Bret Burquest

Contacting Spirits

2012-02-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772) was a Swedish scientist, philosopher and mystic. He was the world's pre-eminent scholar and scientist of his day.

Many artists, writers and scholars were influenced by Swedenborg, including Carl Jung, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Blake, Immanuel Kant, Helen Keller, Ralph Waldo Emerson and W.B. Yeats.

Swedenborg's father, Jesper, was a professor of theology who believed in direct communication with the Almighty One, rather than relying on sheer faith. He also believed spirits and angels were present in everyday life.

Emanuel completed his university training in Sweden in 1709. The following year, he travelled through the Netherlands, Germany and France, and eventually settled in London for the next four years where he studied physics and philosophy.

In 1715, Swedenborg returned to Sweden and spent the next two decades on engineering projects. He attempted to persuade the King of Sweden (Charles XII) to fund an astronomical observatory in northern Sweden, but failed. Instead, the king appointed him on the Swedish Board of Mines as an assessor.

In 1716-18, Swedenborg published a scientific periodical of various mathematical discoveries and mechanical inventions, including sketches of a flying machine.

In 1724, he was offered the chairmanship of mathematics at Uppsala University in Stockholm but turned it down. He had a speech impediment (stuttering, which caused him to speak slowly) and didn't care to speak in public.

In the 1730s, his studies led him to physiology and anatomy. He was the first recognized scientist who anticipated the neuron concept (significance of nerve cells). He developed theories about the nervous system, the cerebral cortex, the localization of the cerebrospinal fluid and the function of the pituitary gland. In many cases, his conclusions would be scientifically verified decades later.

Swedenborg studied some of the great philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes and Plotinus. He eventually became interested about the purpose of creation. In one of his manuscripts he attempted to explain how the infinite was related to the finite, and how the soul was related to the mortal body.

On Easter weekend, April 6, 1744, Swedenborg, at age 56, began to have dreams and visions that led to a spiritual awakening.

In April of 1745, Swedenborg was dining in a private room at a tavern in London. At the end of the meal, he went into an altered state of consciousness. A man appeared in the corner of the room, telling him "Do not eat too much." Later that night, he encountered this man in a dream, who then told Swedenborg He was the Lord and would reveal the meaning of the Bible and guide him on what to write.

For the remaining 28 years of his life, Swedenborg published dozens of theological works.

In his publication titled LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS, he wrote that he had communication with spirits from Mars, Venus and other planets.

In 1758, Swedenborg had an audience with Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden whereupon the Queen requested that he tell her something about her deceased brother. When Swedenborg whispered something in her ear, she tuned pale. She later explained that Swedenborg told her something only she and her brother could have known.

On July 29, 1759, Swedenborg was having dinner with a group of people, several hundred miles from his home. At six PM, he announced there was a fire at a neighbor's house, which also threatened his house. Two hours later, he declared the fire was now under control. Later, it was all proven to be true, including the precise times of the start and end of the fire.

Swedenborg wrote 30 volumes on theology, including HEAVEN AND HELL published in 1758. He had developed the skill to be simultaneously in the carnal world and the spirit world, by realizing a state of awareness in a manner of similar to entering a hypnotic state.

He wrote the following -- "The first experience, being taken out of the body, is like this. We are brought into a particular state that is halfway between sleep and waking. When we are in this state, it seems exactly as though we were awake -- all our senses are as alert as they are when we are fully awake physically -- sight, hearing, and strange to say, touch. These senses are more perfect than they can ever be during physical wakefulness. This is the state in which people have seen spirits and angels most vividly. It is the state described as being taken out of the body and not knowing whether one is in the body or outside it."

Swedenborg claimed he had endless conversations with the spirit world. He explained that "celestial" angels remained in the higher realms whereas "spiritual" angels visited and guided mortal beings Needless to say, he was highly criticized by the prevailing religious establishment.

More from Swedenborg writings -- "We may gather that inwardly we are spirits from the fact that after we depart from our body, which happens when we die, we are still alive and just as human as ever. I have talked with almost all the people I have ever met during their physical lives, with some for a few hours, with some for weeks and months, and with some for years... while we are living in our bodies, each one of us is in a community with spirits even though we are unaware of it."

May the Force be with you.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Albert Einstein
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 8 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY, ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS and PATH TO FOURTH DENSITY (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where spirits are occasionally produced when the moon shines.
___________
-
-

A Familiar Face

2012-02-12T17:27:00.001-08:00

After high school in the suburbs of Minneapolis in 1962, I went to the University of Minnesota for a couple of years, then to college in Miami for another year in a specialized field, worked in St. Paul as computer programmer for another year, was drafted into the U.S. Army (Vietnam Era) for two more years, went back to my civilian job for another 9 months, then back to the University of Minnesota for a few more years to get a B.S and an M.S. degree.

During my second stint at the University of Minnesota (1969-72) I also spent most nights in downtown Minneapolis on Hennepin Avenue at a bar called Moby Dicks where I shot pool for hours on end, making some extra money to cover my college expenses. I was a strong player and often had a dozen people watching my antics on the pool table.

One night I noticed this guy who had a strikingly interesting face. It was a "Hollywood" face -- the same way Charles Bronson or Lee Van Cleef has a Hollywood face. He was tall (about 6' 2") rugged, imposing, calm -- the sort of dude who stood out in a crowd and you probably didn't want to mess with.

I had also seen this same guy on the campus of the University of Minnesota a couple of times too.

In March of 1975, I moved to the Hollywood Hills, overlooking Universal Studios. I was soon working as a computer programmer and manager for a small computer software firm across from Warner Bros. Studios.

Sometimes at work I would drive up Barham Blvd., over the Hollywood Freeway, to the Studio City area where I would pick up an egg salad sandwich on pita bread at this small "take-out" eatery with about a half dozen tables.

As I picked up my sandwich one day and was walking out of the place, which had only 3 or 4 customers at the time, I noticed this guy sitting alone at a table, waiting for his order to be completed. He had a familiar look, a Hollywood face that stood out in a crowd -- the same way Charles Bronson or Lee Van Cleef has a Hollywood face.

I looked at him and he looked at me. I knew him from somewhere but couldn't place it. The way he was looking at me seemed to indicate he also knew me from somewhere but couldn't place it. Rather than strike up a conversation, I kept heading out the door.

Years later, I began to notice this guy in movies and TV episodes.

One day, there was an article about this guy in my University of Minnesota Alumni magazine.

His name is Chris Mulkey.

To date, he has appeared in over 50 movies and numerous TV series. One of his most notable roles was as a villain (Hank Jennings) on the Twin Peaks series. In addition to being an actor, he is also a writer, producer and musician.

Mulkey has been terrific in every role he has played. He's one of those great character actors whom you see all the time but don't know his name.

I'm honored to almost know him.

The next time I run into someone I recognize but can't place the face, I'm going to open my mouth and say something clever, such as "howdy."
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Movie stars have careers -- actors work, and then they don't work, and then they work again." Frances McDormand
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 8 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY, ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS and PATH TO FOURTH DENSITY (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Sarah Palmer.
___________
-
-

Coup d'etat of the USA

2012-02-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

Major General Smedley Butler (1881 - 1940), left school 38 days before his 17th birthday and joined the U.S. Marines during the Spanish-American War. The former commandant of the Marine Corp. was the most decorated Marine in U.S. history at the time of his death. He is one of only 19 men to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor twice.

Butler was an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy, as observed in the following Butler quote in a socialist newspaper in 1935.

"I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras 'right' for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested... Looking back on it, I felt I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three continents."

In 1935, a couple of years after his retirement from military service, Butler wrote a book titled WAR IS A RACKET. In it, he suggested the U.S. Navy should be prohibited from traveling beyond 200 miles from the U.S. coastline, military aircraft should be confined within 500 miles of the U.S. coastline, and the U.S. Army to be prohibited from leaving the USA. He also proposed that any future declaration of war should be passed by a vote in which the only ones eligible to vote would be those subject to conscription into military service.

Retired Maj. General Smedley Butler was also an outspoken critic of first-term President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.

A "coup d'etat" is the sudden, illegal overthrow of a government, to be replaced by others.

In 1934, a small cabal of influential elitists attempted to overthrow the President of the United States and replace him with fascist style dictator (similar to Hitler) to counter FDR's socialist polities, which they believed were contrary to the U.S. Constitution. They suspected FDR was secretly a communist. Some of FDR's goals were a redistribution of wealth and an active role by federal government in the American economy.

Among those conspiring to overthrow the current president were Du Pont (financiers), JP Morgan factions, William S. Knutson (president of General Motors), and other influential elites. Also privy to the plot were Al Smith (1928 Democratic Presidential candidate), General Hugh Douglas (head of FDR's National Recovery Administration) General Douglas MacArthur, and a number of other generals and admirals.

The plot included $3 million in funds and a fascist march on Washington by 500,000 veterans. FDR would then be captured and the leadership would be taken over by a military-based government.

Gen. Smedley Butler was approached by the plotters and urged to head the new government. Butler had a reputation as the enlisted man's general -- he would have attracted many veterans to the cause. Plus, he had many allies in the current military establishment who might have gone along with the conspiracy.

However, Gen. Smedley Butler believed in the U.S. Constitution, something he had sworn all his life to uphold -- he blew the whistle and the whole conspiracy came to a halt.

"There are only two things we should fight for -- one is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights." Smedley Butler

Congress appointed a special committee to explore the matter, where it stalled for four years due to various political considerations and the clout of those involved at the top. No prosecutions or further investigations followed.

When the committee's final report was released, the NEW YORK TIMES wrote that the committee "purported to report that a two-month investigation had convinced it that General Butler's story of a Fascist march on Washington was alarmingly true."

In the final committee report -- "In the last few weeks of the committee's official life it received evidence showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country... There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient."

The next coup d'etat in the USA took place in November of 1963.

The true rulers of Planet Earth work behind the scene. They control monetary systems, governmental bodies, military-industrial complexes and the media.

And they don't take kindly to those who oppose their grand schemes.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "War is a racket... I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else." Smedley Butler
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 8 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY, ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS and PATH TO FOURTH DENSITY (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where the Eagle flies of Friday.
___________
-
-

Path to Fourth Density

2012-01-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

The density upon which one resides is dependent on one's development of consciousness.

