Saturday, November 15, 2025
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Biden backers are bailing, Siena-NYT poll shows

The headlines are bad for Biden. When a liberal news outlet like Politico blasts: “Six warning signs for Biden in new battleground state poll,” followed by a sub-headline, “The toplines are bad for Biden. What’s buried deeper in the poll might be worse,” then you know the president is in trouble with voters.

According to polling just released, Biden is losing four of the six battleground states, and tying Trump in one.

“When a pollster releases new data in six key battleground states, and the incumbent is losing in four of them, it’s hard to narrow down the list of warning signs to just a handful,” Politico wrote on Sunday.

The results from The New York Times and Siena College, released to coincide with the Nov. 5 start of the presidential calendar year for the 2024 General Election, show President Joe Biden is losing ground to former President Donald Trump.

Siena College polls are usually slightly favoring a Democrat outcome. In 2022, Siena predicted that Ron DeSantis would win reelection as governor of Florida by 11 points. He won by more than 19. Siena predicted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott would win reelection by 9 points; he won by nearly 11. Siena predicted Sen. Marco Rubio would win reelection by 8 points; he won by double that margin.

Thus, if Siena polls say Biden is in trouble, even the leftist-controlled media knows enough to pay attention.

In this poll, conducted in October in battleground swing states, Trump leads Biden in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, ties Biden in union-heavy Michigan and trails Biden in Wisconsin. These are six states that Trump lost in 2020. Trump leads Biden by at least 5 percentage points in four of the six battleground states, while Biden’s 2-percentage-point advantage in Wisconsin is within the margin of error.

Some takeaways:

  • 41% think Biden is too old.
  • 36% think Biden “has the mental sharpness to be an effective president.”
  • 54% think Trump is mentally sharp enough to be president.
  • 23% think the country is headed in the right direction.
  • 43% of Democrats think the country is on the right track, and 42% think it’s on the wrong track.

Biden’s best demographic is the under-30 voter. In that group, Biden leads Trump 50% to 44%.

Read the Politico story at this link.

Beyond Uzis and Iron Dome: 75 Israeli inventions and four Palestinian innovations that changed the world

If one counts the olive press and the grape (or wine) press, we can find 75 inventions by Israelis that have changed the world. Here they are:

  1. Kibbutz – 1909: Kibbutz Degania was the first of hundreds of collective settlements founded by idealistic pioneers
    2. Zaksenberg juicer – 1928: Iconic citrus juicer invented by Yitzhak Zaksenberg
    Wonder Pot – 1930s: Once-popular aluminum pot for baking on a gas stove
    3. Krav Maga – 1948: Military self-defense system developed for the IDF and used around the world
    4. Uzi – 1954: Submachine gun that was one of the first weapons to use a telescoping bolt design
    5. Feldenkrais Method – 1954: Type of exercise therapy devised by Moshe Feldenkrais that claims to improve body movement and psychological state
    6. Sussita – 1960: Fiberglass-shelled cars that were popular in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s

