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Happiness index: Republicans are happier, more content than Democrats, according to latest national poll

The conservative voters are winning in the happiness department.

Every week, the polling company Morning Consult asks Americans whether they are happy, angry, tired, optimistic, scared, and a range of other emotions.

The results show that right now, at least, Republican-voting Americans are happier and more content than their Democrat friends, but Democrats are at least more optimistic than Republicans. Swing voters are the least happy, content, optimistic, or energized. The survey has a margin of error of 2 percentage points and is based on Oct. 20-21 surveying of 2,210 U.S. adults.

In general, the mood of the country has remained relatively stable since 2020, dipping only slightly.

Among the Baby Boom generation, those in their 60s and 70s, Democrats were more anxious and sad, but those identifying with either the Democrat or Republican Party said they were “tired” at about the same rate. Democrats were slightly more sad, anxious, and notably more scared in this generation. Swing voters in the Baby Boom generation were the most tired, and Republicans were the least sad and the least angry.

Morning Consult describes itself as a global decision intelligence company. It caters to business clients and occasionally surveys the public opinion about political leaders. Learn more at morningconsult.com.

Bob Griffin: Alaska Reads Act is up for the challenge shown by national reading assessment scores

By BOB GRIFFIN

The nation’s report card has been released. The National Assessment of Educational Progress was posted on Monday. Alaska has a lot of work to do. But we do have hope because of the Alaska Reads Act, sponsored by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, passed earlier this year.

In the 2022 NAEP test scores, Alaska’s results were disappointing. For low-income kids, Alaska scored dead last in 4th grade reading, about a year and a half behind the U.S. average and two and a half years behind Florida (top in the US) at age nine.

In 4th grade math low-income Alaska kids were 49th out of 51 — all states + DC. In 8th grade reading, Alaska was also dead last — about 1-1/2 years behind the U.S. average.

In 8th grade math, Alaska kids were 42nd — about two years below average. 

Many have blamed our low-income kids for our disappointing results. But for upper and middle-income kids in Alaska the news wasn’t much better. They were second to last in 4th grade reading, 48th in 4th grade math, 42nd in 8th grade reading, and 40th in 8th grade math.

For the folks who think the kids in South Anchorage are doing fine — they’re probably wrong. The 2022 NAEP test scores, white Alaska 4th graders were about 1/2 a school year behind the scores posted in the Miami-Dade Public Schools, where 93% of the kids are ethnic minorities, 66% qualify for free or reduced lunch and 60% come from homes that English is not the only language spoken.

The good news is that the Legislature passed the Alaska Reads Act. The Reads Act was closely modeled after reading bills passed in Florida and Mississippi several years ago.

 In 2022, Florida and Mississippi ranked first and second in the U.S. in NAEP low-income 4th grade reading, and third and fourth for upper and middle-income 4th grade reading. Yes, Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation, is a national leader in early childhood literacy, based on a law first passed in Florida and now also part of Alaska statute — thanks to the leadership of Gov. Dunleavy.

Bob Griffin is a senior education research fellow for Alaska Policy Forum and a member of its board of directors. A retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and former chair of the Budget Advisory Commission for the Municipality of Anchorage and the Anchorage School District, he is a board member of the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Anchorage School District manipulates data on school capacity, shrinking student population

Voter vs. God: Complaint dismissed over a campaign promise to ‘protect God-given constitutional rights’

People complain about the Legislature wasting time. Some of that time was wasted this month after an anonymous man in Rep. Sarah Vance’s district in the Kachemak Bay-Ninilchik-Kasilof area complained to the Legislative Ethics Committee that Vance said in campaign ads she will defend Alaskans’ “God-given constitutional rights.”

The campaign ad appeared on KBAY 93.3 FM. The complaint-filer said that Vance’s promise violates the U.S. “constitutional freedom from religion in the long-held separation of church and state in the 14th amendment.”

The committee dismissed the complaint on Friday with a terse comment:

“Significantly the complaint does not allege the use of any state resources by the Representative as part of or in the allegations,” Legislative Ethics Committee wrote. “The House Subcommittee finds that the specific allegations outlined in the complaint, if proven true, do not give rise to a violation of the Legislative Ethics Act AS 24.60. The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics has no jurisdiction regarding potential issues of constitutional violations. The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics has no jurisdiction regarding campaign activities except for the prohibition on the use of state resources in partisan or campaign activities under AS 24.60.030(a)(2) and (5). There was no allegation involving the use of state resources in the complaint.”

