A Country Of the Politicians, By the Politicians and For the Politicians

For some time I have been wanting to do a BLOG on the people who make the rules to fit their personal ambitions and somehow expect the rest of us to blindly follow, like sheep to the slaughter.  This of course, does not limit the scope of this discussion to Politicians, as the title implies.  It includes all those independent companies and individuals, especially those with enough money to buy their influence and thereunto, the laws they wish implemented.

Yes, this is primarily aimed at all the politicians, who are, largely, lawyers themselves.  All  the CEOs of all the large Corporations, all the Bankers and Lawyers, and yes, to a lesser extent, the Doctors and Teachers and Law Enforcement, for, whereas, at least they do provide a certain service that we do need, have largely bought into this system that has been taken over from a country that was designed to be a government of the people, for the people and by the people to one that is there for big money and the average man has very little to say about it.

A really good modern day example of how this system now works, let us take the recently enacted Affordable Health Care Act.  A lot of you are probably under the belief the Republicans fought tooth and nail to get it blocked, while the Democrats jammed it down their throats, however, they are just as complicit as their supposed foes on Capitol Hill.  In fact, most of what is wrong with the law was placed their by the Republican Leaders, before they would sign on to it in a "JOINT" effort to finally do something about the Healthcare system in this country.  It is hard to find any individuals who think they got a good deal here.  Those who still think it is a system worth keeping are in the healthcarre industry itself, and of course the Insurance Companies are eating it up.

Insurance has long been the root of all evil perpetrated against the American public.  They were the first to get laws implemented that said every individual has to have insurance, starting with Car Insurance and now with Health Insurance as well.  Any economics professor would be quick to acknowledge that the Insurance business is the greatest example of Corporate "Skimming" that has ever existed.  ALL people in the Insurance business make their living at the expense of the average guy who thinks he can not live without insurance.  On the contrary, if he simply put every dime into a simple Savings Account, that he now pays for Insurance premiums, he would have no trouble at all paying for the services that insurance supposedly covers.

A better example may be the TARP program, that bailed out the banks a few years ago.  Most people in America are under the mistaken belief that the banks have long since paid off their debt and TARP is history.  The facts reveal that the bankers are still reaping huge profits from that program and the "help" it supposedly gave to homeowners trying to keep their homes has been pretty much missing from the equation.  How many people do you know who have actually had their mortgages rewritten as a result of the TARP program??  Here again, it was George W. Bush who called both major presidential candidates into his office prior to the election in 2008 to "advise" them of the consequenses of either bailing out the banks, or not doing so.  Whichever one was elected, was expected to carry out the policy instigated by George W. Bush, which Barack Obama did, so both Democrats and Republicans perpetrated this evil against the American public.

The Perils of being a Christian

I got to thinking a lot lately about how hard it is to be a "Good Christian".  You have so much responsibility.   You always have to keep second guessing the other guy and try to figure out if he is a "Good Christian" like yourself or if he really needs some help, or even if he is really saved at all, and you got to decide whether you need to teach him about what the Word says, or if you need to "Stand in the gap" for him, or if it would be terribly bad for you if you caused him to stumble, etc.  And then it gets even tougher, when you have to decide whether or not, maybe he is a "Better Christian" than you are and maybe you need to listen to him more about what the Word says and maybe he is right to decide, maybe YOU are not really saved and he has some sort of knowledge that you don't have that could really make you a "Better Christian".   I really got to thinking a lot about this after I realized that..."Strait is the Gate and narrow the way that leads to Eternal life and few shall find it but wide is the path that leads to destruction, and many shall go in thereat."    When I got to thinking about all those people who call themselves Christian and how they always call a few others a bunch of Cults, I could not help but wonder, "What if it were those Cult guys who are right and all those others are on that wide path leading to destruction??"  I'm sure that is the way those Cult guys look at it.  They certainly are not going to make the mistake of calling them "Good Christians."  Oh Woe is me,  what can I do to understand which group it is I belong in??   I know if I bring this up to my pastor, he is going to say, all I got to do is study the Bible and it will become very clear to me.  Then he will ask me when It was that I received the Holy Spirit, and if I am not able to tell him the exact day and hour, he will be convinced I am not saved at all and will invite me to come to the Bible study so I can learn how to be saved, and then when I receive the Holy Spirit, I will know for sure what I need to know to set my mind at ease.

The Case against Aspartame

I guess I have been a little bit reluctant to enter into the conversation surrounding Aspartame. This is mostly, because there is a very significant article on Snopes that mostly discounts all the articles written claiming there to be a significant Health Risk associated with Aspartame usage. That is, until I read the original article supposedly written by a non existant person who attended and lectured at a non-existant conference. Makes it look pretty much like scare tactics, as usual. Unfortunately, I began to smell a snake in the grass when I read that Donald Rumsfeld might be involved in a scheme to push the approval through the FDA in the early days of the Reagan presidency. As a matter of fact, GD Searle, the inventor of the original product re-submitted his request for approval the day after Reagan took office. This raised the hairs on the back of my head and I began to have serious suspicions of a government conspiracy at the very highest levels, much as we were pushed into the war in Iraq, by that same Donald Rumsfeld in a later Republican administration. Sure enough, I quickly learned the controversy goes much deeper than Snopes seems to have discovered. It makes you wonder if Barbara and David Mikkelson don't themselves own stock in Monsanto. I was especially concerned after discovering that Monsanto had bought GD Searle in 1985 for 2.7 billion dollars. I knew Monsanto had a history of manipulating their friends in Congress and the white House. Therefore, in my thinking, they must all be guilty as charged. Then when the U.S. Supreme Court, headed by Conservative, Clarence Thomas, who is a former attorney for Monsanto, refused to hear arguments by Consumer Groups that the FDA did not follow proper procedures in approving Aspartame, I was positive there was government and political manipulation going on here.

It was not until 1995 that Consumer activist Betty Martini managed to force the FDA to release documents under the Freedom of Information Act that supplied a list of all the adverse effects reported to the FDA by consumers associated with their Aspartame ingestion. The list is quite startling and includes four deaths and more than 90 unique symptoms, a majority of which are connected to impaired neurological function. They include: headache; dizziness or problems with balance; mood change; vomiting and nausea; seizures and convulsions; memory loss; tremors; muscle weakness; abdominal pains and cramps; change in vision; diarrhoea; fatigue and weakness; skin rashes; deteriorating vision; joint and musculoskeletal pain.

For a complete time-table in the history of Aspartame, visit the main link supplied in the title of this BLOG. I will be making further contributions to this BLOG, or modifying the existing content, in the coming days, as I further investigate the claims both pro and con.