  1. 7. Bamba – 1964: Iconic peanut-butter-flavored snack made by Osem
    8. Drip irrigation – 1965: Israel’s mega contribution to global agriculture
    Cherry tomatoes – 1973: Israel’s mega contribution to global agriculture after drip irrigation
    9. Rav Bariach – 1973: The ultimate steel security door
    10. RSA encryption – 1977: A public-key cryptosystem that is widely used for secure data transmission
    11. 8088 processor – 1979: Revolutionary microprocessor developed by Intel in their Haifa lab
    12. Interferon proteins – 1970s: Michel Revel of the Weizmann Institute of Science discovered that interferon communicates with cells via a receptor on the cell wall
    13. Merkava tank – 1979: Main battle tank used by the IDF
    Ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation – 1980: Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery
    Unmanned planes – 1981: First UAV developed by the Israel Aerospace Industries
    14. Quasiperiodic crystals – 1982: Prof. Dan Schechtman from the Technion won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    15. Taki – 1983: Popular card game developed by Haim Shafir
    16. Dalkan – 1983: System for refueling company vehicles without a wallet
    Bio-Bee Biological pest control – 1984: Breakthrough by the company from Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu
    17. Epilady – 1986: Cost effective, mess-free alternative to shaving and waxing for women around the world
    Differential cryptanalysis – late 1980s: Study of how differences in information input can affect the resultant difference at the output
    18. Arrow (Hetz) – 1990: Effective anti-ballistic missile system
    19. Babysense – 1992: Highly sensitive baby breathing monitor
    20. Digital printing press – 1993: Revolutionary printing press invented by Benny Landa, founder of Indigo Digital Press
    21. Firewall – 1993: Computer network security system
    22. NIR heart stent – 1995: Life-saving medical device invented by Medinol’s Kobi and Judith Richter
    23. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) – 1995: PC-to-phone software solution developed by VocalTec.
    24. Copaxone – 1996: Teva’s groundbreaking drug for treating certain forms of multiple sclerosis
    25. ICQ – 1996: Messaging platform that was a global hit at the time
    26. Quicktionary – 1997: Portable scanning translators produced by Wizcom Technologies Ltd.
    27. Babylon – 1997: Single-click computer translation, dictionary and information source utility program, by Amnon Ovadia
    28. Gaga – 1998: Style of modern dance invented by Ohad Naharin
    29. NDS VideoGuard – 1998: Conditional access for pay-TV
    30. TDMoIP – 1998: Emulation of time-division multiplexing over a packet switched network, developed at RAD Data Communications
    31. EyeQ chip – 1999: Mobileye’s custom accelerator processor chip
    32. USB flash drive – 2000: Invented by Dov Moran
    33. Exelon – 2000: Drug for treating mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s
    34. PillCam – 2001: By Given Imaging, enables the visualization and detection of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract
    35. Like-A-Fish – 2001: Innovative tankless diving gear
    36. MyHeritage – 2003: Popular online genealogy platform with headquarters in Or Yehuda
    37. Azilect – 2005: Drug for Parkinson’s disease developed at the Technion and commercialized by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
    38. 3G Solar – 2003: Low-cost alternative to silicon-based PV solar modules
    39. Mazor Robotics’ Spine Assist – 2004: First robot approved for spinal surgery
    40. Wix – 2006: Cloud-based web development services
    41. Zenith Solar – 2007: Modular high-concentration photovoltaic system (HCPV)
    42. Waze – 2008: The navigation app that helps drivers avoid traffic
    43. BriefCam – 2008: Video-synopsis technology that lets viewers rapidly review and index original full-length video footage
    44. Solaris Synergy – 2008: Environmentally friendly and economically beneficial way to float solar panels on water
    45. Rosetta Genomics – 2008: MicroRNAs as effective biomarkers
    46. Trophy – 2009: Rafael’s active protection system for armed vehicles
    47. Gett – 2009: App that connects between customers and taxi drivers using its proprietary GPS system
    48. ReWalk – 2010: Bionic walking assistance system that enables paraplegics to stand upright and walk
    49. WeWork – 2010: Pioneers of shared work space
    50. OrCam MyEye – 2010: Portable artificial vision device that allows the visually impaired to understand text and identify objects through audio feedback
    51. Viber – 2010: Proprietary cross-platform instant messaging app for smartphones
    52. WeCU Technologies – 2010: Technology able to identify people in real time
    53. Wind Tulip – 2010: Cost-effective, silent wind turbine by Leviathan Energy, designed as an environmental sculpture
    54. Iron Dome – 2011: Air defense system developed by Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries that intercepts short-range rockets and has saved innumerable lives
    55. Moovit – 2011: App that uses crowdsourced and official public transit data to provide real time route planning for users of public transportation
    56. Solar window – 2011: Developed by Pythagoras Solar, these windows combine energy efficiency, power generation and transparency
    57. TraitUP – 2011: A new technology that enables the introduction of genetic materials into seeds without modifying their DNA, developed by Hebrew University scientists
    58. 3D tethered particle motion system – 2011: 3D tracking of critical protein-DNA and protein-RNA cell interactions, developed by three Bar-Ilan University professors
    59. GridON Keeper – 2011: Three-phase fault current limiter developed at Bar-Ilan University
    60. HydroSpin – 2012: Unique internal pipe generator that supplies electricity for water monitoring and control systems in remote areas and sites without electricity
    61. Elya Recycling – 2012: Innovative method for recycling plastic based on a specialized formulation of natural ingredients
    62. Electric car – 2012: Better Place CEO Shai Agassi developed infrastructure for electric cars as an alternative to fossil fuel technology
    63. TACount – 2012: Real-time microbiology that enables the detection of harmful microorganisms in a matter of minutes
    64. Elbit Space Imaging Systems – 2017: A compact “space camera”
    65. Judean date palm revival – 2020: Extinct cultivar restored by reviving an ancient seed
    66. WatchPAT – 2020: The first FDA-approved portable diagnostic device for treating sleep apnea at home
    67. GridON Keeper – 2011: Three-phase fault current limiter developed at Bar-Ilan University
    68. HydroSpin – 2012: Unique internal pipe generator that supplies electricity for water monitoring and control systems in remote areas and sites without electricity
    68. Elya Recycling – 2012: Innovative method for recycling plastic based on a specialized formulation of natural ingredients
    69. Electric car – 2012: Better Place CEO Shai Agassi developed infrastructure for electric cars as an alternative to fossil fuel technology
    70. TACount – 2012: Real-time microbiology that enables the detection of harmful microorganisms in a matter of minutes
    71. Elbit Space Imaging Systems – 2017: A compact “space camera”
    72. Judean date palm revival – 2020: Extinct cultivar restored by reviving an ancient seed
    73. Azilect, a drug for Parkinson’s disease, by Moussa Youdim and John Finberg from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
  2. 74: Solar panels for heating water – 1955: The still ubiquitous dud shemesh harnesses the local climate to save electricity
  3. 75. Olive press and wine press: Ancient Israelis invented a way to extract oil from olives and juice from grapes

