ago

 

[Zambezi]

Can you imagine this poor little soul back in the days where if you were stupid enough to drink from a tankard and you found the King's shilling in the bottom you belonged to them and they could work you to death without a second thought!

They probably would have court marshalled him on deck and he would have been lucky if he didn't end up shark bait or in a distant penal colony.

As for being a Christian there is nothing wrong with serving and nothing wrong with serving with nukes. This guy just found an angle to use so he gets some "protection on religious grounds"

I think the yellow runs deep in this guy.

 

[cpr0312]

This one was geared for the facebook fact checkers!

 

[marksman]

 

[marksman]

 

[marksman]

 

[Wheels]

Another harbinger of November?

Democrat Mary Peltola wins Alaska special election to fill remainder of Rep. Don Young's term

Democrat Mary Peltola defeated former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the state's first ranked-choice voting contest to select a replacement to finish Rep. Don Young's term.

www.foxnews.com

I don't think so.

This is what happens when a state goes to "Ranked Choice Voting" and has two Republicans and only one Democrat running in an election. The two Republicans got 58% of the vote. Alaskan's screwed themselves by allowing outsiders to come in and push for changing in their voting laws.

 

[fourfive8]

My 2 cents, the votes are already bought for this year's mid terms.

As far as the AK elections go you don't know how close you may be with the term "bought".
Three seeks ago I was cruising around the streets of Anchorage for three days during the peak of this campaign. On several street corners, particularly in the midtown area, were campaigners acting like protesters showing all the earmarks of a Soros funded MoveOn, Orange Man Bad "community act out" program. I thought I smelled the stench of Soros in the air. I'm imagine the Donkeys are braying and RINOS alike are all dancing with glee with the results... judging by how quickly it was posted here. Plus, this election and the system set up there in AK passes neither the sanity nor smell test. I'm sure RINOMurkowski is quite smug and cozy with the results.

 

[Red Leg]

As far as the AK elections go you don't know how close you may be with the term "bought".
Three seeks ago I was cruising around the streets of Anchorage for three days during the peak of this campaign. On several street corners, particularly in the midtown area, were campaigners acting like protesters showing all the signs of a Soros funded MoveOn, Orange Man Bad "community act out" program. I thought I smelled the stench of Soros in the air. I'm imagine the Donkeys are braying and RINOS alike are all dancing with glee with the results... judging by how quickly it was posted here. Plus, this election and the system set up there in AK passes neither the sanity nor smell test. I'm sure RINOMurkowski is quite smug and cozy with the results.

Since I posted it, I assume this was directed toward me?

Nothing brings more joy to a democrat's heart than this Rhino = Donkey fabrication of the right. There are places in this country where a Donald Trump or Matt Gaetz can't get elected dog catcher but a centrist conservative might. That conservative centrist will vote with the purity wing of the party 85%-95% of the time. His or her democrat opponent will side with them perhaps 5% of time. However, our sloganeering about Rhinos as part of our party's circular firing squad rewards our suicidal fixation with purity tests rather than with winning elections. That is simply a self-destructive strategy that the MSM and Democrat party are all too happy to fan with support.

This election absolutely passes the smell test and we are too caught up in our own fantasies to realize we are the odor. I frankly can't abide Sarah Palin. I find her screechingly loud and not too bright. I suspect a lot of Alaska voters feel similarly. As @Wheels notes the good citizens of Alaska allowed themselves to agree to a ranked voting system that structurally can favor the minority by splitting the majority vote - particularly a majority electorate that is truly split. I think it is quite likely some number of Alaska Republicans refused to vote for Palin or Nick Begich regardless of the consequences because of purity and strict adherence to the edicts of Donald J Trump or dislike of Palin. Had Republicans acted as a party determined to win, every voter would have voted them 1 or 2 in a ranked system. Voting for only one or the other and not both was a de facto vote for an absolute progressive. That is not the fault of some conspiracy but rather the fault of our stupidity.

If we are the party represented by only the people that Trump likes, we will be consigned to irrelevance until he passes from the scene. Instead of fixing a flawed political strategy, I suspect many will take solace in the stolen election mantra that seems to be the ever more popular excuse for not being smart and winning a broad based majority that can actually accomplish something.

I also see little real effort to take advantage, as opposed to being taken advantaged of, the mail-in ballot system which is still prevalent in a lot of places that matter. If the presidential election was "stolen" it was stolen by progressive community organizers going door to door collecting ballots. Meanwhile, we couldn't even get our voters back out for a runoff in Georgia. Makes we want to cry.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

"I frankly can't abide Sarah Palin. I find her screechingly loud and not too bright."

As an Alaskan, I could not agree more. Also, yeah, the whole ranked choice thing sucks monkey balls. I think your analysis of how things happened is probably spot on too.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

To be outnumbered is a fact, to be overpowered is forgivable, but to be outsmarted is a sin.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Russian media: Lukoil chairman dies after falling from hospital window​

Maganov died by suicide, Tass news agency said Thursday, citing an unidentified law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter. The 67-year old was in a hospital after a heart attack and was also taking antidepressant drugs, according to the report. Law enforcement officials are working on the scene, according to Interfax.

Maganov joined Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, shortly after the company was founded and was in charge of the company’s upstream business. Thanks to his “managerial talent, Lukoil evolved from a small oil production group to one of the world’s leading energy companies,” the oil producer said in an emailed statement. He had been suffering from a “severe illness,” it said.


