The Santa Dimension

When I was about five years old, I was excited to learn that Santa Claus was going to appear at my house early on Christmas Eve to personally hand Christmas gifts to my little brother and me. My parents explained that Santa was doing this as a special treat for us since we didn't have a chimney. Sure enough, Santa showed up. Although he was an hour late, according to my mother, I was thrilled to see him. I quickly rushed outside into the cold Wisconsin night but stopped several feet short. Something wasn't right. Santa was clearly wearing a mask on his face. I asked him why he was wearing a mask and he told me it was to keep warm. Later that holiday season, I overheard a conversation between my parents whereby I learned it was my grandfather pretending to be Santa and that my mother was very upset with him for showing up late and drunk. When my mother realized I had discovered the great Santa deception, she explained that Santa had so many houses to visit that evening that he didn't have time to make special stops and that my grandfather was just pretending to be Santa to make us happy. Once again, being a young innocent squirt, I bought the explanation. My grandfather was always a great guy, drunk or sober, and I appreciated him for stopping by on such a cold night just to please my brother and me. A few years later, in the second grade, I was hanging out with a couple of my buddies during recess. Usually we would shoot marbles behind a big oak tree so our teacher couldn't see us. Mrs. Henderson didn't like it when her boys would participate in games of chance, especially when marbles would change hands. Instead of playing marbles, we got into a discussion about Santa Claus. There had been some speculation that Santa Claus didn't really exist so the three of us tried to figure it out logically. Duncan Jones was the brains of the group, Vinny Gagliardi was ever so inquisitive, while I was more action oriented, preferring to play games of chance (marbles) rather than attempting to fathom the unfathomable. It all started when curious Vinny came up with a series of intriguing questions. • How does Santa visit so many houses on a single night? • How can he get all those presents in his sleigh? • How can reindeer fly? • How does a hefty guy like Santa manage to slip down a chimney and get back to the roof? • What does Santa do when there is no chimney? • How does Santa know whether you were naughty or nice? • And so on and so on. Duncan made some quick calculations. He figured if there were a billion houses and Santa took only a minute per house, or 60 houses per hour, it would take about 17 million hours, not counting flying time. Then there was the flying reindeer problem. Duncan and I were fairly certain reindeer couldn't actually fly, but Vinny wasn't so sure. He had seen an elephant fly in a Disney cartoon and it looked feasible to him. Soon a light bulb went off just above Duncan's head. Suppose there was a parallel universe. Santa could pop in and out of our reality almost instantaneously while doing most of his work in a parallel dimension. This would impose an anomaly in the continuum of time and space whereby a few seconds of our reality could be a year of Santa reality. This could also explain the reindeer problem. They don't actually fly -- there're merely transported to our reality directly onto the roof and disappear the same way. Santa makes his way into the house in the same manner. Apparently, according to Duncan, it's simply a matter of hyper-dimensional travel between simultaneous planes of existence. The bell rang and we had to go back inside where Mrs. Henderson made us print the alphabet all afternoon. She wanted to make sure we slanted our letters at the proper angle. Mrs. Henderson always emphasized penmanship and seating posture, but had a phobia about teaching math. Numbers greater than 20 made her nose bleed. It's strange how so many parents are unaware of parallel dimensions. They tell their kids the most ridiculous tales to make up for their lack of knowledge about the anomalies of the continuum of time and space. Merry Christmas y'all. ___________ Quote for the Day – "I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked me for my autograph." Shirley Temple ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and many fond memories of Christmas Past. ___________ - -

The Search for Adventure

There are two kinds of adventurers -- those who go hoping to find adventure and those who go secretly hoping they won’t On July 17, 1930, two high school buddies from Minneapolis, Eric Sevareid and Walter Port, boarded their canoe on the Mississippi River, near Minneapolis, and headed south. Soon, they turned right on the Minnesota River and traveled north-northwest, all the way to Big Stone Lake in South Dakota, the source of the river. They navigated onto Lake Traverse and followed the Red River north, eventually reaching Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. Then they went northeast through uncharted territory of rivers, lakes and hostile (sparsely inhabited) terrain, and ended up on the shore of Hudson Bay. The entire journey took 14 weeks and covered 2,200 miles. The following year, Eric Sevareid enrolled at the University of Minnesota and received his B.A. degree in 1935. He wrote a book titled CANOEING WITH THE CREE, recounting the trip, and later became a TV broadcaster, alongside Walter Cronkite, on the CBS Evening News, where he earned two Emmy Awards. He died in 1992. Sevareid's account of the journey is filled with peril and misery, including constant rain, dangerous rapids and lengthy portages where they had to haul their canoe and provisions over soggy tundra to the next body of water. "Day and night, the drizzle did not cease for so much as an hour. The woods oozed with water, every leaf held a pond, every dead twig and log was rotten with wetness. We had paddled a canoe twenty-two hundred miles, had survived, and had proved nothing except we could paddle a canoe twenty-two hundred miles." Maybe they didn't prove anything to the rest of the world, but they probably proved something to themselves. In 1970, I was in graduate school at the University of Minnesota and had five weeks to kill between summer school and fall quarter. So a friend of mine, named Kent, and I decided to take a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. We were just a couple of restless pool hall fixtures in search of an adventure. I was bored and Kent’s train of thought was missing a caboose. I figured we’d make a good team. We started out on Gunflint Lake, on the border of Minnesota and Ontario. After two full days of paddling upstream on a river system connecting a string of small lakes, we made it to a tiny island in the middle of Big Saganaga Lake where we were stuck for three more days because of heavy winds and turbulent waters. When we finally got off the huge windy lake, we headed west along the Rainy River to Knife Lake where we made a wide loop up into Canada for nine days, then came back down across the U.S. border into a laborious grind from lake to lake and over difficult portages, some of which were several miles across rugged ground. During our entire trip, which started after Labor Day when summer vacationers were scarce, we only ran into another party of voyageurs on one occasion. We met them in the middle of a lake as they were traveling in the opposite direction. Basically, the two of us were alone in the wilderness, far from the troubles of the world. All in all, we covered a few hundred miles and it took 26 days to return to civilization. It was a grand experience, but not one Kent or I wanted to repeat soon. Besides the physical challenge of hauling a large, heavy canoe and well over two hundred pounds of provisions (tent, sleeping bags, spare clothes, food, etc.) over rough footing between lakes, there was also the challenge of getting along and pulling together. Sevareid reported that he and Port had gotten into a campfire wrestling tussle over their differences, no doubt prompted by the stress of the journey and the lack of a way out of the situation without completing the trip. Kent and I had plenty of disputes, but were too exhausted to get into a physical altercation. Instead, we alternated between teamwork and bickering. We were stuck with each other and needed to finish what we started before we ran out of food, so we kept plugging away across water and land until we eventually made it back to square one. In the end, we proved nothing, except we could paddle a canoe a few hundred miles. We also learned that mosquitoes never sleep, Kent couldn't read a map, and neither one of us was very easy to live with. A life without adventure is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, without the peanut butter and jelly. If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space. ___________ Quote for the Day -- “Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery.” Eric Sevareid ___________ Bret Burquest is author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Donner and has many fond memories of adventure in his earlier years. ___________ - -