Important Palestinian inventions, according to answers from Quora and other sources:

1. Improvised cheap and disposable mortar and Kassam missile launchers

2. Al-Quds rocket used against Israel
3. Innovative use of party balloons for starting fires and burning crops of Israelis over the border of Gaza
4. Modern sling shots that are friendly to use, even for small children, against Israeli soldiers or civilian cars.

Free Palestine Friday in Fairbanks: Four attend in the far north

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Along Airport Way in Fairbanks on Friday, four people held signs and shouted anti-Israel slogans, such as “Free Palestine,” a phrase also used by pro-Hamas terrorist supporters. such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

It wasn’t a big crowd, even though the temperate was balmy, but it was probably the farthest north and one of the smallest anti-Israel demonstrations in the nation.

The Free Palestine Movement is a Palestinian Syrian armed and violent movement led by businessman Yasser Qashlaq, who wants to send Jews, who he describes as “the dregs of European garbage,” from Israel “back” to Europe, even though nearly all Jews in Israel were born there, rather than in Europe. The movement calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, with the eradication of the State of Israel and its people.

One participant wore a hat reminiscent of the Socialist Soviet Union, complete with a red insignia surrounded by gold.

Listicle: 2024 presidential election year calendar

On Nov. 5, 2024, Americans will elect a president, and that means in 365 days, either the Democrats will continue to steer the direction of the country, or the Republicans will take on what has become a nearly existential challenge of righting the ship of a torn and troubled United States.

Here are some key dates to keep in mind for the next few months:

Nov. 8, 2023: Third Republican presidential debate, in Miami. Hosted by NBC News and Salem Media.

