Free Republic

The streams emerging from beneath an Arctic glacier are several degrees warmer than the icy water Alaska’s Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski has tossed on a Tea Party group’s effort to draft former Gov. Sarah Palin as a U.S. Senate candidate in 2014. Reviving one of Alaska’s great political feuds, Murkowski told The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C.: “I think there are a lot of outside interests that would like to see Sarah Palin in some form of elected office. Most in Alaska recognize our former governor is rally not involved in or engaged in the state anymore, that she’s moved...

House Republicans on Wednesday took one of the first steps toward overturning a new Obama administration plan for managing wildlife and oil development in the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. During a House subcommittee hearing on a bill to repeal the reserve management plan, Republicans insisted the administration’s blueprint tilts too heavily toward conservation by walling off energy development in roughly half of the reserve. “The Obama administration appears determined, against the wishes of most Alaskans, to keep their energy resources off limits,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash. who sponsored the repeal bill along with Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. Finalized by...

Reader Psalmon writes: "Nenana River ice breakup nears top three latest dates in 97 years of contest." It may have escaped notice, but this last Saturday the locals in Nanana, AK hooked up the clock to determine the breakup and winner of the annual Nenana Ice Classic. Further ice measurements were apparently suspended last Thursday with the last measurement of 40 inches (just). If you think May 11 seems late for starting the countdown, it is. After the fourth earliest breakup in 2012 (April 23), as of this afternoon on May 14th, the tripod still stands, making 2013 the fourth...

The Lower 48 may not have seen the last of Sarah Palin. The controversial ex-Alaska governor and former Republican vice presidential candidate is her party’s top choice in the upcoming race for the U.S. Senate, according to a new Harper Polling survey. The poll found that, among likely Republican primary voters in the state, Mrs. Palin would take 32 percent of the vote. Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell is right on her heels with 30 percent, while former Senate candidate and tea party favorite Joe Miller comes in third with 24 percent the vote. But 14 percent of the Republican primary...

State, ConocoPhillips, ASRC join defense of permit for first NPR-A development - - - - Quite a legal battle is shaping up over the expansion of oil and gas development into Alaska’s western North Slope frontier. The conflict centers on a planned project known as Colville Delta 5. ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. has a federal permit to build and operate the CD-5 drill site inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Seven residents of Nuiqsut, a predominantly Inupiat Eskimo village a few miles southeast of CD-5, are suing in Anchorage federal court to invalidate the permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of...

"Superficial" "A source close to the Senate negotiations [says] that two senators who voted against the background check bill would vote for it after minor, superficial changes." - Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, May 6, 2013ACTION: Senators who voted pro-gun last month are under intense pressure - by Senate Democrats and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s hit ads - to switch their votes.  We need to keep applying the heat and let them know that gun owners are ready to help in any Senate campaign, no matter which state, to defeat ANY SENATOR who votes for gun control.LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM WASHINGTON, DC. It’s...

Dan Savage is an author, advice columnist, and founder of It Gets Better, an anti-bullying project. If you’ve ever seen one of those videos of a celebrity telling gay teens “it gets better,” that was Dan’s idea. A noble goal, to be sure. But when he says things like this, it makes me wonder just how noble he is: Woke up to Sarah Palin’s voice. She’s taken up chewing tobacco now cuz LIBRULS or Bloomberg or something. Now seeing upside of oral cancers. — Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) May 4, 2013 And yes, that’s the real Dan Savage. His Twitter handle...

Russian strategic bombers conducted flights within the U.S. defense zone close to northern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands last week in MoscowÂ’s latest incident of nuclear saber rattling against the United States, according to defense and military officials. Two Bear H nuclear-capable bombers were detected flying into the militaryÂ’s Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Aleutians, where a strategic missile defense radar is located, and AlaskaÂ’s North Slope region by the Arctic and Chukchi Seas on April 28 and 29, military officials told the Washington Free Beacon. Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis, a spokesman with the U.S. Northern Command,...

<p>Would you support Sarah Palin should she decide to run for the presidency in 2016?</p>

A national tea party group — the Tea Party Leadership Fund — hopes to convince former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to run for Senate next year. As part of the effort, it is soliciting donations, The Los Angeles Times reports. The group sent an e-mail this week telling potential donors that Palin has a "clear path" to defeat The Last Frontier's incumbent Democrat, Mark Begich. “You and I both know that Sarah Palin is a fighter who will stand up to Harry Reid and his pals in the Senate to protect our Constitution on issues like amnesty, gun control and...