In recent years, the executive had participated in regular meetings at the Russian Energy Ministry alongside other oil companies, discussing the nation’s position on production levels ahead of OPEC+ meetings. He was appointed chairman in 2020.

Lukoil was the only Russian oil producer to call for a “fast resolution of the military conflict” in Ukraine early March, just after Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor entered its second week. Vagit Alekperov, the company’s founder, chief executive officer and also a major shareholder, announced his resignation in April after being targeted by international sanctions.

 

[wesheltonj]

I think I know a little about party politics and voting blocks at least in Texas. First, I have no idea why Alaskans would use Ranked Choice, it's just stupid and you see the results. Second, the problem is in the primary you have to campaign as a hard right conservative if you want to win. Then in the General, you have screwed yourself with moderates. Third, R voters do not vote all the way down ballot, a huge problem. Fourth, if they do vote down ballot, if they don't know who you are they will skip that race. (A skipped vote is a vote for the other party).

In Texas we used to have straight party voting. The "top" R’s in the state were concerned that with the increasing D population, they would be out with just one button. The theory was that the D’s would not vote all the way down. Turns out they do, I have personal experience with that.

All that said, I think the R’s nationwide will be successful in both houses. But all elections are local, and its always the other guy not my guy.

 

[Woodcarver]

Russian media: Lukoil chairman dies after falling from hospital window​

Maganov died by suicide, Tass news agency said Thursday, citing an unidentified law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter. The 67-year old was in a hospital after a heart attack and was also taking antidepressant drugs, according to the report. Law enforcement officials are working on the scene, according to Interfax.

Maganov joined Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, shortly after the company was founded and was in charge of the company’s upstream business. Thanks to his “managerial talent, Lukoil evolved from a small oil production group to one of the world’s leading energy companies,” the oil producer said in an emailed statement. He had been suffering from a “severe illness,” it said.


In recent years, the executive had participated in regular meetings at the Russian Energy Ministry alongside other oil companies, discussing the nation’s position on production levels ahead of OPEC+ meetings. He was appointed chairman in 2020.

Lukoil was the only Russian oil producer to call for a “fast resolution of the military conflict” in Ukraine early March, just after Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor entered its second week. Vagit Alekperov, the company’s founder, chief executive officer and also a major shareholder, announced his resignation in April after being targeted by international sanctions.

Apparently, knowing Putin is as hazardous to one's health as knowing Hillary....

Or maybe, Putin knows Hillary well enough to call in a favor

 

[VertigoBE]

That obese lady in the bottom is the (previous) minister of health in Belgium. Apart from the contradiction of being obese and a dokter, she was actually one of the more competent ministers we have had. She is also from the Right. I would have liked to see her again as minister, she did well.

 

[Wheels]

Article that may help clarify the Alaska house race.

Palin Should Blame Murkowski For Her Special Election Loss

Last night, Democrat Mary Peltola defeated Republican firebrand Sarah Palin in Alaska’s special election for its vacant House seat.

thefederalist.com

 

[steve white]

Since I posted it, I assume this was directed toward me?

Nothing brings more joy to a democrat's heart than this Rhino = Donkey fabrication of the right. There are places in this country where a Donald Trump or Matt Gaetz can't get elected dog catcher but a centrist conservative might. That conservative centrist will vote with the purity wing of the party 85%-95% of the time. His or her democrat opponent will side with them perhaps 5% of time. However, our sloganeering about Rhinos as part of our party's circular firing squad rewards our suicidal fixation with purity tests rather than with winning elections. That is simply a self-destructive strategy that the MSM and Democrat party are all too happy to fan with support.

This election absolutely passes the smell test and we are too caught up in our own fantasies to realize we are the odor. I frankly can't abide Sarah Palin. I find her screechingly loud and not too bright. I suspect a lot of Alaska voters feel similarly. As @Wheels notes the good citizens of Alaska allowed themselves to agree to a ranked voting system that structurally can favor the minority by splitting the majority vote - particularly a majority electorate that is truly split. I think it is quite likely some number of Alaska Republicans refused to vote for Palin or Nick Begich regardless of the consequences because of purity and strict adherence to the edicts of Donald J Trump or dislike of Palin. Had Republicans acted as a party determined to win, every voter would have voted them 1 or 2 in a ranked system. Voting for only one or the other and not both was a de facto vote for an absolute progressive. That is not the fault of some conspiracy but rather the fault of our stupidity.

If we are the party represented by only the people that Trump likes, we will be consigned to irrelevance until he passes from the scene. Instead of fixing a flawed political strategy, I suspect many will take solace in the stolen election mantra that seems to be the ever more popular excuse for not being smart and winning a broad based majority that can actually accomplish something.

I also see little real effort to take advantage, as opposed to being taken advantaged of, the mail-in ballot system which is still prevalent in a lot of places that matter. If the presidential election was "stolen" it was stolen by progressive community organizers going door to door collecting ballots. Meanwhile, we couldn't even get our voters back out for a runoff in Georgia. Makes we want to cry.

Yet if we move too far away from the fire breathers, we risk a return to the stagnancy of a Mitt Romney, which never energized the voters. We need another swamp drainer.

 

[Wheels]

 

[JOHN GRENZ]