Dec. 6, 2023: Fourth Republican debate, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Hosted by NBC News and Salem Media.

Jan. 15, 2024: Iowa Republican caucus.

Jan. 23, 2024: New Hampshire primary

Feb. 3, 2024: South Carolina Democrat primary

Feb. 8, 2024: Nevada and Virgin Islands Republican caucuses

Feb. 24, 2024: South Carolina Republican primary

Feb. 27, 2024: Michigan Republican and Democrat primary

March 2, 2024: Idaho and Missouri Republican caucuses

March 3, 2024: District of Columbia Republican primary

March 4, 2024: North Dakota Republican caucus

March 5, 2024: Super Tuesday for both parties including:

  • -Alabama, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Alaska, Republican caucus (presidential preference poll)

-American Samoa, Democrat Caucus

-Arkansas, Republican and Democrat primaries

-California, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Colorado, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Iowa, Democrat caucus

-Maine, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Massachusetts, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Minnesota, Republican and Democrat primaries

-North Carolina, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Oklahoma, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Tennessee, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Texas, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Utah, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Vermont, Republican and Democrat primaries

-Virginia, Republican and Democrat primaries

March 12, 2024: Georgia Republican and Democrat primaries, Hawaii Republican caucus, Mississippi Republican and Democrat primaries, Washington State Republican and Democrat primaries

March 19, 2024: Arizona, Florida Illinois, Kansas, Ohio Republican and Democrat primaries

March 23, 2024: Louisiana Republican and Democrat primaries, Missouri Democrat primary

April 2, 2024: Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin Republican and Democrat primaries

April 6, 2024: Alaska Democrat primary, also Hawaii and North Dakota Democrat primarie

July 15-18: Republican National Convention

Aug. 19-22: Democrat National Convention

Nov. 5, 2024: Presidential election

Dec. 17, 2024: Electors cast their votes

Sen. Sullivan calls for sanctions to hold Hong Kong accountable for human rights abuses

Serious and pervasive human rights issues are taking place in Hong Kong against both residents and people with citizenship in other countries.

Take the case of Jimmy Lai, who escaped communist China to Hong Kong at the age of 12, and, although he has UK citizenship, remained to advocate for democracy. As a newspaper publisher, he now languishes in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison.

His and other instances of arbitrary arrest and detention prompted Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan to call for sanctions — and he has introduced legislation that would put sanctions on 49 of Hong Kong judiciary officials, from top judges to the justice secretary.

Sullivan, a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon are co-chairs of the commission and are leading the bi-partisan effort.

The Hong Kong Judicial Sanctions Act holds officials of Hong Kong’s judiciary accountable for human rights violations and to support Hong Kongers facing persecution under Beijing’s National Security Law.” Hong Kong is in its third year of cracking down on freedom of speech, assembly, and the press, as its former self-governing status is buckling under the control of China. Hong Kong, which was released from being a colony of the United Kingdom in 1997, was set up at that time to be self-governing, under the “One Country, Two Systems,” principle granted to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Using the 2020 National Security Law, Hong Kong authorities increasingly prosecute people for loosely defined crimes, things that Americans would see as fundamental free-speech rights. Even more oppressive laws are coming next year.

The Hong Kong Judicial Sanctions Act requires the president to determine whether certain Hong Kong officials violated human rights and whether sanctions should be imposed in accordance with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. 

On the House side, three representatives — Young Kim of California, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, and John Curtis of Utah — introduced companion legislation.

“We all know Hong Kong’s judiciary isn’t the source of pride and independence it used to be,” said Sen. Sullivan. “Since the 2019 – 2020 crackdown, the judiciary in Hong Kong has become an instrument of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] to target innocent civilians. My colleagues and I are introducing legislation to focus the Biden administration’s attention on this insidious aspect of the CCP’s takeover of Hong Kong and the regime’s flagrant violation of the civil rights and autonomy promised to Hong Kongers in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Biden administration must let Beijing and their CCP lackeys in Hong Kong know that we are not fooled for a second.”