Social Democrats

My brother, Ron had mentioned to me that he thought we needed to revamp the Democratic Party and get it back to what it was before "...The Socialists moved in and took it over..." He mentioned that it happened in the George McGovern campaign. I knew that my Dad always felt that the McGovern people more or less destroyed the party, but I was quick to point out to Ron that the Socialists had become a part of the party long before the McGovern run in 1972. In fact, they were instrumental in getting John F. Kennedy elected in 1960. I was not too sure when this change had come to pass, but knew that Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale were among those elite Minnesota Democrats who had roots in the Socialist movement.

Anyway, so I decided to write a BLOG about the Socialist movement in America and how it has been integrated into the Democratic party.

Dan's Documentation

I have been under a lot of pressure to provide some documentation for some of the claims I am making, so this BLOG will focus on a lot of links to various works by others showing how the World has been affected by the US and British Imperialists in the battle for control of the World's Oil Fields.

The story starts, Pre-WWI , when the Russian Czar made numerous treaties with Great Britain in an effort to divvy up the country now known as Iran. The original secret treaty was signed in 1907 and was called the "Convention of St Petersburg", which gave the Northern half of Persia to Russia and the Southern half to Britain, (which of course had all the oil fields). Persia's government was not even consulted. At that time there was not much of a government at all, and the British had little trouble maintaining control.

Anglo Persian began pumping oil in 1908 making Iran the first major area to have it's oil exploited by the Imperialists. Great Britain converted all it's ships to Oil and dominated WWI because their ships were so much faster and ranged further than the conventional coal fired ships of the day.

After the defeat of Germany in World War 1, Britain’s Lord Curzon declared that the Allies had “floated to victory upon a wave of oil.” (Everest, p. 31)

Anglo Persian eventually became British Petroleum and much of WWI was fought in Iran over Britain's claim to the oil fields they had established there.

BP became one of he world’s largest oil companies; it was founded solely on Middle Eastern oil. (Larry Everest, Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda, p. 30)

While promising independence to the Region's peoples, Britain, France and Russia were secretly negotiating to divide up the Middle East between them. This fact came to light when the Bolsheviks released all of the documents they found in the Czar's Foreign Ministry Archives, including the Treaty called the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement.

Once the Bolsheviks were in control in Russia, Britain launched a new offensive under the guise of fighting the spread of Communism, and in 1919, they imposed the Anglo-Persian Agreement, which gave them exclusive control of the government, including the transportation and communication, army and treasury. Beginning in 1921, the British supported a series of military coups, by Reza Khan, who eventually was established as Shah in 1926, operating as a Puppet of British Imperialism. This was the beginning of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

Enter the Good Old USA: Of course, sooner or later the United States had to become involved because of increased pressure applied by Standard Oil (now Exxon) and eventually a deal was worked out to share the spoils.

By 1928 the British were forced to give U.S. firms a cut of Iraqi oil, thanks to America’s rising global power and the leverage exerted by U.S. firms: Standard Oil (now Exxon) supplied half of Britain’s oil. Oil historian John Blair described the resulting “Red Line” agreement as “an outstanding example of a restricted combination for the control of a large portion of the world’s supply by a group of companies which together dominate the world market for this commodity.” (Everest, pp. 38-39)


Perhaps Dan would like to hear the same story from another perspective. At this point I will be quoting from The Encyclopedia Britannica . That source will probably bear a little more weight than the previous discourse. According to this source, the agreement included Afghanistan and Tibet.

Rise of Reza Khan

Until the beginning of World War I, Russia effectively ruled Iran, but, with the outbreak of hostilities, Russian troops withdrew from the north of the country, and Iranians convened the third Majles. Jubilation was short-lived, however, as the country quickly turned into a battlefield between British, German, Russian, and Turkish forces. The landed elite hoped to find in Germany a foil for the British and Russians, but change eventually was to come from the north.

Following the Russian Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the new Soviet government unilaterally canceled the tsarist concessions in Iran, an action that created tremendous goodwill toward the new Soviet Union and, after the Central Powers were defeated, left Britain the sole Great Power in Iran.

During the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, Oil concessions were first granted in 1901, during the Qājār period, and the first commercially exploitable petroleum deposits were found in 1908. Reza Shah renegotiated a number of these concessions, despite the ire these agreements raised among the Iranian people. The concessions were to remain a violent point of contention in Iran for decades to come.

Reza Shah’s need to expand trade, his fear of Soviet control over Iran’s overland routes to Europe, and his apprehension at renewed Soviet and continued British presence in Iran drove him to expand trade with Nazi Germany in the 1930s. His refusal to abandon what he considered to be obligations to numerous Germans in Iran served as a pretext for an Anglo-Soviet invasion of his country in 1941. Intent on ensuring the safe passage of U.S. war matérial to the Soviet Union through Iran, the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate, placing his young son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi on the throne.

Petroleum revenues were to fuel Iran’s economy for the next quarter of a century. There was no further talk of nationalization, as the shah firmly squelched subsequent political dissent within Iran. In 1957, with the aid of U.S. and Israeli intelligence services, the shah’s government formed a special branch to monitor domestic dissidents. The shah’s secret police—the Organization of National Security and Information, Sāzmān-e Amniyyat va Ettelaʿāt-e Keshvār, known by the acronym SAVAK—developed into an omnipresent force within Iranian society and became a symbol of the fear by which the Pahlavi regime was to dominate Iran.

Unfortunately, this source apparently has little to say about the Revolution that installed the Ayatollah Khomeini, or the taking of the 66 American hostages. On April 1, 1991 after the Shah had died in Cairo, following overwhelming support in a national referendum, Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic. That sort of ended Western influence over the oil in Iran.

Shock and Awe

This Post is written primarily in response to those who believe it is not only our right but even our command from God to Judge others, in spite of the admonition Jesus made in the "Sermon on the Mount" in Chapter 7 of Matthew to "Judge not, Lest you be Judged".

A dossier released by "Iraqi Body Count", a project of the UK non-governmental non-violent and disarmament organization Oxford Research Group, attributed approximately 6,616 civilian deaths to the actions of US led forces during the "Invasion Phase", including the "Shock and Awe" bombing campaign on Baghdad. Of course, this finding was immediately dismissed by the US government as being erroneous, however their own attempts at enumerating civilian losses was obviously disinformation and misinformation. Many people do not know that the idea of Shock and Awe as a military concept was conceived much earlier, even possibly by the Germans in the Blitzkrieg, but the idea was adopted by the Bush White house and came largely into the public awareness in the wake of the US led attack on Baghdad in March of 2003. The doctrine was formally written by Harlan K. Ullman and James P. Wade in 1996 and is a product of the National Defense University of the United States. The authors used, as an example, the theoretical invasion of Iraq 20 years after Operation Desert Storm, and they even cited the use of misinformation and disinformation as an integral part of the doctrine.