It’s a new form of campaigning via harassment without having to declare the effort to the Alaska Public Offices Committee: File an anonymous complaint in Legislative Ethics Committee for something the committee has no jurisdiction over, and tie up state resources and a candidate’s attention.

Vance, a Republican, is running for re-election to the Alaska House of Representatives to represent District 6, Kachemak Bay/Ninilchik/Kasilof. She is on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 8 after advancing from the Aug. 16 primary.  Also running are Louis Flora and Ginger Bryant, both liberals registered as nonpartisans.

Alex Gimarc: Matt Claman is sneaky, but smart, while Costello is smart and reasonable

By ALEX GIMARC

Representative Matt Claman is running for State Senate.  He was redistricted into a new area with incumbent Republican Sen. Mia Costello.  Claman represented the Turnagain area, a part of town that has turned pretty blue in recent years. They like him a lot in that part of town.  

Claman is a smart Democrat. Sneaky, but smart. Up until the last week or so, he has concentrated on turning out his people from Turnagain.  Recently, his union supporters expanded that a bit, publicly going after Costello with a series of radio ads blasting away at her for being too extreme for West Anchorage. At the end of the ad, the unions behind it make the claim that Costello is out of step with what they calls West Anchorage values.

Given the claim, let’s examine some of what they call his West Anchorage values.

The same ad claims that Costello voted against police and fire pensions, cute verbiage, but ultimately misleading (perhaps another West Anchorage value).  Last legislature, union-supporting democrats pushed HB 55, a change in existing police and fire pensions from current defined contribution to defined benefit.  

In 2005, state pensions were changed to the defined contribution model for new employees because there simply wasn’t enough money in the budget to pay the defined benefit model. This change was made much to the distress of democrats and union members statewide.  They have tried for the last 17 years to change it back. The game appears to be to change police and fire first and then follow up in future years with similar changes to the other bargaining units. Note that for the record, we couldn’t afford those pensions in 2005.  And we can’t afford them today, unless Claman plans on using the PFD to pay the additional costs

Maybe that is another West Anchorage value.  

In pushing this, Claman’s supporters demonstrate at best, that he is an economic illiterate. Claman appears to be perfectly happy with blowing up the entire state budget to purchase a few more union votes. Worse, he is claiming that Costello’s accurate understanding of state economics translates into non-support for police and fire, something that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

April 2019, the Alaska Legislature sitting in joint session turned down Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s nomination of Karl Johnstone for Alaska Board of Fish.  Democrat Ivy Spohnholz blew up the meeting claiming a couple anonymous, last-minute sexual harassment complaints against Johnstone, who was vehemently opposed by commercial fishermen. Rather than send the nomination back to committee to investigate, this gave the majority the excuse to defeat the nomination. 

Claman voted to defeat the nomination. He could have asked for it sent back to committee if for no other reason than to get all the liars in the same room at the same time. Instead, he chose to support what was ultimately a last-minute political hit by a fellow Democrat, Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, as an opportunity to do political damage to Gov. Dunleavy.

In December of 2008, Claman had moved from Anchorage Assembly Chair into the Hill Building as temporary Mayor, replacing Mark Begich who was on his way to the U.S. Senate.  Once in office, Claman, who had approved every single one of Begich’s Muni budgets, was shocked, simply shocked to find a multi-million-dollar budget deficit.  Solution?  56-hour unpaid furlough for all Muni employees. If Claman had done his fiduciary duty (perhaps we are back to the economic illiterate observation), that budget shortfall doesn’t exist.  

None of these appear to be positive values for any part of town, much less West Anchorage. I am mystified at the notion of sending someone to the State Senate who willingly, gleefully, wants to blow up the state budget, uses a last-minute sexual harassment claim to defeat a nomination and embarrass a governor, and after years on the Anchorage Assembly approving Muni budgets suddenly discovers multi-million-dollar budget shortfalls at the last minute.  