“Jimmy Lai’s case is unfortunately just the latest example of Beijing exploiting its ‘national security law’ to exert control of Hong Kongers,” said Congresswoman Young Kim, who serves as Chairwoman of the Indo-Pacific Subcommittee. “I am proud to lead the Hong Kong Sanctions Act so the United States can take strong, decisive action to support the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong and hold officials accountable in violation of human rights.” 

China is Alaska’s largest export market, with product valued at more than $1.3 billion going from Alaska to China annually. Much of it is seafood. While significant, it’s lower than the record set in 2011, when Alaska exports to China reached nearly $1.5 billion.

Must Read Alaska advances under new ownership

“I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken*”

In 2015, Must Read Alaska was launched to provide conservatives a voice in a media landscape that had been taken over by leftist operatives.

Publisher and founder Suzanne Downing, who moved to Alaska in 1969 as a teenager, has been at the helm for the past eight years, growing it and maintaining a big-tent platform to offer the “other side of the story,” and an unapologetic space for Alaskans to balance out the mainstream media’s narratives and its left-leaning spin.

Continued growth and durability are important, and Must Read Alaska is now well positioned to expand its reach under a new management structure: Alaska Gold Communications is the owner, led by businessman Jon Faulkner of Homer, Alaska. The company has a board of directors, and Suzanne Downing has a seat on that board and will run the day-to-day content operations for the foreseeable future to ensure a smooth transition.

“Those who know me understand that I’ve always been mission-driven and dedicated to small government, pro-business, pro-family, and pro-freedom,” Downing said. “But it’s time to make sure this project is built to last, and Jon Faulkner is completely aligned with the mission. Alaska is very fortunate to have him agree to take it on and grow it to the next level.”

Faulkner was born and raised in Alaska, and has lived in Homer for most of his life. He graduated from Harvard cum laude and a dual BA degree in American History & Literature, writing his honors thesis on ANSCA and the impact of for-profit corporations on Alaska Natives.  He returned to Alaska to start a family and business. He is the president of Land’s End Resort in Homer, and Home Port , a residential waterfront development at the mouth of Kenai River. Faulkner also worked in Prudhoe Bay, been a religious education teacher, a coach, is married, and is the father of five children. 

“I’m incredibly pleased that I can report to the people who have supported Must Read Alaska all these years that you have created something that is here to stay. I have always felt the duty to Must Read Alaska supporters and underwriters to set this enterprise up for future generations of Alaskans,” Downing said. “And you can count on me to be a big part of it going forward, as we take it to the next level.”

On a personal note, Downing said, “My mother is now 94, and the runway is getting short for her. I am going to be spending more time in coming months at her side, ensuring that she taxies safely to the gates, and so now is the time to make this transition. Family comes first.”

Although some things will naturally change over time — and some new, exciting features are planned for Must Read Alaska — the core mission will remain — to provide a strong media alternative for Alaskans far into the future.

“Thank you to everyone who has been a part of making Must Read Alaska rock solid for Alaska. Thank you to everyone who has had my back these many years. I cannot begin to express my appreciation for every single Alaskan who invests in MRAK, and hope you’ll continue to support this project as we take it into the future,” Downing said. “Help us make this transition. It’s well worth the time and investment to keep it going.”

*The Road Not Taken 

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Report: Another UFO over the Arctic last February?

A report from NewsNation.com says that just three days before a Chinese spy balloon appeared over the U.S., and before four other unidentified objects were intercepted in North America, an unidentified flying object was seen over the Arctic Circle, with fighter jets being sent to take the object down. It was a different UFO than the one shot down north of Prudhoe Bay on Feb. 10.

Ross Coulthart, reporting for NewsNation, raises question whether the country has been given the full story about the series of UFOs, also sometimes referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs.