Tea Party group hopes to draft Sarah Palin for Senate run in Alaska By Justin Sink - 05/01/13 08:36 AM ET A tea party group is encouraging supporters to give money in an effort to draft former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to run against Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) in 2014. "You and I both know that Sarah Palin is a fighter who will stand up to Harry Reid and his pals in the Senate to protect our Constitution in issues like amnesty, gun control and our nation's crushing debt," said the fundraising email from Todd Cefaratti of the...

Democratic leaders are wooing staunchly pro-gun candidates to run in pivotal Senate races at the same time they are discussing a strategy for bringing gun control legislation back up for debate. The two-pronged effort has prompted Republicans to accuse the Senate Democratic leadership of hypocrisy, but Democrats say it is simply smart politics. The question is whether two of the Democrats’ most promising potential candidates in Montana and South Dakota will pay a price for the leadership’s political maneuverings in Washington. Or will recruiting candidates who do not support President Obama’s gun control agenda have any effect on Democratic fundraising...

The operator of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline has been working for years to modernize pump stations along the 800-mile route. The chief objective of this “strategic reconfiguration” program is to save costs. But it has yielded other important benefits, says operator Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. After an oil leak forced a pipeline stoppage in January 2011, new pump station equipment helped avert a shutdown of unprecedented length, a top Alyeska manager said. The problem facing Alyeska was the rapid chilling of idle oil inside the pipeline. New pumps and power units installed as part of strategic reconfiguration were able to...

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Build-out of a large-scale mine near the headwaters of a world-class salmon fishery in Alaska could wipe out as many as 90 miles of streams and alter stream flows, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a revised assessment released Friday. The report said mining activity would claim at least 24 miles of streams in the Bristol Bay region, based on the scenarios evaluated, with the loss of wetlands ranging from 1,200 to 4,800 acres. The EPA focused on the Pebble deposit and took into account information related to the proposed Pebble Mine but also noted...

Former Republican Alaska Senate contender Joe Miller is considering a comeback, in part because he thinks America is now living under tyranny. The Sarah Palin-backed tea party favorite shocked the Alaska political establishment in 2010 by beating incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the GOP Senate primary. But Murkowski decided to keep calm and carry on as a write-in candidate in the general election. She ultimately edged out Miller and Democratic candidate Scott McAdams to become the first senator since Strom Thurmond to win a Senate seat by write-in. Since the defeat, Miller has been practicing law in Fairbanks, working on...

Rand Paul U.S. Senator, 50 By Sarah Palin When the Tea Party movement wanted to send a message to the Senate in 2010, it elected a clear-sighted eye doctor from the Bluegrass State. In a D.C. too often defined by the venal equivocations of a permanent political class more interested in consolidating its own power than in upholding the Constitution or defending the common good, Senator Rand Paul is a voice of reason awakening the public to what must be done to restore our prosperity and preserve the blessings of liberty for future generations. His brand of libertarian-leaning conservatism attracts...

From Tea Party: Patriots, the beginning of our #DCIntervention yesterday came with great success, but there is still much work to be done. Today the Senate will vote on diminishing the authority of the 2nd amendment through expanded background checks and it is important that you make your voices heard. If you care about the Constitution and want to see it upheld, we need you to call today. If you value the future of our republic, then you know it takes the participation of the people to keep the power hungry politicians in Washington in check. If you have never...

The Alaska Senate on Sunday afternoon approved the oil-tax bill that passed the House 13 hours before, sending to Gov. Sean Parnell the measure he had sought to save billions of dollars for Alaska's leading industry. The Senate vote was 12-8 to concur with the revised bill that the House approved 24-15 just before 2 a.m. Sunday morning (on reconsideration, three Republicans switched to support the bill). The Senate vote came past the midway point of the 90th day of the 90-day session. Parnell said that Alaska's current tax regime, which he backed as lieutenant governor in 2007 when it...