The White Buffalo

The Lakota Sioux are a nation of Native Americans who roamed the northern plains in and around the Black Hills of South Dakota. They have a prophecy known as the White Buffalo Calf Woman. According to the prophecy, two warriors were out hunting buffalo, approximately 2,000 years ago, when they spotted a white buffalo calf. As they approached the calf, it turned into a beautiful young Indian girl. One of the warriors had bad thoughts in his mind. The Indian girl told him to step forward whereupon a black cloud came over his body. When the black cloud disappeared, the warrior with bad thoughts had no more flesh or blood on his bones. The other warrior kneeled and prayed. The Indian girl told him to tell his people that she would bring them a sacred bundle in four days. So the warrior went back to his people and told the elders. Then all the Lakota people gathered in a circle and the warrior told them what the Indian girl had instructed him to say. On the fourth day, a cloud came down from the sky and off stepped a white buffalo calf. As it reached the earth, it stood up and became a beautiful young woman, carrying a sacred bundle. The woman spent four days among the Lakota people, teaching them the seven sacred ceremonies. 1) The purification ceremony of the sweat lodge 2) The child naming ceremony 3) The healing ceremony 4) The making of relatives or adoption ceremony 5) The marriage ceremony 6) The vision quest 7) The sun dance ceremony As long as the Lakota people performed these ceremonies, they would remain caretakers of the land. Then the beautiful woman left, the same way as she arrived, vowing to someday return for the sacred bundle. The sacred bundle, known as the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, has been passed down from generation to generation of Lakota and is kept in a sacred place on an Indian reservation in South Dakota. The White Buffalo Calf Woman also made several prophecies upon her departure. One of these prophecies was that the birth of a white buffalo would be a sign that it would be near the time of her return. And upon her return, she would purify the world, bringing harmony, balance and spirituality back to the earth, and all the races of man would live in peace. A white buffalo calf is projected to be a one in 10 million occurrence. These are about the same odds as finding the lost Ark of the Covenant in a Dumpster behind the convenience store in Toad Suck, Arkansas. In August of 1994, a white buffalo was born in Janesville, Wisconsin. Although this event excited many Native American at the time, this particular buffalo was actually born red and later turned white. On May 22, 2004, a white buffalo calf came into this world at the Spirit Mountain Ranch near Flagstaff, Arizona. This ranch has successfully bred three generations of white buffalo, As of the spring of 2008 their herd consists of 11 white buffalo. On May 31, 2008, a white buffalo calf was born in Jamestown, North Dakota. Plus, several other white buffalo have come into existence over the last decade. Peace on earth seems like a hard nut to crack these days. Too many people are determined to force their way of life on others, through coercion and violence. Ultimately, those who live by the sword, die by the sword. Unfortunately, it creates a bloody mess for the rest of us caught in the middle. You can’t change the world -- you can only change yourself. Peace on earth starts with patience and grace, and treating others the way you want to be treated. For the Lakota people, peace on earth starts with a white buffalo. Mi taku oyasin -- We are all related (Lakota proverb). ___________ Quote for the Day – “It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.” Sitting Bull ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an imaginary girlfriend named "Slowly but Shirley" ___________ - -