Some incidents were reported publicly, including the well-known one involving the giant Chinese spy balloon that floated across the entire continent and was finally shot down by U.S. fighter jets while over the Atlantic Ocean east of South Carolina.

But evidently the Feb. 10 Arctic UFO was not the only one in the neighborhood in February.

“Three days before a Chinese spy balloon appeared over the U.S., an unidentified object was seen over the Arctic Circle, with fighter jets being sent to take the object down, sources told NewsNation,” the reporter wrote.

“The defense and intelligence sources said eight or nine unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) were detected over the Arctic Circle, and fighter jets were sent up in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept them,” the report said.

Read what happened at this link.

Coulthart is an Australian investigative journalist who specializes in writing about UFOs.

Downing: Bezos saw the graffiti on the wall in Seattle, and he’s heading for a better tax climate

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By SUZANNE DOWNING

Jeff Bezos, the titan of e-commerce and one of the wealthiest individuals on the planet, says he is moving from Seattle to Florida.

He explains it is to be closer to his aging parents, but let’s face it — a guy like Bezos can hop on his private jet and fly south to Miami anytime he has a need or desire to get out of the hellscape that Seattle has become.

The truth is, Washington state policies are driving businesses and billionaires out of Seattle’s urban core. Bezos won’t be the last to leave.

Billionaires are not the only ones unhappy with Seattle. Last week, the Seattle Times reported that 21% of Seattle young adults have been medicated for depression and anxiety. 

In another recent survey, Seattle ranked No. 1 for the blues, with the percentage of adults having feelings of depression ranging from 41% to 48%. It’s the nation’s saddest city, and that’s saying a lot, considering Portland, Oregon’s collective melancholy just down Interstate 5.

How did this happen, in a metropolis that seems to have everything? The Emerald City has exciting high-tech jobs, a great food scene, an arts community, boating, skiing, the great outdoors right out the back door, distinct neighborhoods and universities galore. It has the sixth-highest wages of any major city in America, right up there with Boston and San Francisco. 

It also has a socialist-leaning government.

Seattle Council member Kshama Sawant calls for rent strikes and writes that “in addition to rent control, we also need to tax the rich, and big businesses like Amazon to fund a massive expansion of social housing (publicly- owned, permanently-affordable homes) and to fully fund homeless services.” 

Bezos is not immune to socialist, anti-free-market policies, even though he lives in the distinctly elite neighborhood of Medina, along the eastern shores of Lake Washington. It’s a quiet enclave where Bill Gates has his primary residence, and where blocks of high-tech billionaires have made their homes.

Medina is a world away from the decaying downtown of Seattle, ruled by junkies and criminals. In Medina, every car that enters the neighborhood has its license plate recorded by camera. That license plate goes into a database and police are alerted if a ne’er-do-well enters the land of the did-quite-wells. The sign into Media reads, “You Are Entering a 24 Hour Video Surveillance Area.” 

Nobody goes down Evergreen Point Road in Medina without being recorded by multiple cameras.

Meanwhile, across the bridge in Seattle, workers who take trains and buses to work are inhaling air that has been doused by meth and fentanyl. According to a recent university study, 100% of mass transit has detectable levels of meth.

Over the past month, one man was shot and another knifed on the metro train known as the Link. Now, security guards board at every stop and rotate through the cars, ensuring that passengers are safe, but also establishing that mass transit in Seattle needs so many guards that it’s hemorrhaging public funds. Fares will never keep up with that kind of overhead. 

In the 30 years since Bezos founded Amazon in his Seattle garage, the city has collapsed under the weight of increasingly socialistic leadership that prioritizes equity over safety. Even Amazon as a company can’t take it – it is moving 2,000 employees from downtown to Bellevue, across Lake Washington. 

Then there’s the tax burden in King County and Washington state in general. 

Bezos and his vast wealth are targets of a new wealth tax that the Washington Supreme Court just upheld, which takes 7% from every sale of financial assets such as stocks and bonds, applying to those who have profits of more than $250,000. 

