US State Dept Responds to Russian President Putin’s Claim over Alaska | Dawn News English

Jan 23, 2024 | Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the 1867 sale of Alaska to the US is 'illegal,' asserting Russia's ownership. The US State Department swiftly responded, stating that Putin won't be getting it back. In 1867, Alaska's purchase marked a historic moment, symbolizing the end of Russian efforts to expand trade to North America. The formal transfer to the US occurred on October 18, 1867, for 7.2 million dollars, a pivotal milestone in the US becoming a major power in the Asia-Pacific region.

Russia lays claim to Alaska and huge swathes of Asia as Vladimir Putin issues new decree: New edict affects all of Moscow's historic holdings across three continents, including former imperial colonies in the US. »

Russian Ambassadors 'Joked about Annexing Scotland'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A leaked recording purporting to be of envoys joking about adding Scotland, Alaska and Venice to Russia's conquest of Crimea is the latest salvo in the war of dirty tricks over Ukraine

The war of dirty tricks over the Ukraine crisis escalated on Friday with the leak of a conversation purporting to be of two Russian ambassadors joking about adding Scotland, Alaska, and Venice to Russia’s conquest of Crimea.

The expletive ridden conversation posted on Youtube features two voices said to be Igor Chubarov, the ambassador to Eritrea, and Sergei Bakharev, the ambassador to Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The voice labelled as Mr Chubarov’s congratulates Mr Bakharev on persuading Zimbabwe to back Russia’s position on Crimea at the UN, and goes on to joke about telling a European diplomat about future conquests.

“We’ve got Crimea, but that’s not ----ing all, folks. In the future we’ll take you ----ing Catalonia, Venice, as well as Scotland and Alaska,” the voice says.

The pair go on to add Miami and London to their hit list, noting that "Miamiland' is ----ing 95 percent Russian citizens." » | Roland Oliphant, Moscow and Tony Paterson, Berlin | Friday, April 04, 2014

Russians Petition for Return of Alaska »

Russians Petition for Return of Alaska

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Not content with annexing Crimea, Russia appears to have its eyes on Alaska

More than 35,000 people have signed a petition on the White House website calling for Alaska to be returned to Russia after 117 years of American rule.

Written in stilted English, the petition says that “groups Siberian Russians” crossed the Bering Strait more than 10,000 years ago.

Alaska was Russian territory until 1867 when it was sold to the United States for $7.2 million (£4.3 million).

Reminders of its days as an outpost of the Tsarist empire persist in the form of the distinctive domed Russian Orthodox churches dotted around some of the [the] towns.

The western tip of Alaska at the end of the Seward Peninsula – named after William Seward, the US secretary of state who handled the negotiations – is only 51 miles from Russia. » | David Millward, US Correspondent | Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Sarah Palin Refuses to Rule Out Presidential Run Saying 'Anything's Possible'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin has not ruled out running for president saying “anything’s possible” as she cast a vote for Newt Gingrich at Alaska's GOP Super Tuesday primary last night.

The former Republican vice-presidential candidate told a CNN reporter she would “seriously consider whatever I can do to help our country” when asked if she would agree to being put forward if the party faced a brokered convention.

The Tea Party darling also indicated she would consider running in the 2016 presidential race, if asked.

"Anything in this life, in this world is possible. Anything is possible for an American. I don't discount any idea or plan that, at this point, isn't in my control. Anything's possible,” she said. » | Amy Willis, Los Angeles | Wednesday, March 07, 2012

My comment:

God help us all if Palin were ever to become president! A truly depressing thought! – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Joe Miller Blasts Obama for Letting Russia Keep Oil-rich Islands

ALASKA DISPATCH: Fairbanks lawyer Joe Miller, who's posturing like he'll take down Sen. Mark Begich in 2014, is now trying to take on the president.

In an argument on his "Restoring Liberty" blog, Miller claims President Obama's opposition to oil development is so deep he's refusing to reclaim several islands from Russia and the oil-rich seabed around them.

Some of the islands off the Kamchatka Peninsula and Russia's northern coast are hundreds of miles from Alaska, so they wouldn't be easy to maintain. They include Wrangel Island, where American naturalist John Muir once landed as part of an expedition that claimed the island for the U.S.