Secret Global Alliance

The most widely accepted theory of how the moon was formed is that a young planet collided with Earth more than four billion years ago, creating scattered debris that came together to form the moon. However, there are numerous extraordinary anomalies to indicate that the moon is actually hollow and possibly artificial. The moon is 2,160 miles in diameter, larger than the planet Pluto. It is 400 times smaller than the sun and 400 times closer to the Earth than the sun. Thus, during a solar eclipse as viewed from Earth, the moon appears to be the same size at the sun, as if perfectly positioned in place. If you divide the circumference of the sun by the circumference of the moon and multiply by 100, the result is the circumference of the Earth. If you divide the size of the sun by the size of the Earth and multiply by 100, you get the size of the moon. The outer surface of the moon is extremely hard. It has no magnetic field, yet moon rocks are magnetic. In November of 1969, the Apollo 12 mission to the moon, the crew landed on the moon in a rough manner onto the surface, some 40 miles away from their intended destination. Upon impact, the moon "reverberated" as if it was an artificial moonquake. NASA scientists declared that the moon "rang like a bell" for eight minutes, and continued to reverberate for more than an hour. In 1970, the Apollo 13 mission to the moon was aborted due to severe technical problems. The Saturn V launch vehicle (weighing 15 tons) was purposely crashed onto the surface of the moon, some 100 miles from where the Apollo 12 crew on the previous mission had set up the seismometers. The impact was the equivalent of 11 tons of TNT. NASA scientists said the moon "reacted like a gong" and continued to vibrate for three hours and twenty minutes, at a depth of 25 miles. A supervisor of the Data and Photo Control Department during the Apollo missions, Ken Johnson, claimed that that the entire moon "wobbled" in such a precise way that it was "almost as though it had gigantic hydraulic damper struts inside it." In 1972, the moon was struck by a meteor with the impact of 200 tons of TNT. This created enormous shockwaves deep into the interior of the moon, but none of the waves came back. The outer surface of the moon contains many minerals that are found in processed metals, which have never been discovered to occur naturally. • Uranium 236 (found in reprocessed uranium & spent nuclear fuel, as long-lived nuclear waste) • Neptunium 237 (byproduct of nuclear reactors & plutonium production, a radioactive metal) • Iron particles (which do not rust, not a natural phenomenon) Dr. Harold Urey, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, was perplexed by the moon rocks, calling them "mind-blowers." He said he was "terribly puzzled by the rocks from the moon and in particular their titanium content." Dr. S. Ross Taylor, the geochemist in charge of lunar chemical analysis, has postulated that the moon had to be covered with melted rock containing fluid titanium. However, the titanium could not have been distributed in this way, leading to speculation that a highly advance technology developed by unknown entities must have been responsible to this anomaly. According to Alexander Shcherbakov and Mikhail Vasin of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the moon is likely to have been a very ancient spaceship, a planetoid that had been hollowed out by unknown beings with highly advanced technology. The two Russian scientists declared: "If a material had to be devised to protect a giant artificial satellite from the unfavorable effects of temperature, from cosmic radiation and meteorite bombardment, the experts would probably have hit upon precisely these metals... From the engineer's point of view, this spaceship of ages long past which we call the Moon is superbly constructed." Planet Earth is 4.53 billion years old. However, the material of the moon is 5.3 billion years old, while the surface dust on the moon is even older, at 6.3 billion years old. Therefore, the moon existed prior to the existence of Earth. Shcherbakov and Vasin continued: "Naturally the hull of such a spaceship must be super-tough in order to stand up to the blows of meteorites and sharp fluctuations between extreme heat and extreme cold. Probably the shell is a double-layered affair -- the basis a dark armoring of about 20 miles in thickness and outside it some kind of more-loosely-packed covering (a thinner layer -- averaging about 2.5 to 3 miles in depth). In certain areas, where the lunar 'seas' and 'craters' are, the upper layer is quite thin, in some cases non-existent." The thinner outer layers, averaging about 3 miles in depth would explain why moon craters are not as deep as they should be given the width of the impact zone. Theoretically, meteorites are unable to penetrate deeper into the surface when they collide with the dark armor layer of about 20 miles in thickness. The outer layer (3 miles in depth) acts as a buffer before the object encounters the 20-mile thick armor plating layer, which would only be slightly dented. Dr. K.L. Anderson, professor of geophysics and director of the seismological laboratory at California Institute of Technology, has declared "the moon is made from inside out." He believes the outer and inner compositions of metals and elements should be reversed. Thus, it's an artificial structure The density of Earth is 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter and the density of the moon is 3.34 grams per cubic centimeter. Based on astronomical data, NASA scientist, Dr. Gordon MacDonald, has declared that the interior of the moon must be hollow. The positioning of the moon dictates the angle at which the Earth rotates (22.5 degrees from vertical) and the speed of Earth's rotation. It also influences global tidal movements and since the human body is 70% water, it may also influence human physiology and/or behavior. The moon orbits Planet Earth in an almost perfect circular orbit and does not spin on its axis, like all the other moons in our solar system. The same side of the moon is always facing Earth, leading to the conclusion that the moon was placed in its current orbit and position by an intelligent entity. Thus, the obvious conundrum -- if the moon is hollow, created by a more advanced civilization, placed into its position and possibly occupied by advanced beings, what's up?? Could the moon be an observation satellite, occupied by advanced entities?? Do these advanced entities control or utilize human beings on Earth?? Do advanced entities use the moon as a staging area for ET visitation of Earth?? In 1959, Dr. Iosif Shklowvsky, a Russian astrophysicist, proclaimed that Phobos, a moon circling the planet Mars, may be hollow. He based this claim on calculations of the strange orbit and extremely low density of the satellite. Dr. S. Fred Singer, a former special advisor to President Eisenhower on space development, said that Phobos may be connected to extraterrestrials. In 1963, Raymond H. Wilson Jr., Chief of Applied Mathematics at NASA, declared that "Phobos might be a colossal base orbiting Mars." Once again, what's up?? It seems possible, worthy of examination and exploration. According to astrophysicist Hakeem Olusevi, "In our galaxy, we're talking about something like 400 billion stars, and we now think there are more Earth-like planets than there are stars. So we're talking about hundreds of billions of planets." And that's just within our own Milky Way Galaxy. Olusevi added, "There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the observable universe alone, which we think is a tiny fraction of what the universe is." “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Arthur C. Clark In 1960, NASA commissioned a report by the Brookings Institute on long-range studies. It included a section titled "The implications of a discovery of extraterrestrial life." The Brookings Report indicated that the disclosure of extraterrestrial life would have a disruptive effect on human society. This has led to the suppression of the discovery of and encounters with extraterrestrial life by government institutions involved in these matters. Perhaps the secret of the hollow moon is that we are faced with an enemy from beyond Earth and have been in a covert skirmish with this enemy for many decades. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Chairman Gorbachev both realized the existential threat of extraterrestrial threats and put aside the differences that had become known as the Cold War. The two super powers have secretly been allies in a joint effort to protect the planet from alien hostilities for many decades, while publically deceiving the world on the pretense of animosity between the two countries. When President Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (dubbed Star Wars), it was not to combat incoming ICBMs from Russia, but to form a defense against extraterrestrial incursion upon Planet Earth. "We didn't have to shoot down thousands of Soviet incoming warheads, and the Soviets never really cared about the ABM Treaty in the first place because they knew they weren't going to launch a first strike and neither would we. We both knew who the real targets of the SDI were, and it wasn't a bunch of ICBM warheads. It was UFOs, alien spacecraft thinking themselves invulnerable and invisible as they soared around the edges of our atmosphere, swooping down at will to destroy our communications with EMP bursts, buzz our spacecraft, colonize the lunar surface, mutilate cattle in their own horrendous biological experiments, and even abduct human beings for their medical tests and hybridization of the species. And what was worse, we had to let them do it because we had no weapon to defend ourselves." Phillip J. Corso Philip J. Corso (1915 - 1998) had a distinguished career as a military Intelligence officer. He was the former head of the Foreign Technology Desk at the U.S. Army's research & Development department and a member of President Eisenhower's National Security Council. There is a covert oversight outfit that is responsible for protecting Planet Earth from alien interference. It is so top secret that most U.S. Presidents are out of the loop. It all started during the Truman administration in 1947, code-named "Shamrock" (a UFO working group), and has been operational ever since (under various deep-cover guises). "We can knock these guys down tomorrow with high-energy lasers and directed particle-beam weapons that come right out of a Star Wars movie. And these aren't fiction, they're fact." Phillip J. Corso United States and Russian military forces have been firing thousands of missiles in the Arctic regions, out of the earth's atmosphere, into the outer regions of our planet's atmosphere. These missiles are being launched from both land-based sites and aircraft. When this clandestine activity recently came to light, the U.S. and Russian governments claimed to be performing joint war games. These so-called "war games" were never announced in advance to the public. These bizarre events coincide with reports that the earth's atmosphere is being bombarded by unknown cosmic blasts. The BBC reported that "cosmic blasts (bursts of gamma rays) are the most powerful in the universe. Scientists think a 10-second blast near earth could deplete up to half of the planet's ozone layer." Something very strange and potentially dangerous may be taking place here. War games are not conducted in outer space unless an enemy threat approaches from outer space. During a speech to the United Nations in 1987, President Ronald Reagan announced, “Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.” Perhaps President Reagan was warning the world about potential extraterrestrial threats. Perhaps the USA and Russia are pretending to be "enemies" but are in fact secret allies in an effort to protect our planet from outside forces. Perhaps the USA and Russia are pretending to be "enemies" to keep their respective military budgets and black ops budgets high in order to fund their combined defense in their secret alliance against extraterrestrial threats. “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan Do big deal -- life goes on. Do the aliens on the moon pull down their pants and "earth" their lunar friends? ___________ Quote for the Day – "The universe is a pretty big place." Carl Sagan ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where strangeness is a daily fact of life. ___________ - -

