Favorite Link Friday Week of Dec. 16, 2016

Another low King run forecast for Stikine River

by Angela Denning

Biologists have crunched the numbers and it looks like it will be another low King run for the Stikine River next year. The Stikine is a transboundary river meaning it runs through both Canada and Alaska. The fisheries are jointly managed by both countries that share their data.

Managers won’t consider allowing directed commercial fisheries unless the projected terminal numbers are over 28,000. In 2017, that’s projected to be just 18,300 Chinook.

Troy Thynes is the Area Management Biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Petersburg. He says besides no directed fisheries, there could be additional restrictions.

Thynes says they expect low numbers could continue. The cause is likely out in the ocean, which is hard to control. The warm water blob in the Pacific Ocean could be a factor or it could be something unknown.

What they do know is history. Records have been kept on the Stikine River since the late 70s.

That’s one of the lowest King salmon runs on record for the Stikine. [Please read the rest here]

Walker proposes slashing 795 state jobs to cut budget

By KTVA CBS 11 News

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Gov. Bill Walker is proposing to cut 795 state positions as part of a budget plan that includes use of earnings from Alaska’s oil-wealth nest egg and ultimately tripling state motor fuels taxes.

Walker’s budget office says the governor’s overall budget plan, if implemented, would leave a budget deficit of nearly $900 million that would need to be closed with lawmakers’ help. [Source]

Just fake enough

BY CRAIG MEDRED

Enough with all this fretting about “fake news.” Let’s talk about what’s really irritating as a news consumer:

Click baiting.

It’s everywhere, and it’s almost enough make you stop reading news sites that regularly resort to the tactic. It’s beyond irritating to be dragged into a story by a misleading headline put on it solely intended to get you to click on your computer screen.

Here’s a recent example:

“A Juneau man fell through lake ice. He saved himself, and then he saved a grandmother.”

Sounds heroic, doesn’t it? Somebody else reading this surely clicked through. If they did so expecting a dramatic tale of Alaska survival,they were extremely disappointed... [Read the rest here]

Lost Greek city dating back 2,500 years discovered by archaeologists
Samuel Osborne

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,500-year-old lost city in Greece.

Researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the University of Bournemouth have begun exploring the ruins at a village called Vlochos, around 300km (190 miles) north of Athens.

While some of the ruins were already known, they had been dismissed as part of an irrelevant settlement on a hill, the leader of the team, Robin Ronnlund, said in a statement.

The team, which also includes researchers from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa, found the remains of towers, walls and city gates on the summit and slopes of the hill.

They hope to avoid excavation and use methods such as ground-penetrating radar instead, which will allow them to leave the site in the same condition as when they found it.

During their first two weeks of field work in September, they have discovered an ancient pottery and coins dating back to around 500 BC. [Rest of the Story may be found Here]

The oh-so-trendy diversity rules that mean Bond would never win his Baftas today: Organisation introduces new guidelines that means movies must meet criteria to qualify for top award

By DAVID WILKES FOR DAILY MAIL

The James Bond film Skyfall was a hit with critics and audiences around the world, and won two Bafta awards in 2013.

But if rules just revealed by the film academy had applied then, the title character's background as a privileged white heterosexual public school-educated man might have damaged the movie's chances of scooping a gong.

The organisation is bringing in diversity rules which films will have to comply with to be eligible for two of its top annual awards.

From 2019 it will be a requirement that films put forward for the Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer categories must meet the new criteria.

A Bafta spokesman said: 'Under-represented groups in the film industry include people from minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, women and LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender]. It also includes people from lower socio-economic groups.'

In order to meet the standards, productions will need to demonstrate that they have worked to increase the representation of these groups in two out of four areas – on-screen characters and themes; senior roles and crew; industry training and career progression; and appeal to under-represented audiences.

Quite how the diversity drive might have affected recent past winners of Outstanding British Film such as Skyfall, 2010's The King's Speech, 2001's Gosford Park or 1995's The Madness Of King George is not clear. [Full Story]

Favorite comments from the story:

1. How long will it be before the white, heterosexual people become the minority? At this rate, not very long. So much for a live and let live attitude. Minority groups don't want equality - it's dominance they all seek.

2. If having your parents die at a very young age, being brought up in an old mansion in the middle of nowhere in Scotland then being fostered by a family who's son goes on to try and have you killed and then tries to kill you and you girlfriend in the most elaborate of ways is privilege, them i am happy to not be privileged!

Feds: Cars must be able to talk to each other

Nathan Bomey , USA TODAY

U.S. auto-safety regulators on Tuesday proposed new rules requiring automakers to adopt crash-avoidance technology that allows all new vehicles to communicate with each other, a move that could help accelerate the development of self-driving cars.

The requirement of so-called vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity — simply called V2V in industry parlance — on all consumer vehicles within about five years is viewed as central to the development of a new age of cars that can avoid accidents by wirelessly monitoring each other. V2V technology uses short-range radio communication to allow vehicles to identify each other's speed, location, direction and acceleration or braking, within a radius of about 300 meters.

[Most people don't realize that government regulation is what's killing the high MPG race (Doubt me? Ask your mechanic). Even So, why would POW pay XXX amount extra for "crash avoidance" have you seen the traffic on this island? Yes, this will add an extra 1,000$ to the price of your car/truck.]

The move to mandate the systems comes after more than a decade of testing and collaboration with the auto industry, which is advancing V2V technology in new self-driving car technology.

Although self-driving cars will use light-mapping systems, radar, sensors and cameras to monitor their surroundings, V2V technology is still critical because it does not require visual sightings.

The new rule would apply only to consumer vehicles for now, but the agency said it believes the technology has tremendous potential for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses. [Full story]

This is just dumb. Why force the rule? Just give it as an option? Sure, it's a good idea but why should EVERYONE have to be forced to have this option???? (Full Disclosure I drive a 1977 F250)