Miller, who lost to Sen. Lisa Murkowski's write-in campaign in Alaska's 2010 Senate election, says on his blog:

Part of Obama’s apparent war against U.S. energy independence includes a foreign-aid program that directly threatens my state’s sovereign territory. Obama’s State Department is giving away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to the Russians. Yes, to the Putin regime in the Kremlin.

Miller concedes that past presidents have also balked at the chance to reclaim the islands lying off Russia's coasts. The deal was struck in 1990 under the first George Bush. His son, G.W., and Bill Clinton are culpable, too.

According to Miller's argument, the islands were given to Russia in a 1990 maritime agreement approved by the U.S. State Department. But it was not ratified by treaty, he claims. Thus, Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can take those islands back with "the stroke of a pen." But they're not doing so, even though a group called State Department Watch has asked, according to Miller.

The idea that the U.S. can reclaim the islands is an old one in Alaska. The State Department has apparently said the U.S. has no legal claim to the islands. » | Alex DeMarban | Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Levi Johnston Grabs for Sarah Palin's Old Job in Wasilla Mayoral Run
THE TELEGRAPH: Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Bristol Palin, will follow in Sarah Palin footsteps by running in the mayoral election of the Alaskan town of Wasilla.

The 20-year-old father of the grandson of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 US election, will run for mayor in his hometown as part of a reality TV show, his manager, Tank Jones, said.

Wasilla, population 10,250, is where Mrs Palin, who is widely touted as a potential candidate for the Republican presidential ticket in 2012, got her start in politics, moving up from city council to mayor before winning election as Alaska's governor in 2006.

Mr Jones said Mr Johnston, whose career thus far has included stints in the Alaskan oil fields and posing nude in Playgirl, is serious about politics. >>> | Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Levi Johnston, the 20 year-old high-school “drop-out” for mayor of Wasilla? Give me a break! If the voters of Wasilla vote for this guy, they’ll need their heads read – they’ll need a phrenologist!

Don’t the Americans have any standards in politics anymore? Doesn’t one need a certain level of education, doesn’t one need to have a modicum of experience of life, doesn’t one need a mature intellect to enter into the political arena? This is really depressing! Before long, they’ll be telling us that Levi is running for president! – © Mark

Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin's son-in-law. Photo: Google Images
Levi Johnston's Mother Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
THE TELEGRAPH: The mother of Levi Johnston has been sentenced to three years in prison for dealing in prescription painkillers in the latest twist for the young man who fathered Sarah Palin's grandchild.

Sherry Johnston, 43, received the jail sentence after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. Her son, who was engaged to Mrs Palin's daughter Bristol during her Republican vice-presidential run last year, was in court in Alaska with his mother.

Mr Johnston, 19, has been in a deepening feud with the Palins amid arguments over rights of access to his son Tripp since the end of his relationship with Miss Palin.

He has claimed that he has information that could "destroy" Mrs Palin, a popular figure on the Republican right. The former Alaskan governor is currently on a swing across America on a campaign-style book tour to promote her best-selling new memoir Going Rogue.

Mr Johnston is meanwhile in the headlines after posing nude, with some well-placed props such as an ice hockey stick, for Playgirl magazine. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, November 21, 2009

US Postal Service Closes North Pole to Christmas Post
THE TELEGRAPH: The US Postal Service has been accused of Scrooge-like behaviour after it imposed strict rules on a 55-year-old Father Christmas letters service over fears that paedophiles might gain access to the young correspondents.

Since 1954, the Operation Santa programme, which is centred in the small Alaskan town of North Pole, has been forwarding about 150,000 letters a year addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole”.

Replies written by volunteers around the US and bearing the North Pole postmark, come signed by one of Santa’s elves. However, concerns were raised last year when a worker at a sorting centre in Maryland recognised an Operation Santa volunteer in the state as a registered sex offender.

The individual was sacked before he could answer a child’s letter, but the episode prompted the Postal Service to tighten up the rules, which already required “elves” to show identification.

The service now prohibits volunteers from having access to children’s full names and addresses. They will be replaced by codes that match computerised addresses known only to the post office. >>> Tom Leonard in New York | Thursday, November 19, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: US cancels Santa Claus letter service over paedophile fears >>> James Bone in New York | Friday, November 20, 2009

Ein schöner Redneck aus Alaska
TAGES ANZEIGER: Levi Johnston, der beinahe Palin-Schwiegersohn, hat einiges zu erzählen.

