Also on today’s menu:
The Growth Of Ranked-Choice Voting
US Responds To Drone Strike That Injures Three
Israel Expansion Of Fight For Survival Is Worrisome
Ukrainian Air Strike Destroys Russian Warship
A driver from Chelsea MA is facing a misdemeanor charge of operating without a valid license after crashing into a NH State Police cruiser at the side of the road in Canterbury around 11:19 p.m. on December 23.
Troopers from Troop D were responding to several motor vehicle crashes on Interstate 93 due to icy roads, and Trooper John Zavala, who had received his permanent assignment to Troop D on December 5, was outside his cruiser at another motor vehicle crash site when 38-year-old Melvin Ruiz Chaperon’s vehicle struck his cruiser. Trooper Zavala was uninjured, but Ruiz Chaperon sustained minor injuries and was taken a local hospital for treatment.
Interstate 93 North in Canterbury was shut down for about an hour and a half due to that and other crashes and impassable road conditions.
Discussion: Too many drivers continue operating at normal speeds when road conditions dictate slowing down. When air temperatures are 37 degrees or lower, road surfaces can freeze over, often as “black ice” which cannot be seen. Seeing flashing lights ahead is another indication that slower speeds are warranted. Sometimes, though, even slowing down can create problems, causing a vehicle to go into a skid. Better to stay off the roads if possible when such conditions exist.
The Growth Of Ranked-Choice Voting
Maine was the first state to adopt ranked-choice voting, a system that allows voters to choose candidates in order of preference. It eliminates the need to guess who has the best chance of winning and, instead, allows people to choose who they think is the best candidate without worrying that their vote will be wasted. If the preferred candidate doesn’t make it, their other choices might.
Zachary Roth reports in New Hampshire Bulletin that ranked-cboice voting is now being combined with what is known as Final Five or Final Four in which the top four or five candidates receiving votes advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Proponents argue that it gives voters greater power while weakening the extremists who have taken over the major parties. It encourages elected officials to prioritize policies and compromise when necessary — something has been lost in recent years.
Alaska has used the hybrid version of ranked-choice voting to achieve bipartisan majorities who respond to the voters’s concerns, and last year, Nevada voters approved a constitutional amendment that would create an RCV-plus-Final-Five system if voters approve it again next year. Efforts also are underway to get RCV-plus-Final-Five on Arizona’s 2024 ballot and RCV-plus-Final-Four in Colorado and Idaho. Minnesota and Illinois lawmakers passed bills to study RCV; Connecticut approved a measure that allows local governments to use it; and Oregon voters will decide next year whether to adopt RCV alone.
Under that system, voters in the general election again use ranked-choice voting to pick the winner from a list of candidates that made it through the primaries. They fill out their ballots by ranking as many of the candidates as they want, in order of preference. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, the candidate who finished last is eliminated, and his or her supporters’ second-place votes are allocated. If there’s still no candidate with a majority, the process is repeated with the next-to-last candidate. This continues until someone gains a majority and is declared the winner.
Discussion: Today, primary elections are increasingly meaningless because voters go along with national party recommendations — settling mindlessly on Joe Biden despite his decision to leave his name off the New Hampshire ballot, for instance, while they might instead consider who might be the best candidate on the ballot — with the result that primaries send to the general-election ballot people that do appeal to many voters. How many really want to see a Biden-Trump rematch? Ranked-choice voting gives real choice and forces candidates to listen to ordinary people, rather than political leaders.
US Responds To Drone Strike That Injures Three
President Joe Biden Jr. ordered retaliatory strikes against three sites used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated organizations — Iranian-backed militia groups — after they claimed credit for an attack that utilized a one-way attack drone to injure three US military personnel in northern Iraq on Christmas Day.
Biden, who was at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, for Christmas, convened his national security team to consider options, and Biden ordered the strikes, which took place about 4:45 a.m. this morning. US Central Command said the retaliatory strikes “destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants”.
Iranian-backed militant groups in Iraq and Syria, under the umbrella group known as Islamic Resistance, began striking US facilities on October 17 after an explosion at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza killed and injured many civilians. While Israeli and American intelligence agencies determined that the blast was caused by an errant missile filed by Palestinian militants, Iranian-backed militias dismissed the findings and have carried out dozens of attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria.
Discussion: The Biden administration has not responded to every attempt on American troops out of fear that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate into a wider regional conflict, but that measured response has led to criticism of the president. The attack on Christmas Day apparently was too much.
Israel Expansion Of Fight For Survival Is Worrisome
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, during a visit to Gaza on December 25, announced, “We are expanding the fight in the coming days and this will be a long battle.” The offensive against Hamas “isn’t close to finished,” he said, despite heavy domestic pressure to reach a deal that will bring home more than 100 Israeli hostages thought to remain in captivity.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant revealed this morning that the Israel also has retaliated in Iraq, Yemen, and Iran for other attacks. “We are in a multi-front war and are coming under attack from seven theatres: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea, and Samaria (West Bank), Iraq, Yemen, and Iran,” he told lawmakers, adding, “We have already responded and taken action in six of these theaters.”
The Israeli military has said it has retaliated for attacks from Lebanon and Syria, and carried out raids on Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.
Discussion: Concerns about the possibility of a World War III have risen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Hamas’ attack on Israel, and President Biden has tried to support both countries while keeping Israel’s response to the Hamas attack within bounds to avoid such a scenario. The conflict is continuing to spread, making that prospect of a global war more plausible.
Ukrainian Air Strike Destroys Russian Warship
Russia has confirmed that a Ukrainian air strike at Feodosiya in Russian-occupied Crimea destroyed the large landing warship Novocherkasskone this morning, killing one person and injuring several others. The strike also damaged six buildings.
As speculation spread that the ship was carrying Iranian-made Shahed drones, which Russia has been using in its attacks on Ukrainian targets, Nataliya Humenyuk, head of publicity for Ukraine’s southern command, said it was “clear that such a large detonation was caused by more than just the fuel or ammunition of the ship itself”.
Separately, a spokesman for Ukraine’s air force denied that Russia had shot down two of its Su-24 bombers about 77 miles from the occupied Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, and that Russian troops have seized the town of Mariinka in eastern Ukraine.
Discussion: Recent reports have cast doubt on Ukraine’s ability to win the war, especially in the face of the United States’ impasse over continued financial support. The destruction of the Russian warship provides renewed hope for the country’s ability to withstand the formidable Russian war machine.