After years of legal challenges, the “eat the rich” tax on the wealthy is happening. There is no doubt Bezos, with a net worth of $161 billion, took a cold, hard look at the realities of Washington state tax law. He stands to save billions over the coming decades in state taxes by using this one, simple trick: Becoming a visitor in Washington State, rather than a resident.

Washington will net about $849 million from this new tax in the first year alone. Surely Bezos has accountants who can find a tax loophole or two, but at some point, the government skimming operation takes its toll, and the rich do have choices.

Defenders of the wealth tax say it is not an income tax at all, but an “excise tax.”

It’s a tax on those who earn a living through buying and selling of assets, which is the way many wealthy people do, indeed, make a living.

Bezos’ motivation is not that much different from Donald Trump’s, when he pulled up stakes from New York and became a Florida resident in 2019 for a better tax climate and year-round golf.

Alan Greenspan was spot on when he said, “Whatever you tax, you get less of.” If you tax billionaires, you’ll have fewer of them to kick around during the next tax cycle. Washington State will be learning this lesson the hard way.

Suzanne Downing is the founder, past president, and current managing editor of Must Read Alaska.

Bump stock case added to Supreme Court schedule

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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a gun rights case involving bump stocks — attachments to semiautomatic rifles — during this term, which started last week and typically runs through early summer, which will be in the middle of the next general election.

The case is Garland v. Cargill, and what is being challenged is a regulation that was made by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in response to a mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas in 2017. Alaska’s Rep. Mike Cronk was at that music festival, and saved his friend’s life by plugging the man’s bullet holes with his fingers and flagging down an ambulance. Fifty-nine people died in that shooting, including a man who died in Cronk’s arms on the way to the hospital. Another 500 were injured.

The assailant at the Route 91 Harvest Festival had used semi-automatic rifles equipped with bump-stock devices. The subsequent ATF rule required owners of bump stocks to either destroy them or deliver them to an ATF office, or be charged with a federal crime.

Earlier, both the Fifth and Sixths Courts of Appeals had struct down the regulation because the regulation said that the bump stock made the weapon into a machine gun, and the definitions were fuzzy. Federal laws pertaining to guns do not clearly refer to bump stocks, and so the regulation was overreaching the law. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia came to a different conclusion and said that the regulation was correct in saying that the bump stock creates a machine gun.

The Biden Administration challenged the Fifth and Sixth courts ruling and the bump stock owners in D.C. sought their own redress at the Supreme Court. Twenty-five attorneys general, including Alaska’s AG Treg Taylor, filed a lawsuit to stop the new regulation, which affects thousands of Alaskans.

The deadline for registering bump stocks and pistol-braced firearms was May 31, but only a fraction of Americans have apparently complied, according to data mined from the ATF.

The Parkland, Fla. school shooting of 2018 will also be a side topic at the Supreme Court this year. The case, National Rifle Association v. Vullo, challenges the New York Department of Financial Services after its superintendent advised banks and other financial companies doing business in New York to sever their relationships with any gun-rights groups, such as the NRA, and threatened companies by warning of “reputational risk,” a dog whistle to them that she had the power to punish them through the authority of her office if they did not comply. This was a case of government coercion.

The NRA took those statements by then-Superintendent Maria Vullo to court, asserting that the group’s First Amendment rights were being violated by her veiled threats.

A decision by a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York went against the NRA, which appealed to the Supreme Court for a final answer on whether Vullo was using her power to leverage companies. The appeals court said “government officials have a right — indeed, a duty — to address issues of public concern,” and that Vullo was only attempting to persuade, not intimidate. That’s not how the NRA sees it, however. To gun-rights advocates, it sounded like coercion.

The Goldwater Institute, a conservative advocacy organization, filed a request to submit an amicus curiae brief in the NRA case, but the court denied that motion, while at the same time allowing the case to join the justices’ calendar.