It should be pretty obvious to anyone willing to take the time to read the information available with an open mind, that someone in the Bush White House had read this doctrine and brought it to the attention of George Bush in some meeting in the White House, (or even before his election), where it was subsequently determined to give it a whirl against Baghdad. They proceeded, against overwhelming opposition in Congress and the united Nations. The proposed Invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some traditional US allies, including the governments of France, Germany, New Zealand and Canada. Only four countries participated in the initial invasion: The United States, Great Britain, Australia, Poland and in addition, support was given by Iraqi Kurdistan. As a matter of fact, the president ordered the plans for the invasion to be drafted within two weeks of the 9-11 attacks.

It is my belief that George Bush has read the Sermon on the Mount, or had it read to him, many times. He has also had it explained to him in depth. I believe this because GW Bush was very vocal about his Christian Faith, unlike many of his predecessors, who preferred to keep their religion out of their Politics. One of the most controversial passages in this sermon is found in Matthew 7; vs 1-5:

1 JUDGE not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Now in this context of his background and raising, how is it possible that arguably the most powerful man in the world at that time, could make this determination to invade Iraq, on his own, with only the support and consideration of his very closest circle of advisors. By February of 2003, largely through a campaign of misinformation and disinformation, and in spite of a UN inspection of Iraqi facilities in response to UN Resolution 1441, GW Bush was able to convince Congress to pass a Joint Resolution to authorize use of US Armed Forces against Iraq. Although a large majority of Americans polled were in favor of an invasion, by this time, a large majority also favored diplomatic solutions.

In summary, the Bush Administration, made the determination to proceed with this pre-emptive invasion of Iraq, based on disinformation and misinformation by his closest circle of advisors, and against the wishes of the American people and world-wide public opinion. This plan was essentially put into place on the day of his inaugeration.

Not so Proud to be an American

Why would I be "Proud to be an American"?? Because I was lucky enough to be born here?? As the title link of this Blog would suggest, Canadians are not "Proud to be Americans", per se, they might be proud to be Canadian, by the same misdirected logic that we use to be "Proud to be American". Maybe some are ashamed to be Americans for what the term suggests about them. Are Mexicans "Proud to be Americans"?? Their name for people from the good old USA is "Norte Americano". Do they exclude Canada in this description, or is it a general term that applies to "Those mostly white skinned pompous fat-headed, misguided people who live north of the Grand State of Mexico"?? And what about all those people who live South of Mexico. What do they think about being American. Are you "Proud to be an American" because they were the people who imported all those Black Africans into this country to work as Slave Labor on the plantations and in the big cities building all those "Proud to be an American" symbols, like the American Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. and the Washington Monument?? Are you "Proud to be an American" because you were descended from one of those Slave Laborers?? Are you "Proud to be an American" because you swam the Rio Grande River or came across in tiny boats from Cuba to find a better life in the "Land of the Free"?? Are you "Proud to be an American" because you are descended from one of the people who were here before the white skinned people came along and pushed them out of their homeland and forced them to live on Reservations in areas considered to be "no good for anything useful"??

Or, let's take it to another level. Are you "Proud to be a Minnesotan", because that is where you were born, or are you "Proud to be a Minnesotan" because your parents returned to Minnesota after living in California for a few years, to raise their kids in the same abject poverty they lived in before they left Minnesota for the easy money in California?? Or are you "Proud to be a Minnesotan" because your parents, who met and had all their children in Washington, returned to Minnesota while you were still in high school for the simpler life there?? Or are you "Proud to be a Minnesotan" because your Mother didn't want you, so you were adopted by a "Christian Family" in Minnesota out of the LSS Adoption clinic where you were born??

Dark Star and Pagan Pre-Cursors to Christianity

Life events shared by Osiris, Dionysus and Jesus:

The following stories appear both in the Gospels and in the myths of many of the god-men:

Conception:
God was his father. This was believed to be literally true in the case of Osiris-Dionysus; their God came to earth and engaged in sexual intercourse with a human. The father of Jesus is God in the form of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18).
A human woman, a virgin, was his mother.

Birth:
He was born in a cave or cowshed. Luke 2:7 mentions that Jesus was placed in a manger - an eating trough for animals. One early Christian tradition said that the manger was in a cave.
His birth was prophesized by a star in the heavens.

Ministry:
At a marriage ceremony, he performed the miracle of converting water into wine.
He was powerless to perform miracles in his home town.
His followers were born-again through baptism in water.
He rode triumphantly into a city on a donkey. Tradition records that the inhabitants waved palm leaves.
He had 12 disciples.
He was accused of licentious behavior.
Execution, resurrection, etc:
He was killed near the time of the Vernal Equinox, about MAR-21.
He died "as a sacrifice for the sins of the world." 1
He was hung on a tree, stake, or cross.
After death, he descended into hell.
On the third day after his death, he returned to life.
The cave where he was laid was visited by three of his female followers
He later ascended to heaven.

His titles:
God made flesh.
Savior of the world.
Son of God.

Beliefs about the God-man:
He is "God made man," and equal to the Father.
He will return in the last days.
He will judge the human race at that time.
Humans are separated from God by original sin. The god-man's sacrificial death reunites the believer with God and atones for the original sin.

All of the Pagan myths had been circulating for centuries before Jesus birth (circa 4 to 7 BCE). It is obvious that if any copying occurred, it was the followers of Jesus incorporating into his biography the myths and legends of Osiris-Dionysus, not vice-versa.

The Ten Commandments

Previous to this Post I made a good start on my Ten Commandemnts to a healthy life. I have returned to this BLOG numerous times to add and re-write, however it is still not yet half done. I suppose all writings are a work in progress, but I am especially exemplary of this notion that since you really don't know exactly where something is going and you never cease to discover new things about something that intrigues you, nothing is ever etched in stone and needs to be returned to many times before any degree of perfection is reached.

This perception, of course is exactly opposite to what happened on Mount Sinai when Moses got the original Ten Commandments and when he returned for a second set after smashing the first set in his anger at discovering his Brother, Aaron had fashioned a Golden Calf for the poeple of Israel to worship in his absence.

In this case, God did in fact etch these commandments in stone "With his Own Finger", as it is reported. Jewish tradition says that these writings went completely through the stone so it could be read from either side, and miraculously not in backward form from the reverse side. The attached link shows, if it were necessary to make that observation, that these laws were meant to be the Primary ten Laws that should never be broken or changed. Jesus himself, although showing that they could easily be summed up with only two "New Commandments", namely 1) Love Your Lord your God with all your Heart and Soul and 2) Your Neighbor as Yourself, nevertheless, in Jesus' own words, "..Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." The message is clear, "..Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled..." .