But Claman is smooth, smart, presents well, and most importantly, lets his other fellow travelers do the crazy part in public while voting in lockstep with everything they are interested in. We will see if he gets away with it again.  I hope not, as we can’t afford it.  

Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and information technology professional.

Pelosi husband emerges from surgery after hammer attack at San Francisco mansion

Early Friday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked with a hammer at the couple’s San Francisco mansion. The speaker was in Washington, D.C., when at the intruder entered through the back door of the home in Pacific Heights, and yelled, “Where is Nancy?” according to news reports.

Paul Pelosi, age 82, called 911, hid in the bathroom, fought off the intruder, and after police arrived after 2:27 am on Friday, they found the man and Pelosi wrestling for control of the hammer. The man then attacked Pelosi in front of officers before they could intervene, according to William Scott, San Francisco chief of police.

“Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid,” Scott said.

“This was not a random act,” Scott said. “This was intentional.”

Latest reports indicate that the man was a friend of Paul Pelosi.

According to the call that was made to police dispatch: “RP (reporting person) stated there’s a male in the home and that he’s going to wait for his wife. RP stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but he advised that his name is David and that he is a friend.”

Pelosi underwent surgery after suffering from a skull fracture and other injuries to his arms.

The alleged assailant, 42-year-old David DePape, will be charged with attempted homicide, elder abuse, burglary, and other charges. DePape was in the hospital with injuries from the incident.

DePape moved from Powell River, British Columbia, Canada to Berkeley, Calif. 20 years ago and has been a nudist activist who made and sold hemp bracelets and had on-and-off drug problems, in addition to being taken in by political conspiracy theories from the far right. He was also a member of the Green Party in past years. Many who know him say he has become increasingly unhinged.

The daughter of DePape reported on a blog that her father is “consumed by darkness” and sexually abused her and her brothers while they were children.

Paul Pelosi has had a tough year. In August, Paul Pelosi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence charges related to a May injury crash in Napa Valley, and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation, along with a community service requirement. Pelosi served two days in jail and received good-behavior credit for another two days, and his eight-hour community service requirement was accepted in lieu of the remaining day.

Paul Pelosi founded a venture capital firm through which he and his wife have about $114 million. Some Americans consider the Pelosis to be an example of how corrupt Washington, D.C. has become, as Paul Pelosi makes investments in advance of legislation. Nancy Pelosi has become a hated icon due to her perceived corruption.

She is considered so corrupt, in fact, that a group of investors now follow what Paul Pelosi invests in and they make the same investments, reported NPR.

“Among a certain community of individual investors on TikTok, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading disclosures are a treasure trove. ‘Shouts out to Nancy Pelosi, the stock market’s biggest whale,’ said user ‘ceowatchlist.’ Another said, ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that Nancy Pelosi is a psychic,’ while adding that she is the ‘queen of investing.'” NPR continued.

“‘She knew,’ declared Chris Josephs, analyzing a particular trade in Pelosi’s financial disclosures. ‘And you would have known if you had followed her portfolio.'”

“Last year, Josephs noticed that the trades, actually made by Pelosi’s investor husband and merely disclosed by the speaker, were performing well. 

“Josephs is the co-founder of a company called Iris, which shows other people’s stock trades. In the past year and a half, he has been taking advantage of a law called the Stock Act, which requires lawmakers to disclose stock trades and those of their spouses within 45 days.

“Now on Josephs’ social investing platform, you can get a push notification every time Pelosi’s stock trading disclosures are released. He is personally investing when he sees which stocks are picked: ‘I’m at the point where if you can’t beat them, join them,’ Josephs told NPR, adding that if he sees trades on her disclosures, ‘I typically do buy… the next one she does, I’m going to buy.'” 

A Pelosi spokesperson told NPR that the speaker does not personally own any stocks and that the transactions are made by her husband. “The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,” the spokesperson told NPR.

Daniel Smith: There is an old-fashioned carpetbagger running for office in District 16 — Jennie Armstrong

By DANIEL SMITH

In West Anchorage House District 16, voters have filed a lawsuit against the State of Alaska Division of Elections and Gail Fenumiai for allowing an unqualified candidate to run for State office. The claim is that Jennifer (Jennie) Armstrong does not possess the constitutionally required residency time and therefore, is not qualified.  