The Republican plan to block debate on Senate Bill 649, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases and transfers, failed spectacularly Thursday morning when sixteen Republican Senators joined almost all of the Democrats to vote in favor opening debate on the bill. Among those voting to defeat the filibuster were 9 Democrats with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association, and 12 A-rated Republicans (out of 16 Republican “ayes”). Two Democrats, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), joined the majority of Republican Senators who tried to prevent debate, much less a vote, on the bill....

In yet another strike by Alaska’s RINO Establishment against the grassroots, Chair Debbie Brown was removed by a sham proceeding last night. The “trial,” held at a time that Ms. Brown was out-of-town and unable to defend herself against trumped-up charges, resulted in her removal from ARP office. The individual purporting to be the new chair of the ARP, Peter Goldberg, was never elected by the party delegates but was apparently hand-selected by insiders for his current position. This is the second time this year that a duly-elected ARP Chair has been removed through a kangaroo court-type proceeding orchestrated by...

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

UPDATE (April 2, 2013) – Yesterday was a landmark day for Alaskan knife owners. HB 33 and SB 11 were combined. What is needed now before the session ends on April 14 is for HB 33 to pass the Senate and receive a concurrence in the House. Doing so will make it legal for an adult 18 years and older to own a Switchblades and Gravity knife. The American Knife & Tool Institute continues to stay in touch with Rep. Mark Neuman’s office to provide support. Alaska Bill Would Better Define Gravity and Switchblade Knives and Enact Knife Preemption“House Bill...

After focusing for years on adding heat to the chilly contents of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, officials are planning to study a new approach to boosting line performance — decreasing the amount of water inside. With North Slope oil production in a 25-year-long decline, the pipeline is becoming more vulnerable to problems as the flow of crude decreases. A barrel of oil took just four days to travel the length of the 800-mile line in 1988, but now takes 18 days. Because of the slower flow rate, the temperature of oil can sometimes dip down to 32 degrees during its...

WASHINGTON - One of the House of Representatives’ longest-serving Republicans now says he meant “no disrespect” when he used the term “wetbacks” to describe migrant workers his family once employed. His comment, which drew a strong rebuke from the House speaker, flies in the face of his party’s effort to improve outreach to minority groups.

Here's the link.

Does this count as a "yes" on Same Sex Marriage (SSM) for purposes of the pool? Susan Collins's dodge was transparently an attempt to avoid further irritating conservatives when she's staring at a Republican primary in Maine next year. Murkowski's not under quite the same time pressure as she's not up again until 2016. Could be that her reservations are legit. But maybe we're looking at this the wrong way: Because Collins comes from a blue state, she has to sound friendly-ish to gay marriage no matter what her true views might be or else she's potentially in trouble in...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she’s joined the ranks of those whose views are “evolving” on the issue of same-sex marriage. “I think it’s important to acknowledge that there is a change afoot in this country in terms of how marriage is viewed,” the Alaska Republican told the Chugiak-Eagle River Star on Wednesday. “The term ‘evolving view’ has been perhaps overused, but I think it is an appropriate term for me to use.” She told the newspaper that she is reconsidering her views on gay marriage “very closely.” Another Republican senator, Rob Portman of Ohio, last week said he was reversing...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is "evolving" on the issue of gay marriage, but she has stopped short of joining the other senator from Alaska, Mark Begich, D-Alaska, in endorsing it.

IN MEMORIAMT/4 HARVEY E. ROOKUS, USA T/4 Harvey E. Rookus, USA, Hq. China Combat Command, WWII, died 18Mar2013 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV) "Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be." (1 Maccabees 3:58–60) God Of Our Fathers Rest in Peace, fallen...

In May, New England's fishermen will again see a cut to the number of fish they can catch, this time so deeply that the historic industry's existence is threatened from Rhode Island to Maine. But as hard as the cuts are likely to hit fishing communities, local seafood eaters may not notice at all. In the region's markets, grocery stores and restaurants, imported fish dominate, and the cuts make that less likely to change. The cuts will shrink the catch limit 77 percent for cod in the Gulf of Maine and 61 percent for cod in Georges Bank, off southeastern...

Great piece by Whitney Pitcher today, outlining the current debate in Alaska to overturn one of Governor Palin’s greatest achievements in office, ACES (Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share): During her CPAC speech last Saturday, Governor Palin included some Alaskan constitutional populism (emphasis added): If Mrs. Thatcher were with us here today, she would remind us that there is a big difference between being pro-business and being pro-free market. On this there can be no mistake where conservatives stand. It’s time for “We the People” to break up the cronyism and put a stake through the heart of “too big to...