The human race on Planet Earth presently resides on the Third Density.

To have a Third Density consciousness implies a sense of self-awareness, a sense of individuality and the capacity to discern one's soul evolution.

"It is only to the individual that a soul is given." Albert Einstein

Individual souls can recycle within Third Density, through reincarnation, or they can move to a higher plane of existence by adapting a unity consciousness, the capacity to serve the All rather than serve the Self.

Ascension is a graduation of the soul into the Fourth Density, a higher level of reality between the physical Third Density and the ethereal Fifth Density.

The Third Density is a dimension of matter, more precisely an illusion of matter, where suffering compels individual souls to obtain compassion and grace in order to ascend to a higher level of consciousness, or to continue to suffer over and over again through reincarnation.

The Fourth Density is a dimension between matter and spirit, where communication is telepathic, solid objects are no longer solid, time is irrelevant and harmony prevails.

The Fifth Density is a dimension of non-physical spirit, an astral plane of timeless existence where individual souls are pockets of energy.

There are only 3 things.

1) The individual Self
2) Everything that isn't the Self
3) The combination of Self and everything else

Nothing else -- period.

The Self is your personal being, your consciousness, your essence, your soul -- you only have control of you.

Anything that isn't the individual Self is everything else, visible or otherwise. It's the Supreme Oneness, where the Self was created, and it's beyond individual control.

The combination of the individual Self and everything else is the third entity of all things. It completes the Divine Trinity (son, father, ghost) -- the totality of All.

As a restless, rebellious Soul seeking adventure and wisdom, the individual Soul projects itself, through a manifestation of conscious thought, into a lower plane of existence in order to experience pleasure and pain, to obtain grace, to perfect righteousness.

The true individual Soul remains within the Supreme Oneness on a higher astral plane as it manifests its essence into a 3-dimensional being on a Third Density existence, such as Planet Earth.

The Quest of the Soul is to find the way back to the Supreme Oneness -- to become one with the Oneness once again.

When the Soul escapes the Supreme Oneness, to experience a carnal existence, it becomes a Declaration of Independence, seeking freedom and pleasure.

When the Soul seeks to reunite with the Supreme Oneness, it becomes a Declaration of Cooperation, a commitment of compassion and harmony.

The Quest of the Soul is a perilous journey. It's a leap of faith into the Abyss, reserved only for the most adventurous and courageous of Souls.

The journey requires patience. In order to complete all aspects of the carnal experience, the Soul must cycle through the carnal existence many times, called reincarnation, under a variety of conditions -- master, servant, rich, poor, strong, weak, male, female, family, solo, attractive, unattractive, lucky, unlucky, war, peace, etc.

The Quest of the Soul culminates when the Soul obtains unity consciousness -- when the Soul comprehends its place within the Supreme Oneness and embodies the intention to return within to the Supreme Oneness.

Until then, ascension into the Fourth Density is a struggle to discover the perfection of imperfection.

Once wisdom is obtained, only one question remains -- Why?

Perhaps to be followed by the ultimate answer -- Why not?
___________

Quote for the Day -- "The only thing that is real is the being in you that is going to die." Carlos Castaneda
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where the only reality is the illusion of reality.
___________
-
-

A Troubled Soul

2012-01-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

Marlon Brando, considered by many to be the most gifted actor of all time, died on June 2, 2004, at the age of 80. He made 40 movies -- some were outstanding, some were clunkers. He was nominated for an Oscar a half dozen times, winning twice.

"Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse." Marlon Brando

On screen, he was raw power.

Off screen, he was a big bag of wind.

When he learned of Brando’s death, actor James Cann said that Brando “influenced more young actors of my generation than any other actor. Anyone who denies this never understood what it was all about.”

The son of an absentee father and an alcoholic mother, Brando was an angry, quick-tempered child who had been expelled from military prep school for bad conduct. He was married three times and had nine kids. His son Christian was imprisoned for killing his daughter Cheyenne’s boyfriend. Cheyenne later committed suicide.

An outspoken activist for minority causes, Brando sent a Native American woman, Sacheen Littlefeather, to accept his Oscar for his performance in The Godfather. Instead of accepting the award, Littlefeather, dressed in American Indian garb, refused the award on Brando’s behalf and attempted to read a statement (15 pages long) written by Brando condemning America’s treatment of Native American people. She was booed off-stage.

Ironically, Sacheen Littlefeather was only part Indian and part Caucasian. Her real name was Maria Cruz. She was a bit actor -- Sacheen Littlefeather was her stage name. She had previously been named Miss American Vampire and had appeared in Playboy. As a representative of Native Americans, she was sadly lacking.

While some of his movies were real stinkers, Brando gave many memorable, wide-ranging performances.

ON THE WATERFRONT – Won an Oscar as a former prizefighter working for corrupt union thugs.

THE GODFATHER – Won an Oscar as a Mafia Don who made offers that couldn’t be refused.

APOCALYPSE NOW – One of many roles as a madman. Perhaps in touch with his own madness.

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY – Played an effeminate British naval officer who led the mutiny.

ONE-EYED JACKS – Brando directed this western, grossly exceeding the shooting schedule and budget.

GUYS AND DOLLS – Displaying his versatility in a musical, he held his own with co-star Frank Sinatra.

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE – Originally played the brutish Stanley Kowalski on the Broadway stage.

THE WILD ONE – As a rebellious motorcycle gang leader, Brando menacingly defined the lost generation.

THE MISSOURI BREAKS – Playing a deranged bounty hunter, he out-improvised co-star Jack Nicholson.

THE FUGITIVE KIND – Raw sexual tension between Brando and an older, married woman.

LAST TANGO IN PARIS – A sexually explicit piece of vulgarity that Brando made even more vulgar.

JULIUS CAESAR – Brando mastered Shakespeare equally as well as he had mastered Stanley Kowalski.

THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON – As a Japanese servant, Brando was amazingly convincing.

THE YOUNG LIONS – As a German soldier, he was more German than some of the German actors.

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU – Brando as an insane genius. Bad movie but a stunning portrayal.

SAYONARA – A rare performance as a normal guy. Although far from normal, he managed to pull it off.

While brilliant on-screen, his personal life was a mess. He had financial difficulties throughout his lucrative career. Those who knew him well called him an egomaniac and a brooding eccentric, on the brink of being dysfunctional.

On the set, he had a reputation for being difficult.

Off the set, he was downright self-destructive.

He had contempt for his profession. During a rare interview, he claimed, “If a studio offered to pay me as much to sweep the floor as it did to act, I’d sweep the floor. There isn’t anything that pays as well as acting while you decide what the hell you’re going to do with yourself.”

Somehow, I suspect he’d bellyache about sweeping floors too.

Marlon Brando was truly one of a kind – a consummate actor and a troubled soul.

Rest in Peace.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "If we are not our brother's keeper, at least let us not be his executioner." Marlon Brando
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where brooding eccentrics live in hollow trees.
___________
-
-

High School for Gladiators

2012-01-15T12:03:00.001-08:00

Beyond the obvious theatrics, professional wrestlers are gifted athletes with an abundance of strength and coordination. They are also nasty dudes. If you don't believe it, walk up to one and slap him upside the head. The next 20 seconds of your life with be incredibly exciting, followed by a long period of pain and regret.

Robbinsdale is a suburb of Minneapolis. In the 1940s and 1950s, Robbinsdale High School was legendary in team sports, particularly in wrestling where they were state champions on a regular basis.

Verne Gagne was a graduate of Robbinsdale High School in 1943. In 1944, he won the Big Ten wrestling championship in his weight class as a freshman. After a couple of years in the Marines, he returned to the University of Minnesota and became Big Ten champion in 1947, 1948 and 1949. He was also NCAA champion in 1948 and 1949, a member of the Olympic team in 1948 and AAU wrestling champion in 1949.

Vern Gagne went on to become one of the most successful professional wrestlers in history, winning many heavyweight championships. Years later, he became owner of the AWA (American Wrestling Association).

One of Gagne's professional wrestling opponents was Larry "The Axe" Hennig, a graduate of Robbinsdale High School in the 1950s. Hennig played villain to Gagne's good guy image.

Many other professional wrestlers were products of Robbinsdale High School.

Curt Hennig (class of 1976) – dubbed "Mr. Perfect" by the promoters, Curt was the son of Larry Hennig. He was an all-around high school athlete who had been offered college scholarships in football, baseball and wrestling. As a pro wrestler, he was a top performer on several circuits.

Rick Rood (class of 1976) -- became Ravishing Rick Rude, a major headliner with a chiseled body and a narcissistic attitude. Former pro wrestler Eddie Sharkey once said, "People didn't realize how tough this guy was. He'd slap guys with an open hand and it looked like their head exploded."

Tom Zenk (class of 1976) – also known as the "Z-Man," he was a very prolific "scientific" wrestler who became champion of the PNW (Pacific Northwest Wrestling).

Dean Peters (class of 1976) – former high school gymnast (team captain) who wrestled under the name of Brady Boone. He became a very acrobatic wrestler, later known as the "Battle Kat."

John Nord (class of 1977) – known as "The Barbarian," Nord was a big bruiser who also played professional football with the New Jersey Generals of the now defunct USFL.

Steve Simpson (class of 1977) – became the Russian villain "Nikita Koloff" in the ring. Wrestled in Georgia Championship Wrestling, the NWA and the WCW.

Barry Darsow (class of 1978) – mostly performed as the "Smash" character of Demolition (Ax, Smash, Crush). In the WWF he was "The Repo Man" and in the WCW he was "The Blacktop Bully."

It's quite remarkable so many professional wrestlers came from such a small community as Robbinsdale.

Many others came from the nearby Minneapolis area, such as Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Ric "Nature Boy" Flair, Scott Norton, Jim Brunzell, Brock Lesnar, Sheldon Benjamin and Sean "The Lightning Kid" Waltman.

I attended Robbinsdale High School in the early 1960s. When I was a junior, we were the Minnesota state wrestling champions once again. We were also the state champions in football that year as well.

I wasn't a wrestler though. Rolling around on a mat in the clutches of some sweaty psychopath was not my idea of fun. I preferred more gentlemanly activities, such as pocket billiards and chasing skirts, neither of which was sanctioned by the school. I did reasonably well in pocket billiards but was a bust in my other endeavor.