The Division of Elections is allowing Armstrong to run for State office even though she claimed to be a resident of Louisiana on her first two fishing licenses among other residency issues the complaint alleges.    

Alaskans are typically very welcoming of people who move here to pursue their dreams of life on the last frontier. We are eager to help and share the state we love with those who appreciate all it has to offer. When a new resident arrives seeking elected office at the earliest possible opportunity allowed by law, that eagerness can wane a bit. The welcome mat is typically only cautiously extended in these instances.  

The use of the term carpetbagger is very appropriate and accurate in this instance. Post-Civil war northerners traveling south to meddle in the politics of the reconstructionist south have just been flipped the other way around minus the war stuff.  

In this case we have a recent arrival to our state by the name of Jennie Armstrong. She is violating the minimum residency qualifications for holding elected office as the complaint explains. Knowing the residency rules, Armstrong chooses to continue to run for office regardless, and the State is not stopping her. At this point, in the minds of many, the welcome mat has been fully retracted. Suffice it to say, this new arrival will definitely not be getting directions to the best fishing holes.

This is unfortunate because apparently Jennie Armstrong from Louisiana does like to fish.  

The complaint states; 

On June 15, 2019 Armstrong applied for and received a “Nonresident 1 Day Sport Fishing License.” On that application, Armstrong listed her residence as Metairie, Louisiana.

On June 23, 2019 Armstrong applied for and received a “Nonresident Annual Sport Fishing License.” On that application, Armstrong also listed her residence as Metairie, Louisiana.

On June 21, 2020, Armstrong applied for and received a “2020 Resident Sport Fishing License” where she indicated that she had been a resident for one year and zero months.  Translation: She asserted that her Alaska residency did not start until June 2019.

On July 20, 2021 Armstrong applied for and received a “2021 Resident Sport Fishing License” where she indicated that she was a resident for two years and one month.  Translation: She claimed her residency in Alaska did not begin until June 2019. 

As far as fish stories go this one is not a whopper.  t is not about a 90-pound king salmon that broke the line before it could be netted, leaving us with no photographic evidence. This fish story is about documents and information produced by Armstrong, herself. She is a person that wants to represent West Anchorage voters while not adhering to the constitution of the State of Alaska. This is about someone who wants to pass laws that we must follow but who allegedly is not required to adhere to the State Constitution.  

To be qualified as a candidate for and to hold office as a state senator, one must have been an Alaskan resident for the three years prior.  Is three years a sufficient amount of time to gain the experience and knowledge of Alaska and all of the relevant issues? That probably depends on a long list of variables, but it is in the State Constitution and the length of time by which the Division of Elections measures qualifications for holding office. 

This is a problem for Armstrong and now the State Division of Elections.  Armstrong filed her Declaration of Candidacy to run for office on June 1, 2022. She claims in the declaration that she has been an Alaskan resident since May 20, 2019. This is in direct conflict with those 2019 fishing licenses where she personally listed her residence as being in Louisiana. 

Maybe she registered to vote before she went fishing in 2019?  Nope. She did not register to vote in Alaska until August 26, 2019 according to documents filed. That doesn’t help her case.

The bottom line is that Jennie from Louisiana has no apparent documentation to prove she began her Alaskan residency in time to run for office. The nonresident fishing licenses with the Louisiana address are dated after the required time for a declaration of candidacy. The nonresident fishing licenses referenced in the lawsuit would lead a reasonable person to believe she still resided in Louisiana.

This is not complicated.  The Division of Elections did not do their homework and have let an ineligible candidate run for office.  If “complicated” is what you are looking for, try reading the State fishing regulations. 

Daniel Smith is a senior contributor to Must Read Alaska.     

Michael Tavoliero: Reject Murkowski’s path to colonialism

By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO, PATRICK MARTIN, AND RICHARD ‘CLAYTON’ TROTTER

At the Alaska Republican Party State Central Committee meeting on March 13, 2021, the Republicans censured Sen. Lisa Murkowski and asked her to not run as a Republican again. The vote of party leaders was 53-17. That’s over 75% of the voting membership.