Now it has been recently suggested that I am attacking the Catholic Church, or as my Beloved Brother states, "..He feels no need to defend His Catholic Background". I want to make it perfectly clear that is not my intention, but only to point out an error of the entire "Christian Faith" that has existed since the 4th Century of the Common Era. In fact, a thorough reading of the Attached Document, that you may read in it's entirety for yourself by clicking on the Title of this BLOG, will I am sure convince you that the Catholic Church itself believes it has rewritten these Ten Commandments, and that if you perceive that the Scripture should be more infallible than Catholic Doctrine, you should not be following this Sunday Worship that they initiated, amongst other things they added, or changed from the original writing. They think the Protestants are pretty silly to be rejecting the Authority of the Catholic Church and still follow her teachings on The Sabbath.

And this covenant was meant to be forever. Exodus 31: 16 says" Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant." In case that message was not clear, it is repeated in Leviticus 16; 31 " It [shall be] a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. " However, I also want to make it clear at this point that my primary focus on this article is not the change from Saturday to Sunday of the Holy Day that was celebrated by God's people even before the writing of the Ten Commandments. My primary purpose in this particular BLOG is to point out that the original reading of the Ten Commandments has been changed to where, the Second Commandment is dropped altogether and the Tenth was split into two parts to bring the total back to ten. I have spent many hours arguing this point to a lot of converted Christians, who have given their lives over to God, and they invariably make light of it, like it is no big deal to add or subtract important passages from Scripture. Let me make it clear that these words still exist pretty much in their original form in the various Catholic and Protestant Bibles. I like using the King James, simply because it is so familiar to most readers, and seems to be of a sufficient rendering to make it possible for most astute students of the Word to muddle their way through it. This remains a huge Puzzle to me how someone so intent on insisting that every word of the Bible should be considered inerrant and infallible, the Exact Word of God, brought down to us these many generations unaltered and perfect; how that person could so readily accept someone's complete subversion of those words in their translations thereof.

Anyone making even a casual reading of these Ten Commandments found in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy Chapter 5, pretty much identical content, will immediately be struck by this fact, that the Second Commandment, concerning the making and worshipping of "Graven Images" has been completely removed from all modern day enumerations of those basic ten, and how the Tenth has been split in two for no reason whatsoever, except to bring the count back up to the preconceived value of Ten.

Well, I am confidant that this writing will elicit a very intense debate and I welcome your input, so feel free to add comments to your Heart's desire.

One Year Later

I am just now discovering that it has been almost One Full Year since I last Published to this BLOG. In the meantime, I am wondering, Has anyone even taken the time to read a thing I have said from the beginning?? When we first started this project, we were all quite excited at the possiblities and practically everyone in the immediate family was contributing in some way, although many were having problems figuring out how to use this new-found medium.

Since much of what I share in the family e-mail is so controversial, and it seemed we were bombarding members of the Northup Family Group with hundreds of e-mails many did not care to read at all, and in fact were simply dropping from the Group, because they felt so strongly about getting so much "Junk" mail, we decided this new art form would be the answer to many of these problems.

As it turns out, this "Answer" has pretty much fallen by the wayside and we are still bombarding the Group with controversial posts. However, One principal difference exists in the Northup Family that was not there one year ago. This change can be visited by clicking on the title of this article. This will take you to a page where you to can sign up with Puzzle Pirates, where as many as 6000 People are simultaneously inter-acting in this Puzzle Game. Each Player is working on his own Puzzle, but each puzzle interacts with every other puzzle, so that there is an entire Puzzle Pirates economy going on. Some pirates build ships for other pirates to sail in Pilly or for transporting foraged or manufactured Goods On Merchant vessels. Others run Furnishers, Real Estate Offices, Tailor Shoppes, Blacksmith Shoppes or Weaveries, so the pirates may be well-dressed and own fancy Weapons or wander the streets in rags brawling with their fists or a fish for a bludgeon and sticks for swords. There are Inns where you can Sword-Fight, Rumble, Drink or play Poker, Hearts or Spades. One hot activity in the Inns is where people peddle their wares or Charts and Maps they have found or won on Pilly directly to the Bawdy, Brawling Public.

For whatever activity you are engaged, you may be paid Pieces Of Eight for your efforts, depending on your skill level. These POE may be traded at Market Value for Dubloons, which in turn may be used to buy various Pirate badges, and for delivery charges of other Commodities. The creators of Puzzle Pirates sell Douloons directly for cash, as well, if you need to have a shortcut to owning your own ship or mansion.

Puzzle Pirates has a requirement that you be 18 yrs of age to play, but it is known that there are a lot of younger children playing so an effort is made to keep the conversation clean, and to use a high degree of respect for your fellow Pirates. This is, for sure a Family Chat Room.

Some of us have been involved in this new Forum for much over One Year, in fact, this world-wide enterprise is presently celebrating it's fifth birthday. My sister, Diana (Oldrosy) got me started in January of this year, so I have a month to go before celebrating my First Anniversary as a Pirate Blaggard, named (of Course) TheGrabber. When I first started, I thought it was nothing short of Hopeless, but I have managed to aquire two ships, a Sloop and a Large Sloop, or Cutter. I also own an Apothecary Shoppe along with my Sister, OldRosy. We deliver Fruit, Gold and Gems foraged from uninhabited islands to Fruit Markets in the civilized world, trade various commodities and mix paint and potions in the Shoppe for sale to Pirates of every Ilk from around the world. Our closest Pirate friends are family, as always, including Nephews, Vyron, Dean and Kevin, my daughter Cheryl and her sons Levi and Francis, and many others. In addition, we have many newfound friends, who hail from Russia, Australia, South Africa, London, Sweden and Alberta, to name a few. It is fun to get on there and visit with these newfound friends. I most recently got to hear Lovely Lass, GreeceFeva and Star Hawk in their actual voices on another medium we use while on Pilly. This is an unrelated Chat Forum held on a common Server, Ventrilo, where you can plug in your headset and chat in RealTime Audio with those you are voyaging with, or just sit and chat like you share a common Living Room. So far, I have not gotten Annod, (Donna's Pirate) hooked up to Ventrilo. Hopefully when I am home for Christmas we will figure it out. Maybe we are due for a new computer for her for a Christmas present, and we will be able to chat better after the first of the year, when I head back out on the road.

For a quick summary of the year in my work-world, we quickly decided in 2008 that the PVSI enterprise needed to be put on hold until I retire in 2009, when I can devote full time to a struggling business. We lost a lot of money in about three years and really stressed all my retirement options to the point I am going to have to figure out a way to make a substantial side income. This at a time, when the entire US Economy is crashing to near Depression levels. My 401K is off over 50% on this year alone, and it was off over 20% in 2007. So I will not be able to rely on that at all, unless it makes a dramatic recovery before the middle of June, when I am planning to hang it up with the former Lucent Technologies, Now Alcatel-Lucent.