Zone of Silence

In 1970, a U.S. Athena missile was fired from a location in Utah, scheduled to land in the White Sands Missile Base in New Mexico. However, it went about 900 miles off course, without apparent explanation, and crashed in the Sonora Desert in Mexico, over a hundred miles south of the Big Bend area in Texas. A few years later, a Saturn booster rocket used in the Apollo program broke up over the same area. The U.S. military sent a team of engineers to investigate the area, which starts some 25 miles north of the tiny community of Ceballos, Durango. One of the first things the engineers discovered was that it was impossible to transmit radio waves in the impacted area -- walkie-talkies and portable radios would not work, television signals could not be received in the scattered neighboring ranches, microwave or satellite signals failed to penetrate. Even airplanes flying over the region experienced instrument malfunctions. Apparently, some sort of magnetic anomaly stifles radio waves in the region. Thus, it became known as the Zone of Silence -- about 1,500 square miles of uninhabited flat terrain, loaded with thorny desert plants, infested with poisonous snakes and containing bizarre animal mutants. For example, insects and tortoises are known to grow to three times normal size. Centipedes are a foot long with purple heads. The tortoises have no tail. And it is the only region where cactus grows in specific shades of purple and red. In the 1800s, scattered farmers attempted to eke out an existence in this region whereupon they became aware of the "hot" stones that fell nightly from the sky. Apparently, the Zone of Silence is like a bizarre magnet for meteorites. Within the Zone, there's a stunning "field of meteorites" area containing millions of meteorites scattered everywhere. In the 1950s, a scientifically significant meteorite crashed in the vicinity. According to researchers, it contained material as old as the universe. On February 8, 1969, the largest meteorite ever found on Earth (the size of a Buick) crashed into the Zone of Silence. It's known as the Allende Meteorite. The 1970 U.S. military team of engineers discovered the area to be a hot bed for meteorites. The soil contains significant magnetic ore, possibly due to eons of meteorite bombardment from above. Plus, the mountains that surround the Zone of Silence also have various uranium deposits. The Zone of Silence lies south of the 30th parallel, just north of the Tropic of Cancer -- the same latitude as the Bermuda Triangle and other bizarre planetary anomalies. Ancient ruins have been located in the Zone of Silence but archeologists have been unable to determine the age and exact purpose of these structures, which were possibly utilized as an astronomical observatory. Furthermore, there have been discoveries of six-mile long man-made platforms, a man-made hill in the shape of a pyramid, and carved stone statues of animals. Not surprisingly, the Zone of Silence is also a Mecca for UFO activity. In 1976, a huge rectangular UFO passed over the town of Ceballos, witnessed by virtually everyone in town. The same year, a photograph was taken (by a tourist) of a UFO that had landed on a hill within the Zone of Silence. Travelers through the Zone of Silence have reported seeing strange lights maneuvering at night, floating motionless, changing colors, then taking off at great speed. Other witnesses who have spotted these mysterious lights at night have discovered vegetation the next day that appeared to have been burned by fire. Encounters of mysterious beings have also been reported within the Zone of Silence. The most typical encounter has been with Nordic types -- a common UFO entity that is around 7 feet tall, with long blond hair and blue eyes. In UFO terminology, they are often referred to as Pleiadians. Reportedly, two months before the U.S. Athena missile crashed into the Sonora Desert, Wernher von Braun (premier U.S. rocket scientist) made a visit to the Zone of Silence, creating speculation that the missile may have been purposely fired into the Zone of Silence to give U.S. personnel an excuse to enter the Zone for some undisclosed purposes (such as exploration or experimentation). The U.S. military even built a special railroad spur into the Zone to haul away the remains of the rocket, tons of magnetic dirt and perhaps other items. Life is a mystery. You can accept it as is, leading to the bliss of ignorance -- or you can explore it, leading to the next mystery. "Hello darkness my old friend... I've come to talk with you again... Because a vision softly creeping... Left its seeds while I was sleeping... And the vision that was planted in my brain... Still remains... Within the sound of silence." (lyrics by Simon & Garfunkel) If you want to explore a true mystery, spend your next vacation in the Zone of Silence. Leave your cell phone at home, keep an eye out for snakes and be very polite to seven-foot blond Nordics. ___________ Quote for the Day – "Silence is a source of great strength." Lao Tzu ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where silence is nourishment for the soul. ___________ - -