This Republican majority believed there were valid reasons for this censure. 

The list of concerns had grown over Murkowski’s incumbency, but Alaska Republican Party leadership had resisted attempts to bring these to the floor for discussion.

In the beginning of 2022, Murkowski was one of only seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in the unprecedented and vacuous second impeachment. This fueled concerns over Alaska Republicans’ support of a continued Murkowski’s incumbency.

But, for me, in Alaska, Murkowski’s support of abortion is her largest albatross, and her greatest disconnect from the Alaskan conservative majority. Murkowski uses the spread of tyrannical federal power and control to usurp the sovereignty of our state to expand Alaska’s dependence on colonialism.

One of the most useful devices for Murkowski and other neo-tyrants for the maintenance of this power and control is the issue of abortion.

On June 24, 2022, Murkowski published this on her website, “Senator Murkowski supports women’s reproductive freedoms, including the right to an abortion up to fetal viability, which was established by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and believes in an individual’s liberty to make choices about their own health. Senator Murkowski believes those protections should be written into federal law and as a result, introduced the Reproductive Choice Act in February 2022. Her bill would codify the standards set in Roe and Casey and assure they continue to be the law of the land.”

The United States is the only country in the history of the world and humanity with politicians like Murkowski willingly working to codify the killing of unborn children all under the deception of “in the name of women’s rights.”

Keep in mind this same moral disconnect today denies women’s rights in sports, markets the sexualization and mutilation of young women and girls, and directly promotes the real and present staggering increase in violence, sexual assault, and rape against women this past decade. 

The hypocrisy is deafening and the shouts of the murdered are unheard. 

One of Murkowski’s main supporters is Planned Parenthood, whose Alaska branch is one of the main recipients of public funds used for abortion in Alaska.

Murkowski has remained an ardent and enthusiastic recipient of their money while promoting federal money access to this organization. 

Murkowski sings the siren song of women’s equality to low-information voters while transferring the financial burden of their abortion expenses to you and me under this deceitful guise of “women’s reproductive healthcare.”

The issue of a “right to abortion” or “women’s reproductive healthcare” has nothing to do with men and women having the right to kill their babies.  Innocent and defenseless babies are the sad and horrible collateral damage of a government which is indifferent to their rights. It is one of the main sources of fuel for the political engines bent on power and control.  

The result is that Murkowski’s political influence has been hijacked by Planned Parenthood to maintain its abortion industry in Alaska.

Murkowski, a lawyer, believes abortion is a constitutional right, yet this alleged right is neither in the US Constitution nor the Alaska State Constitution. 

With the overturning of Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey, Supreme Court Justice Alito, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, points out abortion rights supporters “cannot show that a con­stitutional right to abortion has any foundation, let alone a ‘deeply rooted’ one, ‘in this Nation’s history and tradi­tion.’” In this same case, Justice Clarence Thomas states, “there is no constitutional right to abortion.”

The Alaska Legislature legalized abortion up to viability in 1970. The Alaska Supreme Court invented the right to abortion in 1997 through its activist interpretation of the Alaska Constitution’s right to privacy clause. The court “created” the right to abortion, which they admitted to in their introduction to the opinion by stating that from time to time they take a broad view of their powers and that they “have a duty to develop additional constitutional rights and privileges…”. 

Murkowski supports this mindset of absolving people of personal responsibility and killing unborn children as additional constitutional rights and privileges. 

Proverbs 6:16-17 states that “God hates… hands that shed innocent blood”. Both the Bible (Psalm 139:12) and science confirm that life begins at conception. Our government must be compelled to protect innocent human life from conception to natural end of life.

Ironically, Murkowski, in her May 11, 2022, press release, made it clear that the states should not have the right to decide the abortion issue with her dedicated support for federal codification of Roe v. Wade.

Planned Parenthood claims to perform 97% of all abortions in the State, with nearly half of them paid for by Medicaid. In that May 2022 press release, Murkowski opposed using taxpayer money to pay for abortions, yet Medicaid continues to be the primary means of abortion funding in Alaska.

Using the Left’s grotesque and perverted ideology and political expediency, Murkowski advances the issue of a right to abortion, but is this issue about protecting women’s reproductive health care rights? 