The city of Valdez plans to spend up to $900,000 to try to defeat a bill aimed at advancing an in-state natural gas pipeline project. City manager John Hozey said a large-scale line capable of feeding overseas exports makes more sense for Alaska. Valdez has hoped to be the terminus for a major line, when and if one gets built, but Hozey said the PR campaign - including ads and a website - is geared at supporting what Valdez believes to be the better project. The city is using money it has won in challenges over taxation of the trans-Alaska...

The Senate completed passage of the governor's oil-tax revamp Thursday, confirming its original 11-9 vote on reconsideration. After all the drama Wednesday -- a session that spanned nine hours and featured long debates on amendments and then on Senate Bill 21 itself -- only one senator asked for debate time Wednesday. "I read that I spoke for about 40 minutes last night," said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, an opponent of the bill. "I won't put you through that again today, but this bill pushes about $2,000 a minute across to the oil industry, every minute of the day for the...

Despite all of the doom and gloom about the future of the Republican Party following the 2012 election, the reality is that Republicans actually have a chance of retaking the Senate in 2014. Those hopes improved on Wednesday as Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said that barring a serious illness or another catastrophe, she plans to run for reelection. In 2014, Democrats will be defending a total of 21 seats, including seven states Mitt Romney carried — Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina. In contrast, Republicans will be defending 14 seats. All of those seats...

Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that 10 states will receive funding to turn around their persistently lowest-achieving schools through the Department's School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. Four of the states will receive awards to run a new competition for previously unfunded schools, and six states will receive continuation funds for the third year of implementing a SIG model. The states receiving new awards are: Indiana—$9.2 million; Nebraska—$2.6 million; Colorado—$5.2 million; and Louisiana—$9.6 million. The states receiving continuation awards are: Alaska—$1.5 million; Iowa—$3.0 million; North Dakota—$1.2 million; Oklahoma—$5.5 million; Texas—$49.7 million; and Wyoming—$1.1 million. "When schools fail, our...

Solid gold can be deposited in Earth's crust "almost instantaneously" during earthquakes, said a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Sunday. The gold is formed when a tremor splits open a fluid-filled cavity in the Earth's crust, causing a sudden drop in pressure, according to a team of Australian researchers. This, in turn, causes the fluid to expand rapidly and evaporate, and any gold particles that had been dissolved in it to "precipitate almost immediately", said a Nature press release. "Repeated earthquakes could therefore lead to the build up of economic-grade gold deposits." The researchers said much of...

Karl Rove sought to turn the tables Sunday on Sarah Palin, jabbing her for stepping down early as Alaska governor, a day after she blistered the GOP consultant in a speech at CPAC. Palin launched a broadside against the GOP establishment on Saturday at the gathering of conservatives, but directed her sharpest aim at Rove, reports Huffington Post. “If these experts who keep losing elections and keep getting rehired and getting millions — if they feel that strong about who gets to run in this party, then they should buck-up or stay in the truck,� Palin told CPAC Saturday, according...

Moscow, March 16 (RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama must have known that his support of gay marriage would bring him trouble. But of all possible repercussions, a demand to roll back Alaska’s 1867 sale to the United States was one he was unlikely to have seen coming. And yet that was the very claim that an ultraconservative religious group made in a Moscow arbitrage court, citing the need to protect fellow Christians from sin. Obama’s alleged plans to legalize the “so-called same-sex marriage” threaten the freedom of religion of Alaska’s Orthodox Christians, who “would never accept sin for...

The Uriminzokkiri website, linked to the regime, mentioned targets including Yeonpyeong island, which was attacked by Northern forces in 2010. Pyongyang has made a series of threats since its last nuclear test in February prompted the UN to tighten sanctions. The US said on Friday it would refocus missile defences to its west coast to counter the North's threats. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said 14 more batteries would be placed in Alaska by 2017, adding to 30 already in place along the coast.

Jeb Bush Going For 'Full Ginsburg' To Promote Immigration Policy On TV Named for the Lewinsky lawyer who first pulled off the feat, former governor to appear on all five major Sunday talk shows 9 March 2013 In insider Washington slang it is a publicity coup that has been dubbed the "full Ginsburg" – when a single interviewee snags a slot on all five of American television's major Sunday morning talk shows on the same day. It was named after Monica Lewinsky lawyer William Ginsburg – who was the first to pull it off in 1998 – but now former...

