- The fallout of the Torture Report was as expected. People were disgusted, political pundits fell into rank and file, and John Stewart from the Daily Show utilized Monty Python to great affect. The most damning reaction and one with the biggest potential impact comes from the U.N.’s special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights. Ben Emmerson told the Huffington Post that senior U.S. officials who authorized and carried out torture must be prosecuted.
- The New York Times has put together a useful timeline of events mentioned in the Torture Report.
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s lands package deal was a massive undertaking and APRN has the behind closed doors story of how it came to fruition.
- Remember when the pro-pot people were calling potential hash-oil explosions fear-mongering used by the antis? The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner has the details of the house that went up in flames yesterday.
- Comparatively speaking, Anchorage has been pretty soft on Uber, the technology company that acts like a taxi cab company with an app. San Francisco is the latest city to take them on. It’s a good thing they hired Obama’s wunderkid David Plouffe to help them with PR. He seems to know so much about local government.
- Alaska Education Update has the details on former Gov. Sean Parnell’s FY16 DEED operating budget that is being used as a placeholder until Gov. Walker’s bill is introduced.
- KTUU has the latest on the U.S. Senate’s move to repeal Alaska’s exemption from the Violence Against Women Act.
- The Juneau Empire discovered that the school district spends around $11,000 to teach teachers how to professionally handle the press.
- Politico writes about how First Lady Michelle Obama’s lunch program will be getting scraps in the upcoming federal budget, while the Boy Scouts will be eating steaks, metaphorically speaking.
- The Anchorage Assembly has put together a $670 million request for the Legislature. This includes $350 million for the Port of Anchorage.
- It turns out that more U.S. governors have won election during the 2010’s without majority support than in any decade in the past 100. The Washington Post explains why.
- The Ketchikan Daily News reports that the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly approved the Revilla Road contract after heated discussions and divided support.
- Politico has an exclusive on what Harry Reid’s 2015 new mission is going to be: “Block crazy stuff.”
- Yesterday was the annual Open House at the Governor’s Mansion. The Dispatch claims that state business “took a back seat”, but there was plenty of networking to be found.
- The Hill wants to know what Sen. Ted Cruz will do regarding his pledge to prevent nonessential legislation during the lame-duck session.
- Let it be known that the filing period is open for Soldotna charter commission candidates, according to the Peninsula Clarion.
- Trident gave an exclusive interview with the Kodiak Daily Mirror to explain their acquisition of Western Alaska Fisheries in Kodiak.
- Bloomberg prepares the nation for even more money to be legally poured into the political process.
- President Obama unveiled $1 billion in new federal and private funding for early childhood education, per ABC News.
- Christian Escalante from Unalaska High School and Grant Ackerman from West Valley High School have been chosen as the two high school students to represent Alaska for the United States Senate Youth program in Washington, D.C. in March.
- The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly is hosting a public forum to put together a list of do’s and don’ts as they begin to write air quality regulations. The Fairbanks News Miner has the details on the meeting and what Assemblypersons are hoping will come out of tonight’s meeting.
- The African American woman who heroically defied police search back in 1957 and was the basis of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that limited the power of the police has died. Dollree Mapp is known by many as the Rosa Parks of the 4th Amendment. She was 91.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
Correction: I wrote that the big omnibus was killed. That as incorrect. People thought that it would be, but it wasn’t.
@Sharpie, if you keep asking that Walk-Back Walker will have to ‘Walk Back’ another campaign promise…
Because I disagree with you I’m lacking intellectual depth? Are you always so condescending?
If you paid close attention you’d know that Lisa Murkowski put together this land deal as the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Interior subcommittee. She either didn’t or couldn’t get King Cove in. If you paid any attention at all you would have seen her over and over and over again criticizing the President on this issue. If you paid a little attention you’d see that Begich just this week got the Coast Guard bill passed out if his committee and passed on the floor. You’d have seen that the Appropriations Committee, of which he is a member, passed his idea of forward funding the Veterans Administration so they are never subject to the whims of government shut downs. Just because we disagree doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to what’s going on.
Your comments always seem void of intellectual depth. Yet, I admire your interest and participation in political debate. From past posts, it appears that you’re a Democrat. With your indulgence, I’d like to turn your question towars you: Why didn’t your Sen. Begich, a member of the majority party in the senate accomplish this? Doesn’t he care about the people the would benefit from the King Cove Road? Or should we just assume that he’ll finish out his term consistent with the other years and months of NO RESULTS?
Nice to see you mentioning Ketchikan in your morning roundup.
The Revilla Road RFP discussion was lengthy, definitely divided, but was not at all heated. We rarely all agree on major issues, but usually we all get along just fine.
The lands provisions of the Defense Bill are Lisa’s doing? She really put the screws to the Apache.
So are Walker’s commissioners all moving to Juneau like he said they would?
Well, she got up on the floor about 1000 times and screamed about this issue, so I just assumed she’d try to take care of it. Instead, she’ll probably just continue to blame it on someone else. Her typical MO.
At the very least King Cove probably didn’t provide the level of resources that Sealaska Corp. did for the 2010 defeat of Joe Miller. The system always works that way. When is the last time a US Senator pulled out all the stops for you?
So, you’re saying that because the people of King Cove aren’t wealthy, she doesn’t pull out the stops for them? You’re probably right.
Those responsible for torture will never be prosecuted any more than those who claim weapons such as Napalm, White Phosphorus , and Irritants (e.g. CS) are not actually chemical weapons.
I have never heard of a “Special Rapporteur”. I understand fiscal times are difficult; however, couldn’t we justify at least one of these “rapporteurs” in state government? It might make a great position for a politician or staff member suffering the ignominious reality associated with an election defeat.
The answer to your first question is simple. Sealaska Corp. pulled out all the stops to defeat Joe Miller in the 2010 general election. Therefore she couldn’t very well risk their timber bill as they are out of timber and almost out of cash. Timber is their only source of cash since their investment strategy has always been to buy high and sell low.
There are more interesting questions about the Sealaska bill but you haven’t asked them and I will not provide answers to unasked questions. I do not have answers to your second and third questions.
If Lisa Murkowski is so powerful why didn’t she get the King Cove land deal in the land bill with the Sealaska deal? Did she even try? Or was all her yelling on the floor just her normal full of hot air act?