I started out right away in January 2007 in Ottawa, Illinois, building Cell Huts at Verizon's facility there, for the first time, taking my own work truck out of the State. It has been a hard year on this truck as it is now over 200,000 miles and off the company's Fleet Plan, so I willl not be able to get it serviced anymore. However, I have been told a new truck will be waiting for me when I get back to Minnesota. I presume they will be buying two, one for me and one for Scott Stangeland, who drives an identicle 2001 F-150 with nearly the same mileage. I worked essentially in Illinois until the Republican National Convention, which was held in St Paul, Minnesota, this year. After the 4th of July vacation, where many Knox and Northup relatives celebrated My Mother's 90th Birthday in our newly constructed PVSI Greenhouse, I stayed in Minnesota to help upgrade the att/Cingular UMTS network for the convention. After that project was over, I helped a little in the Switch installing an additional RNC and a few other modifications, before heading back to Illinois for a couple more months of MPCA Hot Slides. When that project neared completion, I was sent back to Minnesota and immediately from there to Phoenix, where I have been mostly working UMTS 2nd Carrier Overlays for att. We basically get one built per night, and most of this time I have had a helper, so it has been a relaxing time and not too stressful. All the builds are pretty much identical. We add 3 Radios, 3 Amplifiers, two Power cards, and a Channel card. What we are doing is providing a new channel in the 437 MB frequecy to add to the existing 412 MB Channel. Some of the sites get more T-1s and some of the out-door sites get Power Upgrades. We turn the site down, add the hardware, set Power on the new Radio Paths, and turn it back up for integration. I have a Call through Kit, consisting of two Test Phones and an Air Card for the Computer to test every possible configuration of the cell before turning it loose on the Public.

Some time this coming week, the actual date and time still to be resolved, I hit the road for three days back to Minnesota to finish out the year on Vacation. Since we are mid-Winter, I will stick to the boring Southern route. The weather coming this way was perfect and I took I70 out of Denver through Glenwood Canyon, for the first time and once into Utah, I took 191 South through Moab to Arizona . This took me past The Arches National Park and The Monuments, so I got a chance to use my new Senior National Parks Pass. I also visited Joshua Tree National Park the first week-end here. I took my partner up to Tonto Rim to see the Cliff Dwellings and the Tonto Natural Bridge North of Payson one week-end as well. So I have been making the most of my remaining year with Alcatel-Lucent in many sight-seeing activities.

The Ten Commandments for Good Health

It has been on my mind for some time that everyone sort of skips over the really basic medical pricipals and instead they concentrate on the more subtle aspects of Good Health. As a result, many people have totally missed the fundamental prerequisites of a normal healthy body. Here I attempt to enumerate them and expand on their critical uses. I am shooting for a sort of "Ten Commandments to a normal Healthy Life".

Number One has to be "Thou Shalt stimulate your body".

1.) Good circulation is essential to many functions of the human body, and the simplest and most important way to increase circulation is through stimulation of the various body parts. Perhaps the most important organs to stimulate are the heart itself and the lungs. Getting them to work properly will increase circulation and it's healing oxygen to the rest of your body. The lungs, of course are most easily stimulated through deep breathing. Anytime you exert yourself, you automatically go into deep breathing. This is something of a given and a daily regimen of excercise will accomplish the goal, however, one should concentrate on filling the lungs completely full, as full as you can stretch them and exhaling completely to the point where you can not further deflate them. This guarantees that the deepest recesses of the lungs will be excercised and purged.

The heart needs a little more specific attention. We need 20 to 60 minutes of continuous excercise each day or at least three days per week, to raise the heart-rate to a Target Level and hold it there for a specified period of time. Each person must discover his/her own Target Heart Rate. To do this, you must first discover your normal Resting Heart Rate. Check your pulse first thing in the morning before you have exerted yourself significantly. Do this several days in a row to get a good average RHR. Secondly, we turn to a simple formula to determine the Low end of your THR. Start with 220 and subtract your age. Next subtract your RHR. If you are 35 years old with an RHR of 60, you will have 125. Multiply this number by 50% and add the RHR back into the result. What we are doing here is increasing our goal heart rate by 50%. The result in this case would be 123 beats per minute. Now if you do your excercise at a gym, you simply get on a machine that monitors your heart rate, watch the monitor until your minimum is reached and stay on for the specified period of time. Watch carefully to see that you do not exceed your maximum. Use the same formula to discover your Maximum Heart Rate with 85% instead of the 50% used for Minimum. In this example the MHR is 166 Beats Per Minute. If you want to do these excercises jogging around the neighborhood, buy yourself a heart rate monitor that you can strap on your wrist and take with you. You can easily start at a lower pace (50 to 60% for example), and work yourself up to the maximum (75 to 85%), once you get in better shape. One of the best ways to get a varied regimen is to join a gym and use their machines. Paying the monthly fees will keep you going on a regular basis, (Got to get your money's worth) and the machines can be easily adjusted to fit your goals and comfort zone. A simple Treadmill with adjustable elevation works very well. Adjust the elevation as steep as it will go and run the speed up as high as you can so you are exerting maximum effort. When you reach your MHR, quickly reduce elevation to zero and take a break while you puff away and watch your Heart Rate drop again to the Minimum and then gradually increase again. Try to get to where you can keep this up for an hour, or better yet, three separate machines for 20 minutes each. Then go sit in the sauna for an additional 20 minutes before showering down.

This type of excercise regimen will pretty well accomplish the goal of increasing your circulation to an acceptable level, which will positively affect the health of most of your organs, however some areas need a little more specific treatment.

When I was a young man, I was having painful urination and by consulting my Physician, I discovered I had Prostatitis. Naturally, he prescribed me the usual antibiotic of the day, but along with that, he recommendad stimulation of the prostate. He accomplished this in the one visit I had at his office by a method that was pretty uncomfortable to me, but showed me how to do that on my own at home, sitting on the side of the bath-tub. Without going into a great deal of explanation here, suffice it to say that a lot of homosexuals the world around and for many centuries have known the various gratifications of stimulating the prostate in this manner. Since this is sort of a controversial subject, many people avoid adding this to a regular Health Regimen. Unfortunately, as a result, many men suffer needlessly with prostatitis and eventual prostate cancer. It is not necessary to use such severe tactics to stimulate the prostate. Normal heterosexual activity will also stimulate the prostate to some extent and a healthy sexual appetite will keep the prostate healthy for many years. If it becomes too difficult to pursue normal sexual activities, even masturbation will accomplish the same result. Let me reiterate, it is FUNDAMENTAL to a normal healthy male body that he must find a way to stimulate his prostate until the day he dies.