Origin of the Species

Ocean voyages tended to be melancholy undertakings in ancient times. In 1830, the captain of a British naval survey ship, the HMS Beagle, put a bullet in his head during a period of intense gloom. The following year, Robert FitzRoy, a 23-year-old gentleman of nobility, was given command of the vessel and assigned the formal task of charting coastal waters. FitzRoy, engaged to be married at the time, was a blue-blooded snob who detested conversing with the crew so he invited a friend to accompany him on the voyage in order to have someone of his own background with whom to socialize. When the friend backed out, FitzRoy soon persuaded another educated young man, age 22, to take his place, chosen primarily because of the shape of his nose which FitzRoy thought gave him character. FitzRoy's new dinner companion was named Charles Darwin. From 1831 to 1836, the HMS Beagle sailed the coastal waters of South America. FitzRoy and Darwin shared a tiny cabin and soon began to bicker. FitzRoy's passion was to find evidence for a literal, biblical interpretation of creation. Darwin, who had trained for the ministry, slowly evolved into taking a more open-minded view. Contrary to popular belief, Darwin was perplexed about evolution. He was fascinated by nature and highly reverent of animals. During the voyage, Darwin accumulated a vast amount of specimens and fossils. He studied the structure of coral reefs and developed a much-acclaimed theory about their formation. He also discovered a new species of dolphins which he named "Delphinus Fitzroyi" to honor the captain of the ship. Six years after the voyage, in 1842, Darwin began to put his theory about the survival of the fittest, although he never used that term, in writing. In fact, Darwin believed it wasn't the fittest nor smartest that survived, but rather the ones most adaptable to change. Two years later, he had completed a 230 page sketch of his ideas. Then he put his notes aside and for the next 15 years busied himself with other matters, including fathering 10 children. In the autumn of 1859, having renewed interest in his theories, Darwin sent a copy of his manuscript, titled ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION, to the editor of the respected British journal Quarterly Review who rejected the material and advised Darwin to write a book about pigeons instead. Darwin's manuscript was published later that year under the title ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES. It was an instant success, selling all 1,250 copies of the first edition on the first day. It has never been out of print. Darwin was tormented by his work, aware of the controversy it would cause, and referred to himself as "the Devil's Chaplain." His book instantly became a major topic of discussion among intellectuals. The thrust of Darwin's theory, commonly referred to as evolution, was that human beings may have evolved from primates without the assistance of a divine creator. Needless to say, this viewpoint was hotly contested by the clergy. In 1860, a meeting was held at the Oxford Zoological Museum to debate Darwin's theories. Over a thousand people were in attendance and hundreds were turned away at the door. During the presentation, Robert FitzRoy, former captain of the HMS Beagle, stormed into the room, waving a Bible and shouting, "The Book, The Book." Recently named head of the Meteorological Department at Oxford, FitzRoy had been at the conference to present a paper on storms. Five years later, Fitzroy committed suicide in the same manner his uncle had committed suicide decades earlier, by slitting his own throat. Apparently, he was not very adaptable to change -- Natural Selection once again working in mysterious ways. However, Natural Selection fails to explain the creation of inorganic matter. So perhaps the answer remains blowing in the wind. Darwin's legacy is still with us. Even today, mankind continues to debate the origin of the species. Some believe in a magical creation orchestrated by a divine presence, some believe we evolved from microbes and apes, and some believe we were delivered by a stork. There is even an outlandish theory that the human race was created eons ago by the genetic alteration of early humanoids (Homo erectus) by extraterrestrial entities (that descended from the heavens, also called Elohim – reptilian serpents or giants) who mingled with the Daughters of Man (earthlings) to create the Nephilim (ET/human hybrids), whereupon the resulting ET/human hybrids (in human form) then became the rulers of the world (royalty) by promoting those of their hybrid bloodline into positions of power through secret societies (Illuminati). Personally, I believe I'm the center of the universe and everything else is simply a figment of my mind. Considering the state of the world these days, I obviously have a very morbid imagination. But it really doesn't matter how we got here -- we're here and that's that. The prime objective is to figure out how we're going to survive another day and where we're going when our existence in this dimension has expired. The origin of the species is a mystery -- if you solve the mystery, it's wise to keep it to yourself. Life is simple -- keep your nose to the wind and go with the flow. ___________ Quote for the Day – "My Theory of Evolution is that Darwin was adopted." Stephen Wright ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an array of nature's critters frolicking nearby. ___________ - -