Robbinsdale High School was not for the timid. Part of the daily lunch menu included a cup of nails. It was a school for gladiators with a little book-learning on the side. If you could survive it, you were prepared for anything the rest of the world throws at you.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Wrestling is ballet with violence." Jesse Ventura
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of the Crusher.
___________
-
-

Next in Line

2012-01-10T17:41:00.001-08:00

Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States (1789-1795), in the cabinet of George Washington. Politically, he was a Federalist. His portrait appears on the 10-dollar bill.

Aaron Burr was a U.S. Senator from New York (1791-1797) and Vice President of the United States (1801-1805) under Thomas Jefferson. Politically, he was a Republican. His portrait appears mostly in museums.

In 1789, Burr defeated Phillip Schuyler, Hamilton's father-in-law, for the Senate seat from New York. Thus began the feud between Hamilton and Burr, which culminated five years later when Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. It was said at the time that Burr had no principles and Hamilton had too many.

On July 11, 1804, in Weehawken, New Jersey, Burr and Hamilton stepped off ten paces, turned and fired their .56 caliber dueling pistols. Hamilton fell to the ground and died the next day. Burr was unscathed.

The next time a Vice President of the United States shot another human being while in office occurred on February 11, 2006, when Dick Cheney went hunting with some of his wealthy Republican pals.

Cheney and his entourage were bird hunting on a private ranch in south Texas when the Vice President mistook a fellow hunter, Harry Whittington, for a quail and shot him. Cheney was using a 28-gauge shotgun and the pellets struck Whittington, about 30 yards away, in the face, neck and upper chest.

Whittington, 78, was quickly attended to by a team of medical specialists who always travel with the Vice President and later transported to a hospital in Corpus Christi where he was treated for several days, then released. He still has about six pellets of birdshot in his system, including one embedded in his heart muscle.

Cheney is an avid bird hunter. He frequently hunts for pheasant in South Dakota and ducks in Arkansas. To mistake a Texas lawyer wearing an orange vest for a quail seems out of character for the Vice President. If anything, Whittington looks more like a whooping crane than a quail, and shooting whooping cranes is illegal.

According to the eye-witness account of Katherine Armstrong (owner of the 50,000 acre ranch), Cheney was swinging to his right and looking into the sun. Nevertheless, he made a snap decision and pulled the trigger. In hunting, this is called carelessness. In politics, it's known as faulty intelligence.

To further complicate matters, Cheney and Whittington were hunting illegally. While both of them had the proper license to be hunting in Texas, neither of them had the upland game bird stamp required for quail hunting.

In 1804, dueling was illegal in New Jersey, but Hamilton and Burr did it anyway. In America, the law applies equally to everyone. But sometimes those who make the law are more equal than those who must obey the law.

The following Monday, February 13, the Vice President's press office announced that Cheney sent a 7-dollar check to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to cover the cost of the license.

All's well that ends well.

It's amazing how the USA can spend countless months and zillions of dollars electing two main candidates to be our next President, then each of two candidates gets to choose their successor on their own. It doesn't exactly seem very democratic.

Dan Quayle was Vice President of the United States under the original George H W. Bush, in 1988-1992.

During that period, I lived in the desert a few miles outside of Wickenburg, Arizona, which was basically a fork in the road, about 50 miles northwest of Phoenix, with one stoplight to control traffic coming up from Phoenix and splitting off to California or Las Vegas.

Wickenburg was also the unofficial headquarters of the Quayle family, originally from Indiana. Dan Quayle’s father owned a luxury home on the private golf course. His older brother owned and edited the local newspaper, The Wickenburg Sun, and his younger brother lived somewhere in the outlying hills trying to become a writer.

As Vice President, Dan Quayle and his family would often visit Wickenburg. Their arrival was always apparent because the secret service would actually shut off the electricity in the entire community thereby disabling the only stoplight in town in order to allow the Vice President and his caravan to whisk through the intersection with ease. This was most irritating to many of the locals, especially the ones using computers (such as myself) that would crash when the electricity suddenly went off without warning.

Dan Quayle loved to relax from his chores as Vice President and shoot a couple of rounds of golf. He was a good golfer but as a public figure his blunders were legendary.

He once visited a grade school during a spelling bee. On camera, he confronted a small boy who had correctly spelled the word “potato,” insisting the lad put an “e” on the end of the word.

When discussing the departure of a member of Bush's cabinet, Quayle remarked, "This isn't a man who is leaving with his head between his legs."

As a defender of family values, he lavished the Ozzie Osborne family, a bunch of crazed wombats, with praise as a role model family, proving that he’s either a comic genius or a blithering idiot.

The following blithering-idiot statements were also made by Dan Quayle during his Vice Presidency.

1) “It isn’t pollution that is hurting the environment, it’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.”

2) “It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago.”

3) “Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.”

4) “We have a firm commitment to NATO. We are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe.”

5) “If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.”

6) “I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix.”

7) “If you give a person a fish, they’ll fish for a day. But if you train a person to fish, they’ll fish for a lifetime.”

8) “We are not ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur.”

9) "Most women do not want to be liberated from their essential natures as women."

10) "I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people."

11) “What a waste to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.”

12) ”It’s time for the human race to enter the solar system.”

Dan Quayle was next in line to assume the position of President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the most powerful nation on Earth. It’s always comforting to know our country is in such competent hands.

George Bush, Sr. and Dan Quayle were defeated for reelection in 1992.

Go figure.

Perhaps when the human race enters the solar system we will have the sort of leadership we deserve.

Then again, perhaps we always get what we deserve.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "A man I'm proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States -- Barack America!" Joe Biden
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Jasper Lamar Crabb.
___________
-
-

Grappling with Serpents

2012-01-01T14:29:00.001-08:00

The ancient Sumerian Empire has been called the Cradle of Civilization. It began some 6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia (ancient Babylon, modern day Iraq). The Sumerians were the first known people to develop a written language.

They were also the first people to utilize the sexagesimal numbering system, based on the number 60. It was the ancient Sumerian who divided time into 60 seconds and 60 minutes. They divided a circle into 360 equal sections (6 times 60), called "degrees."

They created a 12-month calendar (6 plus 6) and studied the stars, dividing the heavens into 12 equal sections (6 plus 6) of 30 degrees each, creating a 360 degree view of the universe.

However, due to an imprecise number of days per year (365.25), their calendar was imperfect and required adjustments.

During this same period, the study of astronomy was first recorded, which included the 12 signs of the Zodiac.

Each sign of the Zodiac was associated with one of the constellations that crossed the "ecliptic" (the plane of the earth orbit around the sun). The 12 Zodiac signs start at the spring equinox with Aries (the Ram) -- followed by Taurus (the Bull), Gemini (the Twins), etc.

The dates of the 12 Zodiac signs are:

Mar 21 - Apr 20 = ARIES
Apr 21 - May 21 = TAURUS
May 22 - Jun 22 = GEMINI
Jun 23 - Jul 23 = CANCER
Jul 24 - Aug 23 = LEO
Aug 24 - Sep 23 = VIRGO
Sep 24 - Oct 23 = LIBRA
Oct 24 - Nov 22 = SCORPIO
Nov 23 - Dec 21 = SAGITTARIUS
Dec 22 - Jan 20 = CAPRICORN
Jan 21 - Feb 19 = AQUARIUS
Feb 20 - Mar 20 = PISCES

Having 12 signs in the Zodiac allowed them to be divided equally into a duality of two groups -- 6 signs were masculine and 6 signs were feminine. The 12 signs were divided equally into the four elements of Fire, Earth, Air and Water. For example, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are Fire signs.

Since these signs were drawn up several thousand years ago, the Earth's orbit around the sun has changed -- the sun no longer necessarily corresponds to the same constellation as it did back then.

Furthermore, not all the constellations that cross the ecliptic are the same size, thus it takes a different number of days to go from one sign to the next (see table below).

Plus, believe it or not, there are 13 constellations that cross the ecliptic.

The constellation, Ophiuchus, has been known for several thousand years. The astronomer Ptolemy included it in the list of 48 named constellations nearly 2,000 years ago.

The 13 constellations that cross the ecliptic and the number of days within each sign, listed below.

Apr 19 - May 13 = ARIES -- (25 days)
May 14 - Jun 19 = TAURUS -- (36 days)
Jun 20 - Jul 20 = GEMINI -- (31 days)
Jul 21 - Aug 09 = CANCER -- (20 days)
Aug 10 - Sep 15 = LEO -- (37 days)
Sep 16 - Oct 30 = VIRGO -- (45 days)
Oct 31 - Nov 22 = LIBRA -- (23 days)
Nov 23 - Nov 29 = SCORPIO -- (7 days)
Nov 30 - Dec 17 = OPHIUCHUS -- (18 days)
Dec 18 - Jan 18 = SAGITTARIUS -- (32 days)
Jan 19 - Feb 17 = CAPRICORN -- (30 days)
Feb 18 - Mar 11 = AQUARIUS -- (22 days)
Mar 12 - Apr 18 = PISCES -- (38 days)

This does not alter the validity of modern astrology.

In western (Hellenistic) astrology, using the Tropical Zodiac, the constellations represent the personality of the Zodiac signs whereas the precise positioning and duration of the constellations may vary due to the nature of the universe.

In sidereal astrology (Vedic astrology), adjustments are made to the Sidereal Zodiac to coincide with the gradual precession of the vernal equinox.

Ophiuchus is known as the Serpent Wrestler. It is a man (called Asclepius, the son of Apollo) grappling with a large snake-like serpent (reptilian being).

It's interesting how this thirteenth constellation has been mostly ignored (kept secret) from the general public.

It's interesting how this constellation depicts a human being struggling against a reptilian being (serpent).

Throughout the ancient world, there has been a constant theme of "serpent gods" who have descended from the heavens to create the human race, advance the human race and to rule over the human race. This theme is present in legends, myths, artwork, hieroglyphics, petroglyphs, ancient texts, tablets, cave drawings, and so forth -- on every continent across the globe.

Zecharia Sitchin is a premier scholar of ancient civilizations and one of only 200 people in the world who is able to read the Sumerian language, the oldest language on Earth. He has extensive knowledge of ancient Hebrew, Semitic languages, archeology and the Old Testament.