Recently, Murkowski’s campaign partner, Mary Peltola calls abortion “freedom.” Do Alaskans really see abortion as freedom? Being told by a centralized federal command, what Alaskans can do in their own state is not freedom, especially when you question Peltola’s campaign ads and Murkowski’s press releases. It is downright condescending colonialism.

While our government ignores the humanity and rights of children in the womb, Murkowski has leveraged their deaths to gain power and control while lying to her Alaskan constituents. 

Murkowski has lied and deceived the Alaska public. 

Moreover, since her goal is the continued colonization of Alaska and consolidation of power and authority at the federal level, her words and deeds are even more deceitful as she, our senior Alaskan Senator, is trying to further enslave us to the federal government on the backs of dead babies. 

She believes the “right to abortion” must be federally codified. With this, she ignores Alaska’s state sovereignty. To Murkowski, Alaska really is a colony under the thumb of the federal government’s power and control. 

As such, her goal is to benefit herself, and only herself, in the 2022 election by using this narrative to divide people. 

Reject this narrative and reject Lisa Murkowski.

Michael Tavoliero is a senior writer at Must Read Alaska, Patrick Martin is Executive Director of Alaska Right to Life and Richard “Clayton” Trotter is General Counsel, The Justice Foundation.

Lawsuit filed against cheechako candidate Jennie Armstrong, who hasn’t lived in Alaska long enough

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A group of voters has filed a lawsuit challenging the candidacy of pansexual Jennie Armstrong. The challenge is over the three-year residency requirement, which Armstrong, a Democrat, has not appeared to have met. She would have had to be a resident of Alaska and the district since June 1, 2019, but on her fishing license application in June of 2019, she gave an out-of-state address in Louisiana.

Earlier this fall, stories about the District 16 candidate’s lack of legality as a candidate emerged in social media, but the official position of the Division of Elections is that any challenge to the division would have had to take place within 10 days of her filing her application to become a candidate. No such challenge was filed by either the Alaska Republican Party or Liz Vazquez, who is also running for the seat.

On June 13, 2019, Armstrong wrote that she had moved to Alaska the previous week. That would date her residency to June 7, 2019, about a week too late to be a candidate in this election cycle. She now lists her address at the same place as the Democrat campaign company, Ship Creek Group, 721 Depot Drive Anchorage, AK 99501.

Armstrong has been endorsed by the Alaska Democratic Party. In its newsletter, it says that Vazquez is too much of a Trump supporter.

In her election material, Armstrong describes herself as a Democrat, business owner, and mom. Although she describes herself as pansexual, meaning she can be attracted to anything sexually, she says if elected she will “make history as the first openly LGBTQ+ candidate to be elected to the Alaska State Legislature.” Armstrong hasn’t been around long enough to remember the late Sen. Johnny Ellis, evidently, who was well-known as gay, and publicly came out as gay in 2016, retiring from office that year. He died in 2022.

Residents Chris Duke, Randy Eledge, and Steve Strait are complainants in the matter. They are Republican activists in the West Anchorage district.

Even if a judge rules her eligible, the Alaska Legislature has the power to not seat her if she wins.

This story is developing. Check back.

China, once Bill Walker’s gas line partner, is now focused on Alaska military bases and how to nuke them

Part VI in the Must Read Alaska series on former Gov. Bill Walker’s alliance with China during his years as governor

Former Gov. Bill Walker once promised Alaska he’d build a gasline to Nikiski. To fulfill that campaign promise, he signed agreements has would have had China pay for 75% of the cost of building the project, and Walker signed contracts giving China the advantages to build the components for the project. He signed agreements to give away contracts for 75% of the natural gas to China.

Downing: The loyalty pledge that Bill Walker made to Communist China in 2017

Alaskans showed Walker the door in 2018. He withdrew from his race for reelection on Oct. 19, 2018, but remained on the ballot, and limped to the finish with only 5,757 total votes, or 2% of the vote.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy let all those agreements with the communist Chinese expire.

Four years later, while Walker tries once again to get control of state strategic assets, the world power dynamic has changed dramatically. We’ve entered another Cold War with Russia and China allying against the United States.