Extreme Human Longevity

Li Ching-Yuen was born in China in 1677 and died in 1933. His life is the most thoroughly documented case of extreme longevity, spanning 256 years. Imperial Chinese government records from 1827 report that Li Ching-Yuen was congratulated on his 150th birthday and documents from 1877 report that he was congratulated on his 200th birthday. According to local folklore, he produced some 180 descendents, comprising 11 generations, and survived 14 wives. "Beautiful is old age -- beautiful as the slow-dropping mellow autumn of a rich glorious summer. In the old man, Nature has fulfilled her work; she loads him with blessings; she fills him with the fruits of a well-spent life; and, surrounded by his children and his children's children, she rocks him softly away to a grave, to which he is followed with blessings. God forbid we should not call it beautiful." J.A. Froude Li Ching Yuen was a herbalist, gathering and selling wild ginseng, lingzhi, goitu kola and Goji berry. He maintained a diet of herbs and rice wine. During his early years, Li Ching-Yuen learned methods of longevity and gathered herbs from mountain ranges. At age 71, he joined the Chinese Army as a martial arts instructor. Goji berries, also called wolfberries, are possibly the most nutritional fruit on Earth. They contain 18 amino acids, including all 8 essential amino acids, and more than 20 trace minerals (such as zinc, calcium, selenium, germanium, iron, phosphorus and many others). By weight, they have 500 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges and also contain vitamins B1, B2, B6 and vitamin E. Of all known plants on Earth, Goji berries are the richest source of carotenoids (including beta-carotene). They also contain polysaccharides, which stimulates secretion of human growth hormones by the pituitary gland and fortify the immune system. Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened -- as you get older, work is a lot less fun and fun is a lot more work -- the best course of life is to die young as late as possible. The first wealth is health -- we are what we eat. ___________ Quote for the Day – "Be content with what you have. Rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." Lao Tzu ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where Goji berries are hard to find. ___________ - -

Stalking the Elusive Fnord

Chaos is an inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a natural system or in the course of human events. Discordianism is a belief system based on chaos. Some people believe it's a joke disguised as a religion, and others believe it's a religion disguised as a joke. The true believers claim it's a religion disguised as a joke disguised as a religion. While most religions cherish harmony and order, Discordianism reveres chaos, which it contends is the prevailing impulse of the universe. "There is serenity in chaos. Seek ye the eye of the hurricane." The PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA, by Malaclypse (a.k.a. Greg Hall), is the foundational document of Discordianism. It describes an ideal society where there are no rules. The duality of yin and yang are replaced with "Hodge" and "Podge," represented by an apple and the pentagon. Some of the Saints include Don Quixote and Yossarian. The PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA, also introduced the mysterious word "fnord," considered to be a nonsensical term meaning irrelevant information or disinformation intended to misdirect, with the implication of a conspiracy. In THE ILLUMINATI TRILOGY, a series of novels by Robert Anton Wilson (with Robert Shea), the term "fnord" was further revealed to be part of a grand conspiracy scheme by the Illuminati (meaning "the illuminated ones" -- the secret wealthy rulers of the world) whereby children in grade school are taught to be consciously unable to see the fnord (not the actual word itself but a substitute word or phrase, always in print form). Thereafter, every appearance of the substitute (consciously unseen) word or phrase creates a subconscious feeling of confusion and stifles rational thought. Fnords are placed within news media text, causing anxiety about current events. The Illuminati want society in perpetual chaos in order to maintain conformity and control. However, there are no fnords in advertising, thus encouraging consumerism and enriching the ruling class. The word "fnord" has also recently been adopted within computer Internet circles to mean something out of context, such as a random sentence, irrational text or anything out of context, intentional or otherwise. On the other hand, you have different fingers. The previous sentence was a fnord, which subconsciously compels one to idolize the author of this piece. Robert Anton Wilson was born in New York City in 1932. He attended Brooklyn Polytechnical College and New York University where he studied mathematics and engineering. He worked as an engineering aide, salesman, copywriter, and was an associate editor for Playboy magazine from 1965 to 1971. He was also a philosopher, psychologist, researcher, novelist, essayist, futurist, anarchist, and a stalker of the elusive fnord. Wilson was the author of 35 books, including THE ILLUMINATI TRILOGY, covering such topics as metaphysics, paranormal experiences, extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, quantum psychology and conspiracy theory. At the core of his literary genius, he considered the basic condition of humanity to be both comic and tragic. "Serious people are always so grim and uptight that they make me want to dance naked on the lawn playing the flute... nothing is true unless it makes you laugh, but you really don't understand it until it makes you cry." Wilson ran for governor of California in 2004 as the Guns and Dope Party candidate. The party platform was: 1) Guns for those who want them, no guns forced on those who don't want them. 2) Drugs for those who want them, no drugs forced on those who don't want them. 3) An end to Tsarism [rule by emperor] and a return to constitutional democracy. 4) Equal rights for ostriches [large birds incapable of flight that stick their heads in the sand to avoid reality]. Robert Anton Wilson confronted the fnord and found the true meaning within it. He died on January 11, 2007. His last words, typed on his personal website, were, "I don't see how to take death seriously. I look forward without dogmatic optimism, but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying." Ultimately, a fnord is the mumbo jumbo that dissolves the individual into the crowd. E Pluribus Unum. Secret societies have existed since the beginning of recorded history. The Illuminati was officially founded on May 1, 1776, by Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria. Its true leader was Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who created the Rothschild financial dynasty. The French Revolution was one of their many covert operations, disguised as freedom for the people. These days, the term “Illuminati” is used to refer to an inter-breeding, close-knit bloodline of Global Elitists in high places behind the scene who covertly manipulate outcomes all around the world. Thus, the “Illuminated Ones” have advanced knowledge of future events. The true rulers of the world today are a small group of banking houses called “International Bankers” – Rothschild, Rockefeller, etc. They lend money to governments and exert ultimate power over them for their own selfish interests. They control executive officers, legislative bodies, mainstream media, monetary systems, education, and instigate global conflict to further their cause (divide and conquer, appropriate and control). Their goal is a one-world government with them at the helm. And they don’t take kindly to those who refuse to submit quietly to being enslaved. Robert Anton Wilson was one of many who have sounded the alarm. The purpose of government is to ensure the freedom of the individual within a level playing field, not to meet in secrecy to scheme ways to enrich and empower themselves. Equal rights for ostriches. ___________ Quote for the Day – “Out of these troubled times, a New World Order can emerge.” George Herbert Walker Bush ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an imaginary girlfriend named Tequila Mockingbird. ___________ - -