The prostate is perhaps the most difficult area of the body to stimulate, however all organs need stimulation to increase circulation, if you expect that body part to remain healthy, and most areas are simpler to stimulate. Everyone realizes the medical value of a good shower every morning. Use this shower as an excuse to stimulate your skin. Every inch of your skin. When you apply shampoo, scrub your scalp vigorously with your fingertips. Scrubbing your scalp is far more beneficial than whatever shampoo you are using. Scrubbing your gums with the toothbrush is far more beneficial than whatever tooth-paste your Dentist recommends. Don't be misled. Getting the particles of food from between your teeth is secondary to gum and tooth health. The primary gain is from stimulation of the gums. Whatever toothpaste you choose almost invariaby contains sugar, which is the worst enemy your tooth enamel has. Your dentist wants you back on a regular basis. Don't expect him to be too helpful in getting you to where you don't need to go there. In like manner, shaving is a considerable stimulator of your face. Do so daily, and it would not be a bad idea to shave your entire head and everywhere hair grows. Remember, it is not the fact of having bald skin, it is the stimulation of the skin that is the goal. Using a whirl pool style bath tub is another way to stimulate your entire body while taking your daily bath. Using a vibrator style foot bath on a daily basis will make your feet much healthier and happy feet will make your entire life that much easier. Sit yourself right down on the side of the tub when you shower and work for a few minutes on your toes and feet. Scrub them and rub them and work on those callouses. Our ancestors needed callouses on their feet because they ran around bare foot. If you are going to cram your feet into uncomfortable shoes for the day, keep them as healthy as possible in the meantime. For the most part, wear loose-fitting comfortable shoes with only a thickened sole with minimal arch support. If you are working at something where your feet are at high risk, wear something that provides more protection, but as soon as possible, get those contraptions off your feet and allow them to breathe.

When Showering, Concentrate on stimulating your fatty tissue areas, as they have poor blood circulation and are prone to getting skin infections. If you are over-weight, you need to be especially careful to work hard on increasing your circulation daily or even several times a day, especially in the lower extremities. Slapping your skin is a simple method of increasing the circulation to that area. The skin turning red is an indication you have increased the blood flow to that area.

When you are through with your shower, we come to the Second Commandment.

2.) "Thou shalt wisely use alcohol as your primary medication." Especially after shaving, you have caused a number of miniscule cuts and abrasions on your skin. The simplest and most effective counter is a good healthy sousing with plain old pure and simple rubbing alcohol. Forget the lotions. They may help protect against further drying out in the few hours they remain on your skin, but the primary thing is to look for a good high alcohol content after-shave. Use a good scented version if you must, but don't forget that the primary advantage is gained by the application of alcohol as a deterrent to bacteria, fungus and yeast. These are your enemies, in general. Fight them with alcohol, where-ever they occur. If you are having trouble with soreness and irritation in your crotch area, under your breasts, or other areas where you skin rubs, the problem is being caused by bacteria. Getting it dry is nothing. Forget the lotion. Killing the bacteria is essential. It might make you grind your teeth to put straight alcohol on irritated skin, but you will clear up the source of the irritation. Do this on a regular basis and it will no longer be painful. If you have open sores from your daily work activities, a little alcohol and fresh air is what they need for quick healing. Use the bandaid while bleeding is of concern. As soon as possible, get rid of the bandages. Souse your feet and toes with alcohol to prevent the growth of fungus. Afterwards, take an old toothbrush and scrub Vicks Vaporub up under and around your nails to prevent fungus from growing there. Here again, the stimulation of the brush is primary to the medicinal value of the Vaporub.

Use the strongest mouth-wash you can buy. I recommend the original Listerine Antiseptic. It contains 16.9% alcohol. The Alcohol is listed as an inactive ingredient. Beleive me when I tell you, that is the one ingredient that is doing you any good, other than making your breath smell better. Here again, avoid anything with sugar. Also, do not make the mistake of using rubbing alcohol as a mouthwash or gargle. You will not make this mistake a second time.

When you feel a cold coming on, quickly getting to the alcohol may help you completely avoid it's side-effects. Imagine, no more congestion, no more sore throat, no more post nasal drip, all because of the prompt and wise use of alcohol on your mucous tissues. I keep a pint of brandy on hand at all times. My wife keeps an especially concentrated version of antiseptic, Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic, which is 70% alcohol. The label recommends diluting with five parts water. I sometimes use it straight out of the bottle. This stuff tastes and works just like Listerine. Most tinctures use a basis of alcohol. The base is the main ingredient. Even the Bible recognizes the therapeutic value to your stomach of a daily dose of wine. They say the Redder, the Better. I say, it is again, primarily a low dosage of alcohol daily in your stomach that does the most good. If you daily wash your mouth out and gargle with brandy and swallow it after, you have probably accomplished your daily dose of internal alcohol. During Prohibition, it was well recognized that we needed to continue having alcohol for medical purposes and the only place you could buy it legally was from the Dentist. Unfortunately, with the Repeal of Prohibition, we lost sight of the fact that it is the strongest and the most abused drug known to Medical Science and should be treated as such, available only by prescription and through recognized, trained professionals.

3.) The Third Commandment needs little explanation, so it will be brief, but it is third because it is likely third in importance to a healthy lifestyle. When you are training a new puppy, it becomes pretty important to make sure he gets outside for a bathroom call on a pretty regular basis. Why would you think it is any less important for yourself?? It is imperative that you get yourself adjusted to a daily bowel movement. Most important is simple habit. Pick a time of the day that will always work for you and stick with it. This varies by person and life-style, and there will always be days you find it extremely awkward or incomvenient to stick with it, but you MUST figure out a way to accomplish this simple task on a daily basis. Truckers seem to suffer the most and the lesson is simple. Do not get behind the wheel until you have accomplished this daily task. There are literally thousands of supplements out there to assist you in your efforts, but I repeat, the MOST important aspect is HABIT. Make yourself sit there until you have results and go back there and sit at exactly the same time tomorrow and the next until it is ingrained habit and you will find life to be a lot easier, plus the health benefits are immeasurable. People with hemorrhoids are not practicing regular bowel movements, pure and simple. Naturally, the drug industry is interested in selling you lots of Preparation "H", so they are not going to spend much time explaining to you how you may prevent them from ever becoming a problem. Much of your good health depends on diet, and by rights, I should have made diet my number one commandment. A diet high in natural fiber will go a long way toward cleansing your colon and keeping it in working order. Do a little research and find something that suits you. If you want to die from Colon Cancer or have your colon removed by surgery and live out your life attached to a bag, ignore my advice, here. Otherwise, get to practicing daily regularity.  I am coming back to this topic in 2018, these many years later, because I realize I have not said enough.  All this talk about diet masks the fact that the real fundamental truth here is all about "GETTING INTO THE HABIT OF MAKING SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST A SINGLE DAILY BOWEL MOVEMENT"  It is like the doctors know you already know this, so why should they tell you??  They are certainly not going to tell you you need to start eating Prunes and Oatmeal.  They want you on something they can prescribe, and get their cut.  The trick is, "never get yourself to the point where you need to see the doctor in the first place".  It was very late in life that I learned the true secret of making sure you get your bowel movement.  at the FIRST urging you get, (maybe a little gas passes), head for that bathroom.  Don't wait until you feel "You gotta go, and when you gotta go, you just gotta go.  Chances are, by the time "You just gotta go", it is probably already too late and you will not be able to go at all or maybe be able to squeeze out a little ball.  If you do not realize by now, the problem is, you do not want to be straining.  If you go when you should be going, it will not be a strain.  If you are straining, you have waited too long.  Now I should not have to be visiting the Whys, it should be obvious why you need to not be constipated, but some people are pretty thick-headed.  ( like I have been most of my life.)  When the doctor says,  You got to get your blood pressure down and you got to get it down seriously, because High Blood Pressure is the silent killer, what he should be telling you is,  "You seriously must get your constipation problem under control, or you are going to have a stroke, sitting on the pot."  Yes, friends, sorry to tell you, the number one cause of stroke is not Hypertension, as the Doctor will invariably tell you.  The number one cause of stroke is simple constipation.  And Hypertension like so many other so-called "Diseases" is actually a condition.  It is a condition usually caused by eating more salt than your body can easily handle, just lie Diabetes is a CONDITION caused by feeding your body more sugar than your pancreas can handle.  Nethe same statement about your constipation.  It is not a disease, folks, it is a CONDITION caused by not going often enough to the bathroom, pure and simple.  Stop thinking of every little thing like it is a disease.  Because people nowadays think of addiction as being a "Disease", it  simply gives your mind an excuse to not getting serious about Kicking the Habit.  It is all about cultivating the good habits and get rid of the old bad habits.