Ein Bild aus glücklicheren Zeiten: Levi Johnston mit seiner einstigen Freundin Bristol Palin. Bild: Tages Anzeiger
Vor Jahresfrist noch war es wie im Biedermeier, und Spitzweg hätte seine helle Freude am Motiv gehabt: Die werdende Mutter, jung und rehäugig, daneben der werdende Vater, ein muskulöser Eishockeycrack mit einem herb-hübschen Gesicht, in Liebe ineinander versunken. Das waren noch Zeiten, damals auf dem republikanischen Präsidentschaftskongress in Minneapolis, als Levi Johnston der von ihm geschwängerten Bristol Palin schöne Augen machte, derweil die Schwiegermutter in spe die republikanischen Getreuen in Verzückung versetzte und dabei sogar den Kandidaten John McCain überstrahlte.

Idylle ist implodiert

Die Idylle ist in der Zwischenzeit implodiert: Levi würde es nicht im Traum einfallen, sich auf einer Bühne mit der ehemaligen Gouverneurin von Alaska zu zeigen. Sie ihrerseits würde ihn aus dem Saal werfen lassen. Denn Levi, dieser Redneck aus Wasilla in Alaska, bewirft sie mit publizistischen Handgranaten. Im Hochglanzmagazin «Vanity Fair» packt er über Sarah Palin aus. Erst machte er sie zur Grossmutter, nun zum Gerede der Nation.

Palin habe geheimhalten wollen, dass Bristol schwanger war, behauptet er. Sie habe das Kind selbst adoptieren wollen, damit niemand herausfinde, woher es in Wirklichkeit stammte. Überhaupt sei Palin keine gute Mutter und Hausfrau gewesen, behauptet Levi weinerlich: «Sarah hat nicht gekocht, ihr Ehemann Todd auch nicht – die Kids haben alles selber gemacht: gekocht, saubergemacht, die Wäsche gewaschen, sich für die Schule fertig gemacht.» >>> Von Martin Kilian, Washington | Freitag, 04. September 2009

Levi Johnston: Money Prompted Palin to Resign

Palin Quits as Alaska Governor, but Stays Quiet on Plans for National Comeback
THE GUARDIAN: Former Republican vice-presidential candidate leaves no hints to next steps as she receives rock star farewell

Sarah Palin begins the next stage of her highly unpredictable political life today having bowed out of her post of governor of Alaska 16 months before the term ends.

The official resignation at a governor's picnic yesterday in Fairbanks leaves Palin relieved of the bureaucratic burdens that had started to weigh her down in recent months. Supporters hope and believe she will use her newfound freedom to vigorously pursue a national profile that will lead to a run on the White House in 2012.

But plain Sarah Palin, devoid of the governor's title, is also left without a formal political power base from which to kickstart any national campaign. She carries with her financial debts, ongoing ethics battles related to her term in office, and the new label of "quitter".

Exactly what she will do with her ample spare time remains one of the hottest political questions in America today. The only known date in her diary is 8 August, when she will make a speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California.

Pundits are equally divided between those who are convinced she is finished, and those who think the Palin spectacle has only just begun. Part of the reason for the polarised response is that Palin is herself a polarising politician, and part because she herself offers so little in the way of explanation. >>> Ed Pilkington in New York | Sunday, July 26, 2009

Sarah Palin's Church 'Set on Fire'
THE TELEGRAPH: A raging fire that police believe might have been set by an arsonist badly damaged the church attended by Alaska governor and Republican former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, causing about one million dollars in damage, officials said on Sunday.

Firefighters were called late Friday to Wasilla Bible Church in Palin's hometown of Wasilla, Alaska and found flames and smoke pouring from windows in the three-story building.

Five people who had been in the building - valued at between four and five million dollars - escaped unharmed, officials said.

"We are definitely treating it as suspicious and as potential arson at this point," said James Steele, chief of the area fire department.

"We just don't have any leads at all as far as the intent or motive in this," Mr Steele added. >>> | December 14, 2008

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Stupid Is as Stupid Talks!

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Sarah Palin Returns to Alaska after Election Defeat

MAIL Online: Palin Backlash Continues as Republican Lawyers Head to Alaska to Take Back Her $150,000 Campaign Clothes

’The Lady in Red’. Photo of Sarah Palin courtesy of Mail Online. Click on the photo to play Chris De Burgh's 'The Lady in Red'
The bitter McCain backlash against Sarah Palin continued today as it emerged that Republican Party lawyers were heading to Alaska to retrieve her $150,000 (£95,000) campaign clothes.