At the U.S. Naval Academy this week, a security analyst on a discussion panel told the Academy audience that the Chinese are not only preparing for war with the United States, but are focusing on Alaska, where the published Chinese war plans show an intent to attack U.S. military bases as a way of interrupting a major military advantage the United States has that is closest to China.

At the same time, China and Russia are in an arms race with the United State to develop hypersonic, maneuverable glide missiles. These missiles can defeat traditional anti-missile systems in the U.S. because after they go up, they return to the atmosphere, where they are maneuverable at five to 10 times the speed of sound. The United States’ sophisticated missile deterrent systems don’t have time to figure out where a missile’s actual target is.

China has already tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle, carried on a rocket, that circled the globe and landed within 24 miles of its target in 2018.

Bill Walker’s gas line obsession would feed China’s ‘Steal and Scale’ initiative of Chairman Xi, who emulates Mao

From Science Magazine, comes a vivid description of how these hypersonic, maneuverable missiles would work against Alaska or other targets:

“High in the sky over northwestern China, a wedge-shaped unmanned vehicle separated from a rocket. Coasting along at up to Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound, the Xingkong-2 “waverider” hypersonic cruise missile (HCM) bobbed and weaved through the stratosphere, surfing on its own shock waves. At least that’s how the weapon’s developer, the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, described the August 2018 test. (China did not release any video footage.) The HCM’s speed and maneuverability, crowed the Communist Party’s Global Times, would enable the new weapon to ‘break through any current generation anti-missile defense system,'” writes Richard Stone for Science.

“For decades, the U.S. military—and its adversaries—have coveted missiles that travel at hypersonic speed, generally defined as Mach 5 or greater. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) meet that definition when they re-enter the atmosphere from space. But because they arc along a predictable ballistic path, like a bullet, they lack the element of surprise. In contrast, hypersonic weapons such as China’s waverider maneuver aerodynamically, enabling them to dodge defenses and keep an adversary guessing about the target,” Stone explains.

The advent of maneuverable hypersonic missiles and the fact that the U.S. appears to be behind the curve may be a “Sputnik” moment for the country. Sputnik, the earth-orbiting satellite launched in 1957 by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, vividly demonstrated that the Soviets had outpaced the United States in space technology.

China is now considered the greatest security challenge for the United States, even more so than Russia, according to a Pentagon’s public version of the classified Nuclear Posture Review.

While the document, released on Thursday after a seven-month delay, says that conflict with China “is neither inevitable nor desirable,” it describes an effort to prevent China’s “dominance of key regions,” a reference to military dominance in the South China Sea and aggression against an independent Taiwan. The Pentagon warned that China is working to undermine American alliances in the Indo-Pacific and is using its growing military to coerce and threaten neighbors.

The Department of Defense’s National Defense Strategy directs the department to act urgently and says that China is “the pacing challenge for the Department.”

“The PRC remains our most consequential strategic competitor for the coming decades. I have reached this conclusion based on the PRC’s increasingly coercive actions to reshape the Indo- Pacific region and the international system to fit its authoritarian preferences, alongside a keen awareness of the PRC’s clearly stated intentions and the rapid modernization and expansion of its military. As President Biden’s National Security Strategy notes, the PRC is ‘the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order, and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so,'” the report said.

The report also says Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s growing alliance with China are serious threats to the U.S. and her allies, with nuclear weapons, cyber operations, and long-range missiles.

Downing: Bill Walker’s alliance with Xi, who is now readying for war with the West

China and Russia as partners “now pose more dangerous challenges to safety and security at home, even as terrorist threats persist.”

Alaska dodged a bullet, by not allowing China to make it a “debt trap” province, as Bill Walker intended to do. Alaska is not selling natural gas to what has become the United States’ most worrisome enemy.

But, while former Gov. Walker was stopped in his tracks by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, it’s still not clear Alaska will dodge a missile in the coming decade of tension between major adversaries on the global stage. Alaska’s understanding of its military vulnerabilities will be a major focus for the next governor.

Debate: Walker admits his China gas line was a mistake on statewide TV during KTUU’s ‘Debate for the State’

Bill Walker once signed MOU for gas contract to China’s Sinopec, which is now delisting from NY stock exchange