Now we come to Diet.

Many books have been written about Diet and Health and I could write a couple here myself, but it is fourth on my list and I am going to try to condense all there is to say into one simple Principal:

4.) Consume all foods in their fresh and natural state and in moderation. It is essential to avoid processed foods, primarily, and this is almost impossible in today's Society. Try to use your best judgement and a healthy dose of common sense. Why does the Food Industry put MSG into our food and why does the FDA allow it, and why do they require particular labeling to the use of MSG?? Obviously, everyone knows there are health concerns. The Food Companies continue to use it in practically all prepared foods, because, pure and simple it makes you enjoy your food and crave more of it. MSG is the single greatest contributing factor to obesity in this country and around the world. There may be other health concerns as well, but largely unproven.

Take the time to sit down and read the label off a box of prepared mashed potatoes. There are Flavor enhancers and artificial flavors and artificial coloring. Give me a break, people. It is potatoes. Have you ever went to the Grocer and asked for a bottle of Potato Extract?? Potatoes are WHITE. Why is it we feel we have to bleach our Flour, Rice and Sugar because we think they are too brown and we have to add color to our potatoes because they are too white?? We are probably causing many problems with the bleach we are putting in our food aside from the fact that we are removing everything nutritional from the food. There is ZERO nutritional value to a bag of Sugar. If you visited a Sugar Plant in the Red River Valley and saw what they do to that stuff before they place it on our table, chances are you would never eat another spoonful. Pure White Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup are the two things in your diet YOU NEED TO AVOID, people. Forget about the ongoing debate of whether we should be sweetening with Plain old Sugar, from highly subsidized Cane or Beet (Sucrose) or from the much cheaper Corn, (Fructose). They are equally bad for you and are causing the same problems. Here again, sugar is added to EVERYTHING!! They add sugar to salt so the Iodine will stick. When a horse is craving minerals it will chew on trees or the sides of his stall. We call it cribbing, and the horse handler knows he better go get his horse some Mineral Salt. In fact, he will feed his horse mineral salt every day of the horse's life. You want the same protection that farmer is giving his horse, go eat some mineral salt. Throw that table salt out the door. There is nothing in it but iodine, because the FDA has decided we have to have the iodine. Go get yourself some Sea salt and you will get all the iodine you need, plus every other nutrient known to man, more than likely. What are we talking about here?? All salt is Sea Salt. That's how it happens. All the nutrients run down the rivers to the ocean where they are concentrated into Sea Salt. That is before the Food companies get ahold of it and take out everything that is any good. Here we come to the bottom line: Stop eating processed foods. Eat fresh and natural and forget the FDA's Minimum Daily Requirements. These rules were instigated in a day when it was hard to have fresh vegetables all over the country any time of the year. When was the last time you were unable to find an orange?? Of course, Vitamin "C" is probably the single most important vitamin. That does not mean you have to go out and buy a bottle of concentrated Rose Hips to get enough Vitamin "C". Just grab an orange once in a while and eat one. You do not have to eat thirty of them a day to get enough Vitamin "C". And the highest concentration of Vitamin "C" is in the skin, by the way. This is also true of the Apple, which many also peel because they are trying to get rid of the poisons they have been assaulted with. And the highest concentrations of nutrition is in the peel of the potato and other root vegetables. The most good from the Grain is gotten from the bran. We need to eat whole grain and the more roughage the better. Our Food industry is throwing away the best part of the food we eat and adding in whatever additives the FDA requires or will allow.

The best available alternative to eating processed foods is to go buy yourself five acres and build your house there. One or both of you quit your regular job. Get out there and till up a sizable garden patch and fertilize naturally, not so much with the nutrients it takes to make the plants grow, but with the nutrients your body needs. Do a study. There is a pretty good one available on the Northup Family Website on The Colloidal Minerals Page .  Plant a balanced diet of Vegetables and raise and prepare your own. This is a ton of work and may be pretty difficult for most to follow. It may be more practical to get used to reading labels and just buy fresh off the grocer's shelf and prepare your own using your own additives, which we will cover to a greater degree in the 5th Commandment.

From what you have read so far, you may be under the misconception that I am opposed to food supplements. On the contrary, I believe you should:

5.) Supplement your Diet extensively and wisely with everything your body needs, because you are not getting it out of the food available to you on your Grocer's shelves.





I'm going to post this as is, but expect to come back and add to it and modify it as I find the time. Remember, we are shooting for "The Ten Commandments for Good Health" here.

North Dakota Geology

Since I have been spending quite a bit of time in North Dakota, I figured it was about time I wrote something about North Dakota's Geology. Most people would consider the North Dakota Landscape to be pretty boring. Certainly, they do have the most boring Continental Divide I have ever seen. However, the terrain in North Dakota is some what varied. The Missouri River winds through there and cuts a very impressive swath, especially where the Garrison Dam was built that created Lake Sakakawea, which is the third largest man-made lake in the United States. North Dakota also boasts the Natural Devil's Lake or Spirit Lake as it is called by the Native Sioux. Devil's Lake has no outlet and the water level has fallen and risen drastically in recorded history, After dropping to Historic lows in 1941 the lake has gradually risen to where it reached it's maximum height after a wet cycle that began in 1993, when it rose 26.5 ft and flooded 140 square miles of primarily Agricultural land. In April of 2000, the surface elevation of Devil's Lake was 1446.3 feet. If the elevation had raised to 1447 feet it would have begun to overflow into the Stump Lakes, which empty into the Sheyenne River. Another 12 feet, and it would have overflowed directly into Sheyenne. It has already reached this point at least twice in 4000 years.