Skull and Bones and Geronimo

Goyathlay (one who yawns) was born in June of 1829 to the Bedonkohe band of Apache near Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Gila River, in New Mexico. He was raised according to Apache tradition and married a woman from the Chiricahua band of Apache when he was 17 years old. They had three children.

 

In 1832, a secret society known as "Skull and Bones" was founded by certain privileged male students at Yale University.

 

On March 5, 1851, some 400 Mexican soldiers from Sonora attacked Goyathlay's camp, killing Goyathlay's mother, wife and children. Goyathlay and the other men were elsewhere at the time.

 

Although he was never a chief, Goyathlay soon became a ferocious military leader. In one battle, he repeatedly attacked Mexican soldiers with a knife, ignoring an onslaught of bullets.

 

The Mexicans gave him a nickname, after St. Jerome -- they called him Geronimo.

 

Geronimo refused to acknowledge the United States Government. He fought U.S. and Mexican Armies for more than a decade. To his people, he was renowned for his "power" because he was blessed with profound spiritual knowledge and protected by Usen, the Apache high-god. He had the ability to walk without leaving tracks and was metaphysically gifted (telepathy, telekinesis). Wounded many times by bullets, he always survived.

 

In 1886, Geronimo was finally captured after numerous daring escapes and sent to prison in Florida.

 

Later, he became famous in his old age. In 1904, he appeared at the World's Fair in St. Louis and rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade the following year.

 

Geronimo died on February 17, 1909.

 

There is an ominous, windowless building on the campus of Yale University called the Tomb. It houses the secret society known as Skull and Bones. It's basically a private club for young men of privilege, many of whom go on to become captains of industry, Supreme Court justices, cabinet officers and presidents.

 

Only 15 new seniors, called Neophytes, are chosen each year to become Bonesmen. They are sworn to a lifetime of secrecy and must go through a series of rituals to become a member. For example, they're required to stand naked in the presence of other Bonesmen and recount their entire sexual history. Upon acceptance, Neophytes are shoved to their knees and knighted by a Bonesman tapping a sword on the Neophyte's left shoulder and saying, "By the order of our order, I dub thee Knight of Euloga."

 

Outlandish ceremonies are commonplace in the Tomb. In one ritual, a woman holds a knife and pretends to slash the throat of another person lying down before her, as Bonesmen yell and scream at the Neophytes. In another ceremony, Bonesmen wear devil costumes and pretend to perform satanic acts of torture on Neophytes who are also required to lie in a coffin at various times.

 

Death seems to be one of the major themes in the Tomb. There are more than a dozen skulls and several coffins scattered throughout the premises. Wall paintings are replete with scenes of death and destruction.

 

Also on display is a glass case containing one of their sacred treasures -- a bloodied knife and the skull of Geronimo.

 

Prescott Bush was a Bonesman. He and other members of Skull and Bones dug up Geronimo's grave at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, when stationed there in 1918 during World War I, removing the skull and some other bones.

 

Prescott Bush is the father of former president George H. W. Bush and grandfather of former president George W. Bush, both of whom were also Bonesmen at Yale.

 

On February 17, 2009, the 100th anniversary of Geronimo's death, his great-grandson, Harlyn Geronimo, filed a lawsuit in Washington DC claiming that members of Skull and Bones stole the remains of Geronimo decades ago. The descendants wanted Geronimo's remains turned over to the family so he could be reburied near his birthplace in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness.

 

Bonesmen are young men from wealthy and powerful families. In their circle, they can do no wrong. They have a lofty opinion of their position in society and strive to keep it that way. They refer to the rest of society as "barbarians." In their elite world, you're either a Bonesman or a barbarian.

 

Skull and Bones is a secret society that lusts for dominance and worships death. Its members are ambitious men of wealth and power who help other members reach positions of wealth and power. Their antics are infantile, sadomasochistic and disgusting. In all probability, the purpose of their satanic behavior is to compromise the dignity of its members to ensure a lifetime of loyalty to the society.

 

Once a Bonesman, always a Bonesman.

 

These are the true barbarians of this world.

 

In 2004, George W. Bush and John Kerry were the two presidential candidates. Both had been members of Skull and Bones at Yale, although not at the same time. Neither would answer any questions about the secret society.

 

This bloodline of influential families controls global banking, which in turn controls governments and the media.