During his 60 years of research, Sitchen has written a dozen books on the ancient history of Planet Earth and the origins of the human race. His works include:

The 12th Planet (Earth Chronicles, No. 1), 1976
The Stairway to Heaven (Earth Chronicles, No. 2), 1980
The Wars of Gods and Men (Earth Chronicles, No. 3), 1985
The Lost Realms (Earth Chronicles, No. 4), 1990
Genesis Revisited: Is Modern Science Catching Up With Ancient Knowledge?, 1990
When Time Began (Earth Chronicles, No. 5), 1993
Divine Encounters: A Guide to Visions, Angels and Other Emissaries, 1995
The Cosmic Code (Earth Chronicles, No. 6), 1998
The Lost Book of Enki: Memoirs and Prophecies of an Extraterrestrial god, 2002
The Earth Chronicles Expeditions, 2004
The End of Days: Armageddon and Prophesies of the Return (Earth Chronicles, No. 7), 2007
Journeys to the Mythical Past, 2007

According to the Sitchen translations of ancient Sumerian cuneiform tablets, a race of reptilian beings (serpent gods) called the Anunnaki descended from above, on a planet called Nibiru which has an orbit that extends into our solar system every 3,600 years.

The Anunnaki (serpent gods) created the human race through genetic alteration -- homo erectus became homo sapiens. And they co-inhabited with the daughters of man (earthly female homo sapiens) to create an offspring called the Nephilim.

It wasn't a talking snake in the Garden of Eden, it was a reptilian being (serpent) from beyond earth.

The Nephilim (reptilian hybrids) became the rulers of the planet.

In India, those who descended from serpent gods and mingled with earthly females were called Nagas (meaning serpent kings). Buddhist text lists 80 kings who descended from the Nagas. They were able to move between reptilian form and human form at will, called shape-shifting.

In China, those who descended from serpent gods (Chinese emperors) were known as Dragons (part human and part reptilian being from beyond earth).

In Mesoamerica, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent (reptilian being) was able to travel between the heavens and the earth. He is credited with the creation of mankind.

In Central America, Itzamna, meaning lizard sorcerer (reptilian being), is a serpent god. He resides in the heavens and was responsible for creating the human race.

In England, King Arthur descended from "dragons" (reptilian beings). Celtic folklore includes the royal bloodline having been created by interbreeding of human and non-human entities.

In Scandinavia, Jormungandr is a serpent (reptilian being) that encircles the world and has a stranglehold on the human race. Perhaps another clue that our world has been encircled (dominated) by hybrid reptilian entities for a very long time.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12

Perhaps the rulers of the darkness of this world have been manipulating humanity for a very long time.

Perhaps Ophiuchus the Serpent Wrestler has been kept from us because of the enormous implications of the origin of the human race, and the nefarious ploys of the reptilian hybrids that control and enslave us.

On December 21, 2012, our solar system crosses the exact center of the Milky Way galaxy, also known as the Dark Rift.

This cosmic event may be of monumental importance to the human race. There will likely be surges in electromagnetic fields, potentially creating earth changes and/or accelerations in human consciousness.

This event, which happens every 25,627 years as the solar system completes the Precession of the Equinoxes (a complete cycle through all 12 or 13 constellations) may also include possibilities of ascension onto higher dimension of existence, if one is prepared to adopt a unity consciousness.

If we are indeed enslaved by an inter-dimensional race of beings, they would likely attempt to prevent those seeking ascension to a higher dimension from attaining their goal.

Food for thought.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "I don't believe in astrology -- I'm a Sagittarius and we're skeptical." Arthur C. Clark
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where the signs of the sky speak to those who wonder.
___________
-
-

The Battle of New Orleans

2011-12-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

In the early 1800s, New Orleans was populated by French, Spanish, African, Anglo and Creole people, pursuing economic gain and a joyous life.

In 1803, Great Britain became embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars with France.

Since the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the Americans had been irritated by the failure of the British to withdraw from their territory and declared war on the British Empire in June of 1812.

It would later be called "The War of 1812."

In 1812 and 1813, the United States had suffered several defeats.

In August of 1812, General William Hull surrendered Detroit to the British.

In October of 1812, U.S. Forces lost the Battle of Queenston Heights.

In November of 1812, U.S. forces withdrew from Lake Champlain.

In 1813, U.S. Forces were unsuccessful in a standoff at Niagara.

Finally, in October of 1813, British Forces were overtaken by U.S. Forces under the command of William Henry Harrison. The War of 1812 raged on.

In 1814, the Great Britain defeated Napoleon's France and began to transfer a large number of ships and troops to America. The British plan of attack called for operations in three areas -- New York along the Hudson River and Lake Champlain, in Chesapeake Bay (as a diversion), and at New Orleans to block the Mississippi River, considered to be a vital strategic location.

To capture New Orleans, the British Navy sent 50 ships with 10,000 troops.

In the fall of 1814, Major General Andrew Jackson, also know as "Old Hickory," arrived in New Orleans and immediately prepared to defend the Crescent City by forming a militia. One of those who volunteered his services in the militia was Jean Lafitte, a local pirate, and his band of outlaws. In addition to some regular U.S. Army units, Jackson also filled his militia forces with a sizable number of Haitians (former black slaves) and frontiersmen from Tennessee and Kentucky with long rifles.

On January 7, 1815, the Battle of New Orleans would take place on the Plains of Chalmette, an easy one-day march south of New Orleans.

Jackson's Forces consisted of 4,000 men -- the British Forces were more than twice that number.

In 1959, the song of the year at the Grammy Awards was "The Battle of New Orleans" -- written by Jimmy Driftwood and performed by Johnny Horton (1929 - 1960). It was a historical ballad, memorializing this major turning point in American history.

"In 1814 we took a little trip...
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip....
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans...
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans."
(lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood)

On the Chalmette Plantation, Jackson's Forces built a fortified mud rampart about a half mile long. On one side was the Mississippi River and the other side was a cypress swamp. As the portions of the British Force were making their way north, Jackson launched a nighttime surprise attack. This caused the British to delay their advance until they could gather more troops from the ships, allowing Jackson's men more time to fortify their position at Chalmette.

"We looked down the river and we see'd the British come...
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum...
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring...
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing."
(lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood)

After the surprise attack, Jackson's ambushers retreated three miles back to the Chalmette fortification and waited to defend their position. The main assault began at dawn on January 8, 1815. British Forces marched toward the rampart. When they were within 100 yards, militia muskets were readied. At 50 yards, some 3,000 long rifles and squirrel guns exploded.

"Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise...
If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye...
We held our fire 'til we see'd their faces well....
Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em hell."
(lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood)

The rampart fortification was built to form a natural bottleneck whereby the enemy would be forced to charge or retreat. After the first volley of gunfire from the militia, the British charged into a hailstorm of bullets often tripping over those who had fallen before them.

"We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down...
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round...
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind...
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind."
(lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood)

Soon, the British gallantry waned.

"Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles...
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go...
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em...
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico."
lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood)

Ironically, the War of 1812 had officially ended when the Treaty of Ghant had been signed in Europe weeks earlier. It was the last war between the United States and Great Britain, who soon resumed normal trading relations and later became allied in subsequent major conflicts.

American casualties -- 8 killed, 13 wounded.
British casualties -- estimated at 2,000 killed or wounded

Don't mess with the Big Easy.

"We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin...
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago...
We fired once more and they began to runnin'...
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico."
(lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood)

Andrew Jackson (1767 - 1845), the commander of American Forces at the Battle of New Orleans, became the seventh President of the United States.

He is the only president in U.S. history to have paid off the national debt.

A hero is someone who understands his personal responsibility in life and acts accordingly.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Elevate those guns a little lower." Old Hickory
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where hickory nuts don't fall too far from the hickory tree.
___________
-
-

Historical Events of December 25

2011-12-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

The following events took place on December 25 -- among many Earthlings, this is commonly referred to as Christmas.

336 -- In Rome, the first recorded celebration of Christmas took place. Even though the Catholic Church believed Jesus Christ was born in the spring, they chose December 25 as the official birthday (called Christ's Mass) in order to coincide with the winter solstice and compete with the Pagan practices of worshiping the Sun.

800 -- Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as heir of the Roman emperors.

1066 -- William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.

1621 -- William Bradford, Governor of the new Plymouth Colony outlawed newcomers to America from playing cards. The new country across the ocean was intended to become the Land of the Free. But human nature often compels those in charge to curtail freedom in the name of security or purity.

1642 -- Isaac Newton, scientist, was born in England.

1776 -- General George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack during the Revolutionary War. It was quite cold and the grunts did the rowing. "Government is a force -- like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." George Washington

1799 -- In France, Napoleon's new constitution went into effect, giving him powers to make laws, control finances and conduct relations with foreign powers. He stood 4' 10" and had an urge to conquer the world -- today, such folly is referred to as a Napoleonic Complex. "A Constitution should be short and obscure." Napoleon Bonaparte

1837 -- U.S. Forces defeated the Seminole Indians in the Battle of Okeechobee. On the positive side for the Indians, there would later be a college that would adopt "Seminoles" as the team mascot name.

1868 -- President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all Southerners who participated in the Civil War. "If I am shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet." Andrew Johnson

1899 -- Actor Humphrey Bogart was born in New York City. "You're not a star until they can spell your name in Karachi." Humphrey Bogart

1925 -- Writer Carlos Castaneda was born in South America. "The only thing that is real is the being in you that is going to die." Carlos Castaneda

1926 -- Hirohito became Emperor of Japan.

1941 -- In Lithuania, some 400 Jewish women were killed by police.

1950 -- Scottish nationalists stole the Stone of Scone from the British coronation throne in Westminster Abbey. It was recovered four months later. Scottish people are a rebellious tribe of redheaded brawlers, whose hobbies include stomping on anything offensive, such as the Irish or the British.

1962 -- The Bay of Pigs captives were released (ransom) and vowed to return to topple Fidel Castro.

1977 -- Comedian Charlie Chaplin died in Switzerland. "A day without laughter is a day wasted." Charles Chaplin

1978 -- Vietnam invaded Cambodia, ending the mass genocide referred to as The Killing Fields.