The vice-presidential candidate's hopes of challenging Barack Obama in 2012 took a big dent as simmering tensions with the McCain camp finally boiled over into wide-ranging criticism of her conduct.

In a string of damaging briefings, it was claimed that Mrs Palin had spent 'tens of thousands' more on her clothes than budgeted for, that she once met McCain aides dressed in nothing but a towel and that she did not know Africa was a continent.

She was also unable to name the nations in the vitally important North American Free Trade Agreement.

There are only three. Her own, its northern neighbour Canada and its southern neighbour Mexico.

The 44-year- old former Republican running mate's lack of general knowledge - and a storm over her designer wardrobe - emerged as she returned to her home state of Alaska.

Extraordinary details of bitterness and jealousy between the Alaska governor and John McCain were laid bare following their White House defeat.

McCain aides complained that Mrs Palin refused to be coached before TV interviews - even after it emerged she wasn't sure about Africa's status in the world.

Republican bosses also complained that Mrs Palin and her family spent even more on new clothes and shoes than previously reported.

One McCain aide described the Palin family shopping spree in some of America's most exclusive department stores as 'Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast.'

According to Newsweek magazine, a party donor who agreed to foot the clothes bill was expecting to pay out up to £15,000.
He was stunned when he received the bill for nearly £100,000. And that wasn't even the whole tab, it was revealed yesterday. >>> By Mail Foreign Service | November 7, 2008

TOWNHALL.COM: Michelle Malkin: The Cowardly Character Assassination of Sarah Palin

Sunken ships loosen bitter lips. The failed McCain campaign, for all its high-minded talk of honor, duty and courage, is now teeming with unscrupulous gossipmongers. Seems the dishy staffers forgot to crack open their copies of Sen. McCain's bestseller, "Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember."

Rest assured: Their cowardly character assassination of Sarah Palin won't be forgotten.

The finks turned to Newsweek and Fox News to spread petty rumors about Palin's intellect and character. The magazine peddled anecdotes from sources horrified that Palin greeted top advisers at her hotel room -- gasp! -- "wearing nothing but a towel" and "wet hair." Fox News reporter Carl Cameron breathlessly reported that his unnamed McCain sources told him Palin lacked "a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate" because, they claimed, she didn't know which countries were parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement and "didn't understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series, a country just in itself."

Let's assume for a moment that the McCain rumormongers are telling the truth about Palin (and I don't believe they are). Who would it damn more: Palin, or McCain and his vetters, who greenlighted her for the vice presidential nomination? Don't need a fancy Ivy League degree to figure that one out.

In introducing her to America, McCain praised her independence and backbone: She "stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down." The inside snipers are now roasting her for that very attribute -- redefined as "going rogue" -- because she had the nerve to try to schedule media interviews on her own. The nerve of her!

Palin's response to the campaign fragging? At a late Wednesday night airport press conference in Anchorage, immediately upon landing home after the election defeat, she smiled cheerfully. The Alaska governor shrugged off the "foolish things" said by the McCain saboteurs, and simply said, "It's politics. … It's rough and tumble and you've got to have a thick skin just like I've got."

Hollywood savaged Palin. Journalists mocked her. Liberal blogs slimed her. Opponents cursed her, Photoshopped her, hacked her e-mail, hanged her in effigy, called her bigot, Bible-thumper and bimbo, and attacked her husband and children. But nothing Palin endured during the election season compares to the treatment she's receiving from these backstabbing blabbermouths who worked on the same campaign she poured herself into over the last three months. >>> Michelle Malkin | November 7, 2008

NEW YORK TIMES: Palin Calls Critics Among McCain Aides ‘Jerks’

ANCHORAGE — Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska fired back Friday at the unnamed McCain campaign aides who have been maligning her in recent days, saying that their criticism was “cruel and it’s mean-spirited, it’s immature, it’s unprofessional, and those guys are jerks.”

Ms. Palin spoke out upon her return to the governor’s office here, defending herself from a barrage of criticism that has been aimed at her from unnamed McCain aides ever since the McCain-Palin ticket was defeated Tuesday. >>> By William Yardley and Michael Cooper | November 7, 2008

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