 

The world is being methodically manipulated by a group of powerful people in high places whose ultimate goal is a One World Government with them in control. And the robotic masses go along with it because they buy into the programming of the educational system and the media. The greed-heads at the top, who want to control the world, feed off the greed-heads below, who always want more than they need or can reasonably afford.

 

Geronimo yearned to be free. It cost him the lives of his mother, his wife and his children, and eventually cost him his freedom.

 

"I was no chief and never had been, but because I had been more deeply wronged than others, this honor was conferred upon me, and I resolved to prove worthy of the trust." Geronimo

 

In February of 2009, one hundred years after his death, Geronimo still yearned to be free.

 

The sordid fellows of Skull and Bones have chosen to display Geronimo's remains in their private meeting quarters.

 

If there is any justice in this cold cruel world, they will turn over Geronimo's remains to his family, offer an apology, disband their insidious secret society of human depravity and exorcise the Tomb of its demons, preferably by an Apache Holy Man.

 

On May 1, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was sitting on the floor in an upper room of his secret compound in Pakistan, watching TV, which contained a significant number of pornography channel options. That evening, a U.S. Navy SEAL team stormed the compound and sent Osama Bin Laden off to that special place in another dimension where 72 virgins welcome every mass murderer with delightful acts pleasure as a reward for a job well done.

 

The U.S. intelligence code name for Bin Laden was Geronimo. This code name has offended those who have descended from Geronimo's Native American Indian tribe.

 

The Native American Indian understood the spirituality of the earth and the sky, and the nobility of all the living creatures.  They could not comprehend the antics of the white men who sequestered them onto reservations to learn to become like the white man.

 

Perhaps the white man is stupid, selling his soul in the name of progress.

___________

 

Quote for the Day – "All we wanted was peace and to be left alone." Crazy Horse

___________

 

Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where peace is a state of mind.

___________

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Hotel California

I lived in the Los Angeles area for 11.5 years (1975-1986), where I also moved a dozen times within the area for various reasons, including a 5-year marriage and subsequent divorce. I particularly liked the village of Topanga, in the hills between the San Fernando Valley and the ocean, above Malibu, and lived in 3 different locations in those hills.

 

The first place in Topanga was a nice A-frame on a hill. The guy who rented it to me told me that the building up at the top of the hill, less than a hundred yards away, on the corner of the dirt road to the rental house, was the original Hotel California, presently occupied by other musicians.

 

This was no surprise to me since Topanga was home to many musicians, artists, writers, performers and various other misfits. Plus, the building looked like one of those old Spanish Missions that exist in various places in California. I would occasionally sit outside on my upper balcony, with a cup of tea in the morning, and meditate while viewing the splendid structure at the top of my hill -- such a lovely place -- such a lovely place.

 

The A-frame was one of my favorite places I've called home over the years, having lived now at over 50 addresses in 12 states. But a computer contract at the other end of the Valley forced me to move on once again after a year or two.

 

Yes, indeed, I once lived just down the hill from the original Hotel California, immortalized in the song "Hotel California" by The Eagles.

 

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
"This could be Heaven or this could be Hell"
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here

 

(lyrics -- Hotel California)

 

The Eagles (Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Felder) are one of the world's best selling bands of all time, having sold more than 150 million records.

 

Formed in Los Angeles in 1971, The Eagles have had 5 Number-One singles, 6 Number-One albums and have received 6 Grammy Awards.

 

Two of their albums (Greatest Hits & Hotel California) were ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the USA, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

 

Hotel California was one of their greatest songs.

 

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
"Please bring me my wine"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

 

(lyrics -- Hotel California)

 

Since I have been writing many non-fiction books containing various scattered topics, I decided to finally write a piece about the original Hotel California -- so I did some research. Unfortunately, my research brought me back to earth about the location of Hotel California.

 

Apparently, Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote most of the words. None of the band members were from California and as they drove into the Los Angeles area at night, they could see the glow of lights on the horizon.

 

Hotel California is "basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about." Don Henley

 

There is no Hotel California -- it's an abstract vision of the hedonism of Southern California and the self-destruction of the music industry in the late 1970s.

 

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax, " said the night man,
"We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!"

(lyrics -- Hotel California)

 

Glenn Frey used the phrase "steely knives" in the lyric as a playful acknowledgement to the band Steely Dan, who had included "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in their song "Everything You Did."

 

"Hey, I didn't make a big deal out of Hotel California -- the 18 million people that bought it did." Glenn Frey

 

Glen Frey of the Eagles passed on to the Grand Hotel in the Sky, at age 67, on January 18, 2016.

 

Thanks for the music -- Rest in Peace.

 

* * *

 

Hotel California -- you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

 

I always liked southern California, particularly the funky Topanga area. Even though I checked out many moons ago, I can never really leave because I still have fond memories and many friends lingering there.

 

After doing some research on the property up the hill from the house I rented, I learned that it was built in the 1930s as a country club.

 

In the 1940s, it was renovated into a gambling house owned by infamous Los Angeles gangster, Mickey Cohen, and operated by a former vice cop.

 

Over the years, it had become an American Legion hall, a theater, a boarding house, a celebrated artist's retreat featuring chamber music, etc.

 

By the time I lived nearby for a couple of years in the early 1980s, the place was badly deteriorated, with some musicians and several feral cats living there.

 

In 1989, a local artist bought the property and spent some 25 years renovating the property.

 

It is now called Sublime Topanga Villa -- "a horticultural retreat for the rejuvenation of mind, body and spirit, and for the preservation of our natural, architectural and historical heritage."

 

If you're ever in need of rejuvenation of mind, body and spirit -- check out the Sublime Topanga Villa and get your head screwed back on.

___________

 

Quote for the Day – "California is where you get to start over." Tracy Chevalier

___________

 

Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and has fond memories of Hotel California.

___________

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