1979 -- Soviet Airborne Forces landed in Afghanistan, joining ground forces in the Soviet War against Afghanistan. Of very little strategic value, Afghanistan is a desolate country with a scattered rural population of rednecks toting AK-47s. It's a bit like Alabama with Camels.

1991 -- Soviet President Mikhail announced his resignation as the leader of the USSR. He was ousted by Boris Yeltsin, who had an affinity for vodka and dancing like a drunken bear.

1993 -- A 59-year-old woman gave birth to twins in London, after being implanted with donated eggs.

1995 -- Singer Dean Martin died in Beverly Hills. "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1997 -- Comedian Jerry Seinfeld announced plans to discontinue his NBC sitcom at the end of the season. "That's the true spirit of Christmas -- people being helped by people other than me." Jerry Seinfeld

2001 -- In Afghanistan, U.S. Forces celebrated Christmas with touch football and turkey dinners. I played touch football when I was in the U.S. Army in 1966-68. Macho dudes in combat boots generally "touch" with great vigor.

2004 -- President Bush urged Americans to help the neediest among them through volunteerism. "Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called 'walking.'" George Bush

2007 -- Russia's military successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, a weapon intended to replace older missiles.

2009 -- An attempted bombing on Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit by a Nigerian Man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (age 23) failed. The bomb was sewed into his underwear and his brain was made of saw dust.

2011 -- I got two apples and a lump of coal for Christmas -- it's the thought that counts.

Happy Holidays, Earthlings.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live." George Carlin
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee, and the Ghost of Christmas Future.
___________
-
-

The Great Successor

2011-12-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

Those who are anointed as supreme leaders from birth are rarely tempted to be thoughtful human beings.

Another anointed supreme leader of North Korea has emerged this week to continue the great works of his father and grandfather.

Japan occupied Korea during World War II. When the war ended in 1945, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel with the USSR controlling the north and the USA controlling the south. The Koreans were not consulted.

While the Korean people were happy to be liberated from the Japanese, they objected to foreign rule being imposed over the peninsula. To make matter worse, the Soviets and Americans were unable to agree on a joint trusteeship over Korea. Thus, in 1948, separate governments were established in the north and the south.

Tensions and border skirmishes eventually led to the Korean War in 1950 when the North Korean Army stormed across the 38th parallel in an attempt to reunify the country under their communistic political system.

In 1953, an armistice was signed by North Korea, China and the United Nations thereby ending the conflict. A demilitarized zone was established at the 38th parallel, separating North Korea and South Korea ever since.

North Korea was led by Kim Il-Sung from 1948 until his death in 1994. He had delegated domestic matters to his son, Kim Jong-Il.

In 1997, Kim Jong-Il was named General Secretary (leader) of the Korean Worker's Party.

According to the official North Korean news agency, "The Korean people regard it as their most worthwhile life to uphold Secretary Kim Jong-Il and live in perfect harmony with him. He is the great teacher who teaches them with the noblest political integrity and a tender-hearted benefactor who brings their life into full bloom. As they are in harmonious whole with him, they are enjoying a life based on true conscience and obligation."

Gee whiz, North Korea sounds like a wonderful place to live. It's too bad they had to kill an estimated two million civilians and imprison 200,000 "dissidents" in slave labor camps, where they are tortured, starved, raped and murdered, in order to create a perfectly splendid environment.

In a closed-society, adhering to universal truths and seeking individuality become acts of treason. Such is life in a harmonious whole.

Officially, North Korea is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). However, it's anything but democratic. It's a totalitarian state, dominated by the Korean Worker's Party which embraces Marxism-Leninism.

Elections are held every five years for members of the People's Assembly. To avoid confusion, in every district voters are offered only one candidate.

Kim Jong-Il had been the leader of the DPRK ever since his father died in 1994. He stood 5'2", but wore platform shoes and whipped his hair skyward to make himself appear taller.

While building the fifth-largest military in the world, he ravaged the economy with political mismanagement -- creating famine, fuel shortages, lack of electricity, etc. To make up for it, mass "performances" involving throngs of people participating in parades or choreographed dance routines were introduced to foster national unity.

To generate income, the DPRK encouraged opium cultivation and invested $10 million in an intaglio printing press, the same type used by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which produced $15 million per year in counterfeit U.S. currency. The drugs and counterfeit currency were passed through foreign nations via diplomatic pouches.

As the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-Il had amassed a personal fortune of $22 billion. Although his people were dying of starvation, he dined on fresh lobster shipped in from Japan and enjoyed fine cognac. He also loved children's cartoons, especially Daffy Duck, and had one of the largest collections of pornography in the world.

While grooming one of his sons to take his place, he seized and confined all triplets born in the DPRK in special state facilities to be closely monitored because he believed a triplet may someday topple his regime.

Kim Jong-Il was an arrogant, creepy, delusional, paranoid, deranged lunatic. On December 17, 2011, he died of heart failure at age 69.

Soon thereafter, Kim Jong-Il's youngest son, Kim Jong-Un, in his late 20s, was introduced by the official North Korean news agency as their new supreme ruler, calling him "the outstanding leader of our party, army and people" and have named him "the Great Successor."

Perhaps he will also inherit his father's Daffy Duck cartoons and extensive collection of pornography.

When delusional fanatics are at the top, there is no limit to the oppression.
___________

Quote for the Day – "One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution -- one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship." George Orwell
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where the only cure for cynicism is counter-cynicism.
__________
-
-

Quote Quiz

2011-12-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

1) “The world is more like it is now than it ever was before.”
A) George Carlin
B) George Bush
C) Arnold Schwarzenegger
D) Dwight D. Eisenhower
E) J.D. Salinger

2) "A boy's best friend is his mother."
A) John Lennon
B) Bugs Bunny
C) Luke Skywalker
D) Norman Bates
E) Jack Nicholson

3) "Solutions are not the answer."
A) Richard Nixon
B) Groucho Marx
C) Vladimir Putin
D) Hillary Clinton
E) Captain Kirk

4) "I'll be back."
A) Sitting Bull
B) Gypsy Rose Lee
C) Frank Sinatra
D) Jane Fonda
E) The Terminator

5) "To improve is to change -- to be perfect is to change often."
A) Greta Garbo
B) Muddy Waters
C) Willie Mosconi
D) Tiger Woods
E) Winston Churchill

6) "Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much."
A) D.B. Cooper
B) John Wayne
C) Herman Melville
D) Johnny Carson
E) Elmer Fudd

7) "Always take hold of things by the smooth handle."
A) Thomas Jefferson
B) Hank Aaron
C) Erma Bombeck
D) Jasper Lamar Crabbe
E) Daniel Boone

8) "Sometimes I feel like a fire hydrant looking at a pack of dogs."
A) Daffy Duck
B) Joe Namath
C) Bill Clinton
D) Buddy Hackett
E) Lady Gaga

9) "As long as you're going to be thinking anyway, think big."
A) Donald Trump
B) Brittney Spears
C) P.T. Barnum
D) W.C. Fields
E) Madonna

10) "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
A) Cool Hand Luke
B) Lois Lane
C) Blanche DuBois
D) Batman
E) Boris Karloff

11) "You can't process me with a normal brain."
A) Barack Obama
B) Dan Quayle
C) Bob Dylan
D) Fox Mulder
E) Charlie Sheen

12) "A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me."
A) Mick Jagger
B) Abraham Lincoln
C) Jerry Lewis
D) Jerry Lee Lewis
E) Davy Crockett

13) "Death is not the worst that can happen to men."
A) Jerry Seinfeld
B) Vlad the Impaler
C) Wonder Woman
D) Geronimo
E) Plato

14) "You can't trust anybody with power."
A) The Lone Ranger
B) Newt Gingrich
C) Mahatma Gandhi
D) John the Baptist
E) John Quincy Adams

15) "I'd just like to be treated like a regular customer."
A) Elvis Presley
B) Hulk Hogan
C) Johnny Depp
D) Eleanor Rigby
E) Pee Wee Herman

16) "I have high expectations for the future because the past was highly overrated."
A) Carl Sagan
B) Bart Simpson
C) Barbara Walters
D) Jay Leno
E) Sylvester Stallone

17) "Until you're ready to look foolish, you'll never have the possibility of being great."
A) Oprah Winfrey
B) Sid Caesar
C) Cher
D) Shirley MacLaine
E) Joe Biden

18) "It is better to be alone than in bad company."
A) Minnesota Fats
B) Kim Kardashian
C) Carl Jung
D) George Washington
E) Jeremiah Johnson

19) "The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground."
A) Buddha
B) Johnny B. Goode
C) Doris Day
D) Dr. Phil
E) Rhett Butler

20) "The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have."
A) Vince Lombardi
B) Hugh Hefner
C) Lindsey Lohan
D) Crazy Horse
E) Teddy Roosevelt

________________

ANSWERS: 1-D, 2-D, 3-A, 4-E, 5-E, 6-B, 7-A, 8-C, 9-A, 10-C, 11-E, 12-B, 13-E, 14-B, 15-A, 16-E, 17-C, 18-D, 19-A, 20-A

SCORES:
20 -- You are either a liar or a cheater or incredibly lucky
16-19 -- You need to get a life
10-15 -- Very good
5-10 -- Not bad
4 -- Random answers yield the same results
3-0 -- You are below random (a.k.a. a loser)
___________

Quote for the Day -- "He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked." Voltaire
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where hypothetical questions get hypothetical answers.
___________
-
-

Spring Break Adventures

2011-12-11T16:07:00.001-08:00

When I was a student at the University of Minnesota in 1969, I decided to hitchhike to Miami over spring break.

On a Tuesday morning, I called my friend Scott in Miami and told him I'd be there by the time he got off work on Thursday. He bet me $20 I wouldn't make it in time, adding extra incentive to my idiotic plan.

I packed a small suitcase, made a sign with "MIAMI" on it and had my father he drop me off on a straight stretch of highway 12 just east of the Twin Cities at about noon.

A half hour later, two guys in a beat-up Ford picked me up. We crossed the river into Wisconsin and exited the freeway a couple of miles later at River Falls.

Very few cars entered this particular ramp so I walked back onto the freeway hoping to make it to the next interchange, about a mile away, before the highway patrol grabbed me. As I was marching up the next exit ramp, a truck driver pulled over, picked me up and gave me a ride all the way to the south side of Chicago.