LAKELAND | Former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin was fired up about God and country when she spoke Friday at Southeastern University in Lakeland. And she was dressed for the part. The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate visited the Sunshine State at the request of the organizers of the school's seventh annual leadership forum. She was quite a presence on the stage, in a lipstick-red suit and fierce high heels. Her passionate talk was peppered with such vibrant cries as "Cling to your God, your guns, your Constitution!" and pleas for the next generation to change the country's moral fiber. "That...

What happens at CPAC 2013 will divide the past from the future. Conservatives will chose between nostalgic pleasantries or a dynamic horizon. Conservatives will consolidate one way or another. In my view, conservatives will choose the future and they will choose Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin. There is a division today in what is called conservatism, although it should be called something else. It has been forming for several years and will come to clarity and decision in CPAC 2013. The new directions — states’ rights, sound money and constitutional government — of what might be called the gnarly conservatives...

<p>A bill designating March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day has passed the Alaska Legislature.</p> <p>The Senate followed the House's lead and this week passed HB67 from Fairbanks Rep. Steve Thompson. The measure now goes to the governor.</p>

JUNEAU — The Alaska House approved a resolution Wednesday that calls on President Barack Obama to rescind 23 executive actions he filed in the wake of the Newtown school shooting. House Joint Resolution 4, sponsored by Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage, opposes the executive actions related to guns, criminal background checks and mental health issues. Millett said the resolution sends “a clear and concise” message to Washington, D.C., arguing that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t right for Alaska. Other legislators offered support for the mental health components of the president’s orders, but the House declined to endorse them. Millett and others argued...

— The state House passed a controversial measure criminalizing federal enforcement of some gun laws in Alaska Monday, highlighting lawmakers’ interest in addressing perceived federal overreach throughout the state. House Bill 69, which was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), passed on a 31-5 vote. As initially proposed, it would make any attempt by a federal employee to enforce new gun restrictions a misdemeanor in the state -- but the substitute version of the bill passed by the House Monday upgraded the charge to a class C felony. "I can't believe that anybody is going to try and follow...

JUNEAU, Alaska - A controversial bill that would criminalize federal gun regulation in Alaska is on track to be scheduled for a vote.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Defense Inspector General on Monday disputed an Air Force investigation that blamed pilot error rather than oxygen supply problems for the crash of an F-22 Raptor in November 2010. The Air Force grounded the jets — considered the world’s most advanced — for several months in 2011 after reports by pilots that oxygen-supply system failures lead to symptoms including headache, fatigue and nausea. The Air Force report, completed in late 2011, concluded that it was not an oxygen supply problem, but several errors by Capt. Jeffrey Haney, who was killed, that led to the crash...

After dedicating nearly eight years and $5 billion to the quest, Shell’s plans to continue hunting for Arctic oil this summer are in jeopardy, as company officials on Monday confirmed they will tow two drilling units to Asian dry docks for repairs. Although Shell Oil said the firm has not ruled out drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska this summer, it appears unlikely the vessels will be able to make the two-to-four-week treks to those Asian ports, undergo repairs, clear U.S. inspections and return to those Arctic waters in time for the drilling season that begins...

The federal government said Tuesday it rejected a plan to build a road through a wildlife refuge that would have given a small Aleut village in Alaska better access to medical care. Villagers in remote King Cove had sought the one-lane gravel road for transporting emergency medical patients to an all-weather airport in Cold Bay, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it will choose the "no action" alternative to a proposed land swap for a road corridor bisecting Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The decision is a victory for environmental groups that submitted thousands of public comments protesting the...

The Alaskan Brewing Co. is going green, but instead of looking to solar and wind energy, it has turned to a very familiar source: beer. The Juneau-based beer maker has installed a unique boiler system in order to cut its fuel costs. It purchased a $1.8 million furnace that burns the company's spent grain - the waste accumulated from the brewing process - into steam which powers the majority of the brewery's operations. Company officials now joke they are now serving "beer-powered beer." What to do with spent grain was seemingly solved decades ago by breweries operating in the Lower...