North Dakota's landscape North and East of the Missouri River is heavily marked by glaciation. It is my opinion that the latest Wisconsin Glacier got hung up on the Turtle Mountain area which straddles the border of Canada and North Central North Dakota. This LandSat Image shows the Turtle Mountain area in the upper right. The International Boundary is visible in the slight coloration difference across the center on the Reddish Oval Mass that is the Turtle Mountains. The faint straight line further South is a glitch of a dropped Scan Line in the Photo.

The result of this Stagnation of the Glacier caused the Central Plains of North Dakota to be Primarily of Till: (Compact glacial sediments that are non-layered.) This also results in the creation of many Pothole Lakes and Ponds. As the ice melts, it leaves large chunks sitting all over the place, gradually melting, as the weather goes through warming and cooling cycles. The weight of the ice depresses the land, so they end up dead lakes with no actual outlets. Nearer the edges of the glaciation, the deposits are of the OutWash Variety. This picture was taken near Valley City.

Another Geological Feature that you see in North Dakota is when the Glacier is still moving and had pushed up huge piles of the local terrain and gouging out valleys behind these piles. These are called Ice Thrust Masses and can be quite spectacular. There is a substantial Ice Thrust Mass to the South West of Devil's Lake, as well.

To the South and West of the Missouri River, the Terrain in North Dakota is considerably different, not being scoured by the glaciers, which seemed to stall at that point. Much of the Badlands area demonstrate's the Geological feature known as the Slump. A Slump is a sort of landslide where the mass slides down the slope, doing a sort of slow tumble, so you can see the same features down slope and slightly tilted from what is at the top still sitting level. These canyons were carved by the huge amounts of water running off the glaciers, especially during the time that the North Flowing Red River was blocked by the ice mass. The Little Missouri also flowed Northward into Canada, and the combined water that collected probably cut the channel in a very short period of time, eventually carving the two channels, the present day Missouri, flowing South and East into the Mississippi and the Little Missouri from Wyoming into the Missouri at Afore-mentioned Lake Sakakawea. Even the Yellowstone flowed into Canada before the Glaciers blocked the Northern flow. The Red, in the meantime, reverted to flowing Northerly after the glaciers, but it has flooded practically every spring since. The characteristic of this majr river to flow North has the natural consequence of blocking itself every Spring with melt ice. As the warmer temperatures in the South hits earlier, this ice break-up moves Northerly Down River and can form considerable blockage in that area still not open. It can only be imagined what would have happened in years that the Hudson's Bay end never completely thawed at the tail end of the glaciation period. The result was a huge Inland Sea, known as Lake Agassiz that stretched from the Southern border of North Dakota to beyond Lake Winnepeg in Canada and from Red Lake in Minnesota, to the East and to the West to Larimore in North Dakota, which is nearly to the Devil's Lake Basin. The difference in elevation from Larimore to Devil's Lake never gets higher than 1535 feet and nowhere falling below 1425, so it nearly included that huge basin as well. This huge lake brewed incredible storms that churned the Glacial Till on that landscape to a nearly level condition and later, as the Lake opened and closed each year, the ice break-up pushed up huge piles of Sand and Gravel around the Lake's perimeter in ever decreasing concentric rings, as the water level went down, especially on the South and East Sides. This is clearly evident in the area around Trail, Minnesota in the area known as the Sand Hills. The various "Beaches" surrounding the Ancient Lake Agassiz have been clearly defined and named. The listed number is fourteen.

There is a natural tendency of Flood Rivers to dike themselves. As the water overflows the normal banks, the sediment it carries, deposits most heavily close to the river, and as a result, all major flooding rivers have high banks as you approach the river. You might climb several hundred feet before going over the top and plunging down into the valley on either side of the river. This River Characteristic is especiaaly noticeable along the Missouri in Western and Southern North Dakota. The Red River Valley also has these characteristic shoreline natural dikes, but they are far from the present water level.

Crater Lake

I finally made it to Crater Lake. Two years ago when I was in Roseburg it was snowed in. One other time, years ago, I was very close when I went to Portland via Hwy 97

My New Guitar

My New Guitar

Canon in "D"

Been a while since I BLOGged. Thought I would show you my new Guitar. Cyndi is getting married the 16th of September and wanted Josh to play her a tune. He found a good tune he liked, but needed someone to play chords behind him and I said I would give it a try, but I needed a guitar to practice on, since I am 'way out here in Albany, Oregon doing a few Installs for Eschelon Telcommunications. They wil fly me from Portland into Minneapolis on the 14th of September. My School has been set back to the 16th of Octber, but my new Computer is in the mail and they are already asking for my old one back.

Lindsey at her induction to the Honor Society

Yuma, Arizona

Of Course, as everyone knows, Yuma is famous for it's Sand Dunes, but few people realize, the city is actually mostly built on a huge Sand Dune. Located at the confluence of the Gila and the Colorado River, the native people have farmed this rich valley for centuries, however, as in most of the Arizona valleys, flooding is regular and sometimes severe. In many places, the Pueblos were located high above the valleys, even in the cliffs adjacent. It must have been quite a hike to the river to farm the crops. In the Yuma area, this has not been a problem, since the sand rises steeply out of the valley floor, and it was possible to live right above the Flood Plain.

This was naturally appealing to the White Settlers, as well, and indeed, there was never a problem getting water. Shallow wells provided all the irrigation water needed, and it was only necessary to build dikes high enough to keep out the floods. To be sure, at various times, the unpredictable Colorado River, following heavy Snow Melt flooded the entire valley, wiping out anyone in it's path. Since the building of the Imperial Dam 20 miles north, however, the river was tamed once and for all and Arizona Farmers are assured of a constant water supply, having carved out a deal with the water hungry Californians, whereby, they are still only using about half of their allottment.

The Imperial Dam Diversion provides water for eight different Water and Irrigation Districts. The Yuma Mesa actually receives water from three of these, so there is no shortage of water in Yuma at this time. To be sure, there are a few rock out-croppings within City Limits, but for the most part, The City sits on pure sand. Immediately off this huge mesa, the irrigation farming starts and runs for as far as the eye can see.

The Yuma Proving Ground

This really is an Ol' War Horse. I counted around a hundred scars on it from getting hit with various calibers of machine gun fire on this Sherman Tank. Some are visible in the Photo.

This is a Motorized Anti-Aircraft Gun. I don't know if you can tell, but it is Double Barrelled.

This is not actually a Tank, but a Mobile Mortar Launcher.