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Thursday, March 11, 2010

FINALLY!

He was never a friend of Rural Alaska, so we shed no tears over his departure from the Legislature.
Bunde won't run for re-election

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Attention. Loranimals

Are you now or have you ever been a Loranimal?
For the uninitiated, a Loranimal is anyone who has spent a part of their life (usually one-year increments) caring for and feeding anything with a nomenclature beginning AN/FPN. Touchy things, those AN/FPN's, especially the 42's, 44 and 44A's and 45's.
Well, if you know what I am talking about, then THIS IS IMPORTANT.
It seems that most LORAN transmitters were X-Ray emitters! Thats right, the high-power final amplifier tubes generated x-rays.
You should DOWNLOAD THIS and read it if you ever worked at a LORAN Station.
There is a good set of links at Loran-History.info on the x-ray health issue.
Semper Paratus!

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Like to fish?

Here's an interesting one from ESPN:
Culled out
Obama administration will accept no more public input for federal fishery strategy
.

Remarkable WTC Photos from 9/11

As many have heard, a New York Police Department Aviation Unit helo was about the only civilian aircraft allowed to fly in New York City shortly after the double-jetliner attack on the World Trade Center. Photographs taken by Detective Greg Semendinger and possibly other NYPD Aviation Officers are available from the CRYPTOME website, released under a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Containing 153 detailed photos, the 64 mb zip file is well worth the bandwidth. Most pictures are of evacuation efforts by the New York Harbor maritime fleet (US Coast Guard, Police Boats, ferries and tugs) as well as a couple of incredible photos of the roof of WTC North (the tower with the broadcast and communcations antennas).

Sunday, March 07, 2010

The Legacy of LORAN-C in Alaska

USCG LORAN-C Station Tok leaves the air



I came to Alaska in September, 1976 as a member of the Commissioning Crew of LORAN-C Station Tok, Master Station of the 7960 Gulf of Alaska Chain. We proudly maintained the signal which we knew was used for navigation by the Prince William Sound TAPS tanker fleet.

from the Seattle PI airline blog

Tx to 747sp for the link.
Aviation & Alaska Airlines in the Small Town of Bethel, Alaska

TWWWSTLIJ* in Canada

Thanks again to Palingates for these links:
McLean's Craig Cosh reports here and here.

*the woman who was supposed to live in Juneau

Good coverage of the UA Prexy race

As mentioned a post or two below, the beauty contest for President of the University of Alaska is in full swing but amazingly below the radar of most Alaskans.The consequences of the final decision of the Board of Regents are of importance to EVERY Alaskan.The University of Alaska has touched nearly everyone on our State in one way or another, continues to and will as far off ito the future as I can see.For those of you who might be reading this post from somewhere that isn't familiar with the UA System, our University is divided (figuratively and literally) into three discrete unites, University of Alaska Fairbanks (founding campus and world headquarters); University of Alaska Anchorage; and University of Alaska Southeast.
The University is a world leader in geophysical research and has a number of world-class academic programs. The variety of programs it has available to Alaskan's is astonishing and worthy of the people of our State.
The Alaska State Legislature, of course, seems never to recognize this fact and oftentimes one wonders if the Statewide Administration of the University recognizes it. Anyone who has been to a "Public Meeting" with soon-to-be ex-President Mark Hamilton I am sure will agree.
My recommendation today is Professor Steve Aufrect's coverage and Professor John Creed's commentary Here.

Why SOMETIMES (only sometimes) I wish I lived in Anchorage

Cliff Groh (who looks better in a beard) will be giving a little talk that anyone with even a passing interest in the conjunction betwixt Alaskan politics and Federal Law Enforcement should attend.
And follow his blog!