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Saturday, April 05, 2003

T.E.U. Light reading for everyone with a conex in the yard. An excellent piece of (science) fiction that would fit as well on the pages of Esquire as it does on the Kuro5hin website. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Here is as good a place as any to introduce some of you to Ken Layne, a fine journalist (and, as you will please note, satirist as well) who runs a very nice blog.
Cha Ching........I've always said the way to solve the fiscal problem in Alaska is to take Anchorage OUT of the equation, by awarding the Municipality an exclusive license for a greyhound track and a Jai Lai Court. When Governor Murkowski was the previous Senator Murkowski, he always advocated quickie, overnight visas for Korean visitors. Put two and two together- Asians plus gambling = $$$. Representative Pete Kott (R-Eagle River) has a different idea. I, for one, look forward to the debate over a state lottery.
Why We (Must) Fight: Iraq gives up its grim secrets
Elmendorf airmen give Letterman's Top 10.
And here in my right hand is The Top Ten Cool Things About Being Stationed in Alaska.
Better read it soon before the next list comes out!
Didn't see it on the tee vee but I have no doubt the boys and girls at Elmendorf did us all proud!

Hmmmm....A tip 'o the hat to my sharp-eyed reader for catching the first typo of the first page of the first chapter.
I just had a phone call from Fran Ulmer, Alaska's first woman Lt. Governor and candidate for the top spot in the last election. She is in Bethel this weekend for the 2003 CAMAI Festival, one of the finest cultural events in Alaska.
One paper I try to follow on-line is Nunavut's Nunatsiaq News. There is a very interesting article New wildlife bill built on Inuktitut principles I found this morning which bears reading by everyone interested in fish and game management in Alaska. It is nice to see the integration of traditional values into civil law, even if it IS in Canada.

"Tenets of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit would guide application of proposed law"

As Nunatsiaq News reporter Jim Bell writes in the piece, "Nunavut’s proposed new wildlife act, Bill 35, builds on a solid Inuit base, encoding a set of Inuktitut concepts and principles to ensure the law is applied in ways that are consistent with Inuit culture.
"That means Bill 35, which received first and second reading last Friday in the legislative assembly, is the first major Nunavut-made law to define Inuit cultural values within its text.
" 'The bill addresses wildlife management in a way that fully takes into account Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. Inuit values and principles must be followed in a way that makes the bill especially relevant to Nunavummiut,' a summary of the act states."

Bell explains that the Act contains a section entitled "Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit," a list of 13
"guiding principles and concepts" that must be used when applying the new wildlife law.

Looks to me like the leading example to date of co-management principles!
Good morning. I haven't seen any Alaskan blogs, so here goes!
I'm your host and editor, Mark Springer of Hooper Bay, Alaska. I've lived in Alaska since 1976.
My hope in bringing you Both Barrels is to highlight Alaskan news of note as well as opinion, trivia, gossip and a look at the national and world scene from the perspective of a Rural person.
My interests include, as you will discern from careful reading, Alaskan politics, Alaska Native Politics, Amateur Radio, Telecommunications, Education, local government and a whole host of other topics we will eventually get to.
I welcome comments and tips and hope to invite a few people who's opinions and abilities I highly respect to post here too, with the aim of making Both Barrels a well-read Alaskan institution.
Let the fun begin!