Alaska

Coordinates: 64°N 150°W / 64°N 150°W / 64; -150

Alaska (ⁱ/əˈlæskə/) is a U.S. state situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent. Bordering the state to the east are the Canadian territory of Yukon and the Canadian province of British Columbia; to the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. To the west and south is the Pacific Ocean, with Russia (specifically, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and Kamchatka Krai) farther west across the Bering Strait. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 3rd least populous and the least densely populated of the 50 United States. Approximately half of Alaska's residents (estimated at 738,432 by the Census Bureau in 2015) live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the oil, natural gas, and fishing industries, resources which it has in abundance. Tourism and military bases are also a significant part of the economy.

Although it had been occupied for over ten thousand years by indigenous peoples, from the 18th century onward, European powers considered the territory of Alaska ripe for exploitation and trade. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for 7.2 million U.S. dollars at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.

.50 Alaskan

The .50 Alaskan is a wildcat cartridge developed by Harold Johnson and Harold Fuller of the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska in the 1950s. Johnson based the cartridge on the .348 Winchester in order to create a rifle capable of handling the large bears in Alaska.

Design

Harold Johnson necked out the .348 Winchester case to accept a .510" diameter bullet, and Harold Fuller developed the barrel, marrying a .50 caliber barrel to an old Winchester Model 1886 rifle.

Since the rifle was designed for use on Alaska’s great bears, Johnson cut 720-grain (47 g) boat-tail .50 BMG bullets in half, seating the 450-grain (29 g) rear half upside down in the fireformed .50-caliber case. It didn’t take Johnson long to find out that the 450-grain truncated shaped "solid" would shoot through a big brown bear from any direction, claiming in 1988, "I never recovered a slug from a bear or moose, no matter what angle the animal was shot at."

Performance

Harold’s favorite load in the .50 Alaskan was 51.5 grains (3.34 g) of IMR-4198 with a Barnes 400-grain (26 g) flatnose, jacketed bullet for about 2,100 ft/s (640 m/s) and just under 4,000 ft·lbf (5,400 J)of muzzle energy..

Oil

An oil is any neutral, nonpolar chemical substance that is a viscous liquid at ambient temperatures and is both hydrophobic (immiscible with water, literally "water fearing") and lipophilic (miscible with other oils, literally "fat loving"). Oils have a high carbon and hydrogen content and are usually flammable and slippery.

The general definition of oil includes classes of chemical compounds that may be otherwise unrelated in structure, properties, and uses. Oils may be animal, vegetable, or petrochemical in origin, and may be volatile or non-volatile. They are used for food, fuel, lubrication, and the manufacture of paints, plastics, and other materials. Specially prepared oils are used in some religious ceremonies as purifying agents.

Etymology

First attested in English 1176, the word oil comes from Old French oile, from Latin oleum, which in turn comes from the Greek ἔλαιον (elaion), "olive oil, oil" and that from ἐλαία (elaia), "olive tree", "olive fruit". The earliest attested forms of the word are the Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀨𐀺, e-ra-wo and 𐀁𐁉𐀺, e-rai-wo, written in the Linear B syllabic script.

Oil (disambiguation)

Oil is any of a number of nonpolar, hydrophobic, and viscous liquids.

Oil most often refers to:

Arts and entertainment

Art

Blood & Oil

Blood & Oil is an American prime time television soap opera created by Josh Pate and Rodes Fishburne, that premiered on ABC September 27, 2015. The series follows a young couple that moves to fictitious Rock Springs, North Dakota, after the biggest oil discovery in American history.

The series features an ensemble cast headed by Don Johnson as oil tycoon Harlan "Hap" Briggs. Blood & Oil also stars Amber Valletta as his catty socialite wife, Carla; Scott Michael Foster as his villainous son Wick; and Miranda Rae Mayo as his illegitimate biracial daughter Lacey who has an affair with Hap's personal driver, AJ Menendez (Adan Canto), who leads a triple life. Chace Crawford and Rebecca Rittenhouse play young couple Billy and Cody LeFever, while India de Beaufort plays bar owner/loan shark Jules Jackman, and Delroy Lindo plays a sly sheriff, Tip Harrison.

The original order of 13 episodes was reduced to 10 on October 23, 2015.

Production

Development

The project was written by Josh Pate and Rodes Fishburne, with Tony Krantz as executive producer. In September 2011, ABC bought the script (then titled The Bakken) along with several other projects by Krantz, but did not order a pilot for the 2012–13 television season. In October 2014, the project moved to the USA Network under the title Boom and would be produced by ABC, but was never filmed.

Alaska!

Alaska! is an indie rock trio from the United States. The band was formed in San Francisco by Russell Pollard (formerly of Sebadoh and later of the Folk Implosion), Imaad Wasif (also later of Folk Implosion), with Lesley Ishino (formerly of the Red Aunts) later joining as drummer.

Discography

The band released their debut album, Emotions, in 2003, and a second, Rescue Through Tomahawk in 2005.

References

Further reading

Alaska (1944 film)

Alaska is a 1944 American crime adventure film directed by George Archainbaud. It stars Kent Taylor, Margaret Lindsay, and John Carradine.

Plot

Gary Corbett kills a pair of claim jumpers who did likewise to his father. He is charged with murder, but cannot be taken to Juneau to stand trial until the weather permits. Marshal John Masters keeps him in town until the prisoner can be moved.

Roxie Reagan, who sings at Tom LaRue's saloon, falls in love with Corbett, but she is trapped in a loveless marriage to John Reagan, an alcoholic has-been actor. LaRue also is in love with Roxie, and he and a local judge are suspected by Corbett of being in cahoots with the claim jumpers.

LaRue tries to frame Corbett for another murder, then sets the jail on fire. John Reagan courageously comes to Corbett's rescue, losing his own life in the process. The marshal deals with LaRue, but suddenly reveals that he is the one who has been backing the murderous claim jumpers all along. Corbett manages to get the better of Masters, then sets sail for San Francisco with his bride-to-be, Roxie.