I had intended to head south on highway 41 but the truck driver inadvertently dropped me off one exit too early. I was now stuck in Hammond, Ind., in a predominantly minority area, carrying a suitcase, just as the bars were closing. Incredibly, a local police patrol car pulled up and gave me a ride over to highway 41.

I stood in the rain, along highway 41, in the dark, staring at a deserted road. I had driven to Miami years earlier on highway 41, but now that the interstate freeway system had been completed most of the through traffic went down I-65 instead.

Lucky once again, a truck driver picked me up out of the downpour.

At daylight, I found myself on I-24 near Paducah, Kentucky, far from highway 41. A young girl in a Volkswagen picked me up and gave me a ride two miles down the road. She left me at such a bad location I was forced to walk the two miles back to where I started.

Eventually, a state trooper came by and chased me off the freeway.

I hiked over to a state highway and stood there for a couple of hours. There was a car full of rowdy young punks that had gone back and forth past me many times, always giving me the evil eye. Just as they were about to come by again, a uniformed Army captain in a Triumph convertible pulled up and gave me a ride.

The captain dropped me off at the entrance to Fort Campbell and pointed out where I could catch my next ride, which came along shortly thereafter. I was now seated next to a young man with an open case of beer in the front seat between us. We shared a couple of beers and he dropped me off in the middle of Nashville.

A fellow wearing a neck brace picked me up in Nashville and we made it into Atlanta where we were rear-ended in a freeway pile-up.

After much delay, I drove the injured fellow to his friend's apartment and made it to highway 41 where I caught a ride with a hillbilly in a pickup who talked continuously but I never understood a word he said. At about 4:00 a.m., he dropped me off at a truck stop on a rural road in South Georgia where I eventually got a ride to an on-ramp on I-75 from a trucker who was very reluctant to take on a passenger.

A preacher in a Cadillac pulled up and drove me down to the Boca Raton exit in Florida, trying to convert me all along the way.

Next, I got a ride with hippie couple in a clunker Oldsmobile, but they were short of money to exit the turnpike tollbooth so I gave them two dollars and had them drive me within a block of Scott's place.

I found the key under Scott's mat and let myself in. Before I could open one of his beers, he showed up from work. It had taken me 53 hours to get there and I literally made it by less than 10 minutes to collect the $20 bet.

I was young and adventurous and stupid. I'll never hitchhike again, not even for $20.

The following year, I headed down to Miami in my new Gremlin during spring break. I had a collision with a deer and spent spring break in a motel near Beloit, Wis., waiting for a radiator to be delivered from Milwaukee.

Spring break is for the young at heart and feeble of mind -- if you need a break, take it close to home.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party.'" Robin Williams
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where April showers bring mud.
___________
-
-

High School Reunion

2011-12-04T15:05:00.001-08:00

I was recently contacted by members of my high school 50th reunion committee, whereby they requested that I write a piece for the reunion booklet.
______________________________________

WHERE WERE YOU IN 62

In 1962, I was a senior at Robbinsdale High School in Minnesota, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. The following events took place that year.

Jan 1 -- The University of Minnesota Gophers beat the UCLA Bruins 21-3 in the Rose Bowl football game in Pasadena, California. The temperature at game time in Pasadena was 72 degrees. The temperature outside our house in Brooklyn Center was 13 below zero. Whatever I was going to do with the rest of my life included outdoor temperatures that would not be prefixed with a minus sign.

Jan 3 -- Pope john XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.

Jan 10 -- A volcanic eruption in Peru destroyed 7 villages and killed 3,500 people.

Jan 23 -- Jackie Robinson (1919 - 1972) became the first black man elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jan 26 -- The USA launched a missile (Ranger 3) to land scientific instruments on the moon. It missed the target by 22,000 miles. Apparently, the target wasn't big enough.

Feb 3 -- President Kennedy banned all trade with Cuba, except for food and medical supplies.

Feb 7 -- President Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba.

Feb 10 -- The USA exchanged captured American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for a USSR spy held by the USA.

Feb 14 -- First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of the White House.

Feb 18 -- Robert F. Kennedy declared that U.S. troops would stay in Vietnam until communism was defeated. Goody, goody. I would be drafted in April of 1966 to help defeat global communism and spent 8 fun-filled weeks of basic training in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, learning how to stand at attention and clean toilets. There were 7 graduates from Robbinsdale High School in my basic training company, including Eric "Buzzard" Fermstad, David Lamey and one of Pat Digatano's brothers.

Feb 20 -- John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. The flight lasted 4 hours and 56 minutes. "I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets." John Glenn

Feb 26 -- The U.S. Supreme Court disallowed racial separation on public transportation.

Feb 28 -- The Joint Chiefs of Staff approved a plan to "lure or provoke Castro into an overt hostile reaction against the USA." Paranoia will destroy ya.

Mar 2 -- Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points against the New York Knicks. He was very tall.

Mar 2 -- President Kennedy announced the USA would continue above ground nuclear testing. No big deal. It simply makes a loud noise, vaporizes anything near it and sends a toxic cloud of radioactive debris into the atmosphere. But not to worry -- the prevailing winds blow toward Utah.

Mar 6 -- The USA promised Thailand assistance against communist aggression.

Mar 9 -- The U.S. military Advisors in South Vietnam officially joined the fight against the communists. The prevailing (incorrect) assumption, almost always when it comes to war, was that it would be over soon.

Mar 10 -- The Philadelphia Phillies moved to a motel during spring training in Clearwater, Florida, because their hotel refused to admit black players.

Mar 17 -- The USSR asked the USA to pull out of South Vietnam. Apparently, we declined.

Mar 21 -- A female black bear was ejected from a B-58 bomber over Edwards Air Force Base in California, in a special capsule with parachute, and survived. No big deal -- Doug Deeble, from the RHS Class of 1962, would have done it for free, twice.

Mar 29 -- Jack Parr hosted the NBC TV Tonight Show for the last time, to be followed later by Johnny Carson. Parr was occasionally erratic and highly emotional, much like my ex-wife during full moons. "Looking back, my life seems like one long obstacle race, with me as the chief obstacle." Jack Parr

Apr 9 -- WEST SIDE STORY was named best picture at the 34th Academy Awards. Sophia Loren and Maximilian Schell won the acting awards. In the late 1970s, I studied screenwriting in Hollywood. Ernest Lehman, who wrote WEST SIDE STORY and many other prominent movies, was one of the instructors I was blessed to study under.

Apr 16 -- Walter Cronkite became the new anchorman on the CBS Evening News. "And that's the way it is." Walter Cronkite

Apr 20 -- The New Orleans Citizens Committee gave free one-way rides to blacks to move north. By the way, I write monthly articles for a magazine in the New Orleans area.

Apr 24 -- The first satellite relay transmission of a television signal.

Apr 25 -- The USA performed a nuclear test on Christmas Island. It was one of 105 nuclear test explosions the USA conducted in 1962 and 1963. The residents of Christmas Island, who had been relocated elsewhere, were not pleased.

May 9 -- A laser beam was successfully bounced off the moon for the first time. The residents of the Moon, who were not relocated, were not amused.

May 11 -- The USA sent combat troops to Thailand.

May 15 -- U.S. Marines arrived in Laos.

May 19 -- Marilyn Monroe sang happy birthday to President Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. "It's all make believe, isn't it?" Marilyn Monroe

May 19 -- Stan Musial broke the Nation League record for hits with 3,431.

May 31 -- Adolph Eichmann, Nazi war criminal, was hanged.

Jun 3 -- A CIA memo from a briefing with Attorney General Robert Kennedy revealed that $150,000 was offered to U.S. mobsters to assassinate Fidel Castro. They would have done it for free since Castro closed their Havana gambling casinos.

Jun 6 -- On high school graduation day, 620 highly educated souls received their Robbinsdale High School diplomas on the new football field. The more adventurous ones boarded a passenger train soon thereafter for the annual train trip to Waseca. Those in charge, laughingly referred to as responsible adults, assumed if we were all confined on a moving train it would lesson the trouble we could get into. Many of us, including me, had smuggled a flask of liquid spirits aboard to ease the tension and celebrate our escape from mandatory schooling.

Jun 11 -- Three federal prisoners escaped from Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

Jul 6 -- The USA tested a 104 kiloton nuclear device in Nevada. It blew a hole 1,280 feet wide and 320 feet deep. If the world ever needs instant large holes, give the USA a call.

Jul 10 -- Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a demonstration in Georgia. "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jul 18 -- President Kennedy installed an audio taping system in the White House.

Aug 5 -- Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home. It was ruled a suicide (overdose of drugs). "Dreaming about being an actress is more exciting than being one." Marilyn Monroe

Aug 5 -- The USSR set off an atomic bomb as part of a new series of tests.

Aug 10 -- My birthday. I am now 18 years old. I had a piece of chocolate cake and later celebrated with a Lucky Strike. I would give up the cigarettes in a couple of years but still have a chunk of chocolate on birthdays.

Aug 16 -- The Beatles dropped drummer Pete Best and took on Ringo Starr. "Everything government touches turns to crap." Ringo Starr

Sep 1 -- The United Nations announced the world population had now reached 3 billion people. Today it is 7 billion. But that's okay because we're all broke anyway. Turn out the lights, the party's over.

Sep 1 -- In Iran, 10,000 people died in an earthquake.

Sep 10 -- I enter the University of Minnesota, home of the mighty gopher, as a math major, trying to decide between becoming an architect or a mining engineer. Ironically, I become neither. I would spend a couple of future decades as a computer programmer and manager, followed by another couple of decades as a professional bum (wandering adventurer, independent computer contractor, mountaintop hippie, gold prospector, novelist, desert rat, newspaper columnist, college instructor, reclusive hermit, etc.) while trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

Sep 11 -- The Beatles record their first single for EMI, titled "Love Me Do."

Sep 17 -- The U.S. Justice Department filed the first federal suit to end public school segregation.

Sep 24 -- The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the University of Mississippi to admit its first black student, James Meredith.

Sep 25 -- Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round of the world heavyweight boxing championship in Chicago.

Oct 4 -- Crayola Crayons changed the name of the color "Flesh" to "Peach."

Oct 16 -- The Cuban missile crisis began. The USSR was sending ships to Cuba (containing ballistic missiles). The USA set up a naval blockade. The standoff lasted 13 days. Part of the undisclosed reason it ended was a private communication between Kennedy and Khrushchev, whereby Kennedy proposed to remove USA missiles in Turkey in exchanged for the USSR removing their missiles from Cuba.

Oct 17 -- The New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants in 7 games to win the World Series in baseball.

Oct 20 -- The Chinese Army invaded northeast India during a border war in the Himalayan Mountain region. Some 3,000 Indian soldiers were killed. It lasted about a week.

Oct 25 -- John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in literature. "Any man who puts his intelligence up against a fish and loses had it coming." John Steinbeck

Nov 6 -- Saudi Arabia abolished slavery.

Nov 10 -- A folksinger from Hibbing, Minnesota, named Bob Zimmerman changed his name to Bob Dylan. "All I can do is be me, whoever that is." Bob Dylan

Nov 29 -- France and Great Britain embarked on a joint venture to build a super sonic passenger jet called the Concorde.

Dec 2 -- The first appearance of the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones) at a London nightclub.

Dec 5 -- President Kennedy, Secretary of Defense McNamara and General Maxwell Taylor discussed plans for stockpiling nuclear weapons to deter the USSR. The USA will have oodles of them, then the USSR will have oodles of them, then the world will be at peace forever. Brilliant idea, pinheads.

Dec 26 -- Eight people from East Berlin escaped to West Berlin by breaking through the gates with an armored plated bus. Live free or die.

Dec 31 -- USA military spending rose to $55 billion in 1962.

The top 10 songs from 1962 were:

1) Stranger on the Shore -- (Acker Bilk)
2) I Can't Stop Loving You -- (Ray Charles)
3) Mashed Potato Time -- (Dee Dee Sharp)
4) Roses Are Red, My Love -- (Bobby Vinton)
5) The Stripper -- (David Rose)
6) Johnny Angel -- (Shelley Fabares)
7) The Loco-Motion -- (Little Eva)
8) Let Me In -- (The Sensations)
9) The Twist -- (Chubby Checker)
10) Soldier Boy -- (The Shirelles)

For most of the Class of 62, it was a year to start life over once again. And for many of us, it wouldn't be the last time we start life over once again either.

If you are still alive, your mission in this life is not finished.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names." John F. Kennedy
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee, and the ghosts of Ron Dickerson and Jerry Anderson.
___________
-
-

Majestic-12

2011-11-22T16:13:00.001-08:00

On July 4, 1947, an extraterrestrial craft crashed near Roswell, New Mexico.

The wreckage and dead alien bodies were soon transported to Wright-Patterson Air Base in Dayton, Ohio. Cover stories were established with the media and the truth was kept from the public.

Apparently, a lone extraterrestrial (ET) survived the ordeal.

It was the beginning of the Cold War between the USA and the USSR -- paranoia was rampant in high levels of government and the military establishment.

Over the next few months, the federal government created the Atomic Energy Commission, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Council, the Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

On September 24, 1947, President Truman created Operation Majestic-12 (MJ-12), a Top Secret intelligence operation that was responsible directly to the President of the United States. This committee of 12 esteemed specialists was commissioned to deal with all matters concerning UFOs and extraterrestrials.

The original 12 members:

1) James V. Forrestal -- became Secretary of Defense in July of 1947. He resigned in March of 1949, a month before he supposedly committed suicide at Bethesda Naval Hospital. One year later, he was replaced by General Walter Bedell Smith (Eisenhower's Chief of Staff and former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow).

2) Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter -- became the first director of the CIA (created in September of 1947). He publically disclosed that UFOs were real and "through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense."

3) General Nathan F. Twining -- commander of the Air Material Command (based at Wright-Patterson Air Base in Ohio). On July 8, 1947, he made a two-day trip to New Mexico due to a sudden important matter. He was responsible for creating Project Sign, a UFO study group.

4) General Hoyt S. Vardenberg -- Air Force Chief of Staff. He ordered the destruction of the original Project Sign reports affirming that UFOs were real.

5) Dr. Vannevay Bush -- a scientist who organized the Office of Scientific Research and Development in 1943, which led to the production of the first atomic bomb.

6) Gordon Gray -- Assistant Secretary of the Army in 1947, promoted to Secretary of the Army in 1949. He became a special assistant on national security affairs to President Truman.

7) Dr. Detlev Bronk -- a biophysicist and physiologist who was a medical advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission and Chairman of the National Research Council.

8) Dr. Jerome Hunsaker -- an aviation designer who was the Chairman of the Departments of Aeronautical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

9) General Robert M. Montegue -- was the base commander at an Atomic Energy Commission facility in New Mexico in 1947.

10) Sidney W. Souers -- a retired rear admiral who was the first Director of the National Security Council in 1947.

11) Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner -- was an electrical engineer who headed a study that created the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group.

12) Dr. Donald Menzel -- an astronomer who was a director of the Harvard College Observatory.

Also in 1947, the Air Force created Project Blue Book to determine if the UFOs were a threat to national security. Project Grudge was another operation performing the same tasks. These programs studied approximately 12,000 reported sightings and determined that 90 percent were either explainable phenomena or hoaxes. The remaining 10 percent were considered legitimate Alien encounters.

Over the next couple of years, the lone surviving ET from the Roswell crash had been in contact with his home planet (called Serpo). Communication (in English) between Serpo and scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory had been established.

In July of 1952, there was a massive UFO flyover of Washington, D.C., on two consecutive weekends -- strange objects on radar, moving at incredible speed, visible sightings of orange discs. Jet fighters were scrambled from Newcastle Air Force Base in Delaware. When the fighters approached, the objects disappeared. When the fighters ran low on fuel and returned to base, the objects reappeared.

Fear and paranoia of an alien invasion caused additional pressure on those involved to maintain a high level of security and secrecy.

In 1953, President Eisenhower created a program called Project Gleem, later called Project Aquarius, to be controlled by the National Security Council and MJ-12. It was funded by the CIA (black budget). Its purpose was to collect intelligence data from UFO sightings, Identified Alien Crafts (IAC) sightings and contacts with Alien Life forms.

Additional contact between ETs and USA authorities occurred -- a meeting was arranged.

On February 20, 1954, President Eisenhower (and others) met with a contingent of ETs at Muroc Air Base (now called Edwards Air Force Base) in the Mohave Desert in California. Eisenhower supposedly had been on a visit to a dentist in Palm Springs. Secrecy was of upmost importance. Five Alien craft had landed. Discussions ensued. The ETs offered technology but wanted certain things in return. Various accounts of the results of this meeting make it difficult to determine the outcome. Some of the USA participants didn't trust the ETs, feeling it was a ploy to gain trust, then perhaps attack.

On February 22, 1954, the USA installed 60 Thor nuclear missiles in Britain.

Life goes on.

Many encounters with extraterrestrial entities have occurred prior to and after July of 1947. These events have been withheld from the public. Advanced technology has been gleaned from these encounters and also withheld from the public, kept within the hidden domain of elite rulers for elite purposes.

Those who rule Planet Earth conduct business in secrecy. Those who seek to expose the truth are ridiculed. And those who follow blindly suffer the consequences.

On September 21, 1987, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations where he emphasized how drastically our planet would change if we were under a threat from an alien civilization. Perhaps he was preparing us for the day of disclosure.

We dwell on a small planet of an average star (the sun) in an insignificant galaxy (Milky Way) that is merely one of zillions of galaxies, in a far corner of a vast universe, that may be only one of many universes. We are not alone.

The most basic question is not what's best for the planet -- it's who should decide what's best for the planet.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Our pleasures were simple -- they included survival." Dwight D. Eisenhower
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where ignorance is bliss.
___________
-
-

Lickety Split

2011-11-18T16:06:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine called me the other night asking me to look something up on the Internet for him. He doesn't have a computer, primarily because he's too cheap to buy one and has friends, like me, to pester whenever he needs a favor. Since he helped me start my car back in 1971 he thinks I owe him a life of servitude.

Basically, someone called him a "four flusher" and he didn't know what it meant. So I looked it up for him. It turns out that a four flusher is a person who makes a false claim (one who bluffs). The term was derived from poker where four cards of the same suit are worthless whereas five cards of the same suit is a flush, which will beat three of a kind and a straight. Someone betting with only four cards of the same suit would be bluffing.

The very next evening I received a phone call from a friend who told me the phrase "lickety split" came up in a recent conversation and he was wondering how such a phrase came into existence. This person is not cheap, unlike most of my friends, and owns a computer. But he's a very busy guy and probably didn't want to waste his time on trivial matters so he contacted me to waste my time on trivial matters for him.

In doing so, he also suggested that I should look up the origin of some common expressions, such as "smart as a whip," "a New York minute," "cute as a bug in a rug" and so forth. Instead, I told him his New York minute was up and I had more important things to do, such as take the bull by the horns, reinvent the wheel and catch some Zs.

In my dictionary, "lickety split" means "at great speed."

According to extensive Internet research, "lickety split" was a term used by the Puritans in the 1600s but no one apparently has any insight on how it started.

The term became prominent in the 1830s and 1840s. The earliest known appearance in print was in 1843. Other terms such as "lickety click," lickety cut," "lickety brindle," "lickety smash" and "lickety switch" were also in use at the time meaning the same thing.

Many others terms from the same era also have similar meanings, including "quick as greased lightning," "in a jiffy," "like a house afire," "hell bent for leather" and "immediately if not sooner."

Apparently, everyone was in a hurry back then.

During my Internet explorations, I also learned that "Lickety Split" is:

* A lip gloss that is "fruity, sweet and sassy, and it gives your lips a little kiss of color"
* An alchemy yarn produced and marketed by The Yarn Company of New York City
* An educational game for children, ages 6 and up, made by Gamewright
* A 27' racing sailboat manufactured by Morgan Boat Builders
* A raft trip on the Kern River in California offered by Sierra South Sports
* A night club in Philadelphia
* A rock-and-roll band
* A recipe for lasagna published in BETTER HOMES AND GARDEN
* A company in San Diego that makes balloons
* A card game involving 2 to 4 players fast grabbing from a deck of 60 cards

Jeepers creepers, I now know more about "lickety split" than I ever wanted to know.

Personally I don't like doing things at great speed – I prefer to "take a slow boat to China."

Time to end this nonsense -- 23 skidoo.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Some guy hit my fender, and I told him, 'be fruitful and multiply' -- but not in those words." Woody Allen
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where silence is golden.
___________
-
-

The Next Ice Age

2011-11-12T16:43:00.001-08:00

Many climate scientists now agree that global warming, primarily cyclical in nature due to fluctuations in solar activity, could trigger a new ice age in the Northern Hemisphere. Some of them believe this potential catastrophic event has already been set in motion.

In March of 2004, NASA reported that views from orbit “clearly show a long-term decline in the perennial Arctic Sea ice.” Scientists at NASA and elsewhere worry that melting ice will dump enough freshwater into the North Atlantic to interfere with ocean currents.

Receding ice cover in the Arctic exposes more of the ocean surface, causing more moisture to evaporate, leading to more rainfall and snowfall in the northern latitudes.

The oceans circulate water in a pattern called the “Great Ocean Conveyer.”

Saltwater is denser (heavier) than freshwater. The surface water needs to sink to drive the Conveyer. Sunken water flows south along the ocean floor toward the equator, while warm surface water from the Tropics flows north to replace the water that sank. An increase of freshwater could prevent the sinking of North Atlantic surface waters, stopping the circulation.

Evidence developed from tree rings and ice cores indicates that the Earth’s climate has shifted abruptly in the past. As the world warmed at the end of the last ice age, melting ice sheets appear to have caused a sudden halt to the Conveyer, creating ice-age-like conditions for the next 1,300 years called the “Younger Dryas.”

Without the warmth the ocean currents deliver, Europe’s average temperature would drop 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Portions of eastern North America would also drop in temperature but not quite as much.

These types of abrupt climate changes could result in massive crop failures, leading to global food shortages.

A secret report commissioned by the Pentagon in 2004, leaked to the press four months later, warns that climate change over the next 20 years (or less) could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters.

In what is described as a contingency scenario, the report warns that major European cities will sink beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a frigid climate by 2020. Dwindling food, water and energy supplies throughout the planet will generate global anarchy. The report concludes, “Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life. Once again, warfare would define human life.”

Whether a catastrophic global climate change will occur in the near future is uncertain. If it does happen, it will take two to three years (perhaps as long as a decade) to unfold, a very short period of time in geological history but plenty of time in human existence to prepare for the consequences.

If this scenario occurs, there will be food shortages, followed by a Mad Max reality of civil mayhem.

Be prepared (Boy Scout motto) -- avoid living near the ocean, avoid living in or near a big city, have a reliable source of fresh water and keep plenty of non-perishable food in store. Plus, lots of ammo. In self-survival, anything goes.

We live in precarious times. Man’s inhumanity to man continues to haunt the world and the whims of the universe are mostly beyond our control.

Mother Nature is indifferent to the survival of mankind -- we can only hang on and go along for the ride.

Keep your powder dry and your nose to the wind.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Instead of working for the survival of the fittest, we should be working for the survival of the wittiest -- then we can all die laughing." Lily Tomlin
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and an imaginary girlfriend named Lois Lane.
___________
-
-

Dodging Bullets

2011-11-05T15:57:00.001-07:00

An emergency phone operator received a call one afternoon from a hunter who was very distraught.

“My hunting partner just passed out and keeled over,” the hunter said in a panic.

The emergency phone operator told him to calm down and check for vital signs.

“He’s not breathing,” the hunter observed. “I think he might be dead.”

“First of all, let’s make sure he’s dead,” the emergency operator said.

There was a short pause, followed by a gunshot.

“Okay, now what?” the hunter asked when he got back on the phone.

While the above joke may be amusing, there’s nothing amusing during hunting season to those of us who live in rural areas and wonder if the next errant bullet is headed our way.

Recently, 12-year-old Lindsey Duffield of Browns Valley, Minn., was riding a white mare named Princess along the driveway of her grandfather’s farm on the edge of town. A shot rang out. A short time later, Lindsey’s leg became moist and cold, soaked with blood. Princess had taken a 12-gauge slug in her shoulder and later died. The hunter had been sitting 200 yards away. He said he thought it was a deer.

Similar incidents happen every year during hunting season. In Minnesota, a 14-year-old girl was killed when a bullet penetrated her house as she was sitting in her bedroom, practicing the violin. A hunter in Wisconsin shot another hunter perched high in a tree stand. In Pennsylvania, a woman was gunned down while sitting on the deck of her cabin, drinking a cup of coffee. When I was a teen-ager, a friend of mine was shot in the back of his head and killed by another hunter in his own party.

I now live in northern Arkansas where some of the “sportsmen” are just as irresponsible. A couple of years ago, a Little Rock man shot a llama in a fenced pasture in the next county, claiming he thought it was a deer. If you can’t tell the difference between a llama and a deer, please stay in the city where you belong.

A few years earlier, some "sportsmen" were driving down my road and shot a neighbor’s dog that was sitting in its own driveway as they passed by.

When I first moved into my present home several years ago, I spotted three hunters approaching my place in my backyard at sunrise. Even though they were less than 40 yards from my back door, they continued walking toward me, each carrying a high-powered rifle. I went outside and told them they couldn’t hunt on my property. They became very indignant and told me the previous owner had allowed them to hunt there. After I told them I didn’t care what arrangement they had with the previous owner, they walked out onto the main road. One of them looked menacingly at me and fired a round into the air before leaving the area. I guess it was his way of saying he was displeased I wouldn’t allow him to wander on my property and fill the air with stray bullets.

The following year, another sportsman (or perhaps the same one) shot up my mailbox. He hit it twice. Apparently, he wanted to make sure it wasn’t really a deer after all.

Later that year, another sportsman (or perhaps the same one) discarded the remains of a deer carcass in the middle of the road at the end of my driveway.

In November of 2004, Chai Soua Vang, 36, a Hmong (Laotian) immigrant from St. Paul, Minn., was sitting in a tree stand on the private property of Bob Crotteau in northern Wisconsin waiting for a deer to wander by.

Eventually, Crotteau and his deer hunting companions arrived at the scene on ATVs. Crotteau verbally admonished Vang for trespassing and demanded that he leave. The previous year, Crotteau had been forced to confront Hmong hunters several times on his posted property and was clearly upset he had to do it again.

Vang, who had been charged with criminal trespass over a similar incident in 2002 on another property in the same vicinity, was apparently upset as well. He opened fire on the hunters, most of whom were unarmed at the time, with his SKS assault rifle.

When it was all over, six hunters were dead and two lay wounded.

Later that day, Vang was arrested without incident by a game warden. When first questioned by local authorities, Vang claimed that one of the two survivors, Terry Willers, did the killings (including murdering his own daughter).

However, investigators quickly ruled that scenario out after examining the scene. Vang then recanted his story and insisted he was fired upon first.

During the trial in September of 2005, the two survivors, Terry Willer and Lauren Hesenbeck, described how Crotteau had verbally confronted Vang about trespassing. When Vang started walking away, he removed the scope from his rifle, turned around and opened fire on the hunters. As some of them scattered, Vang reversed his orange jacket to camouflage, chased them down and shot them in the back.

Vang's courtroom account of the incident was virtually the same, except he testified that Crotteau shouted racial slurs at him, thereby disrespecting him and deserving to die. He also claimed that someone fired a shot at him first. Both Willer and Hesenbeck denied under oath that anyone had fired a shot at Vang.

According to his own testimony, Vang had reloaded three times and fired more than 20 rounds.

Robert Crotteau, 41, construction business owner -- dead (shot once in the back)
Joey Crotteau, 20, construction worker (Robert Crotteau's son) – dead (shot four times in the back)
Denny Drew, 55, car salesman – dead (shot once in the chest)
Allan Laski, 43, lumber yard manager – dead (shot three times in the back)
Marl Roltd, 28, auto mechanic – dead (shot once in the head)
Jessica Willers, 27, nurse (Terry Willer's daughter) – dead (shot twice in the back)
Terry Willer, 47, construction worker – wounded (shot in the neck)
Lauren Hesenbeck, 48, car dealership manager – wounded (shot in the shoulder)

It took the jury only three hours to return six first-degree murder verdicts. Vang was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole, the maximum penalty available in Wisconsin.

Vang had lived in the United States for more than 20 years, had been hunting since 1992 and had previously been chased off of private property for trespassing. He knew the rules but chose to ignore them.

I have eight acres in Arkansas and previously owned six acres in Arizona. In both places, I've been forced to chase armed intruders (hunters) off my property, even though the property was posted and I lived there.

Inconsiderate hunters put rural property owners in an awkward, dangerous position when they trespass without permission. Irresponsible behavior by idiots toting dangerous weapons with the capacity to launch a bullet a great distance with deadly results is a nightmare for those of us who enjoy living far from the maddening crowd.

Chai Soua Vang will rot and die in prison, probably still demanding to be respected.

But respect is not something you're entitled to – it's something you earn.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral -- When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut." Will Rogers
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Terry Hawkins.
___________
-
-

11-Year Walk Around the World

2011-10-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

On August 18, 2000, Jean Beliveau celebrated his 45th birthday. His small neon-sign business had gone bankrupt, so he decided to run around the world to try to escape the emotional pain in his life.

"Stupid is as stupid does." Forest Gump

He left his home in Montreal, Canada, and ran all the way to Atlanta, Georgia. At that point, he continued his trek, but at a slower pace, walking instead of running.

Over the next 11 years, Beliveau walked 46,600 miles, across 64 countries.

He started out with $4,000 in his pocket. But as he travelled, his girlfriend continued financial support, sending him about $4,000 each of the 11 years.

Along the way, Beliveau was mugged in South Africa, ate insects in Africa and snakes in China, was escorted by soldiers in the Philippines, spent a night in jail in Ethiopia (for no apparent reason) and went through 53 pairs of shoes.

Occasionally, he slept under bridges and in homeless shelters. But most of the time it was strangers who supplied much of his food and places to sleep.

"It was the poorest people who gave me the most," Beliveau declared. "I knocked on the doors of the privileged, asking them and they refused. Some even threatened me. The poor shared what they had."

Not surprising -- those who lust for luxury and bling-bling usually don't want to share it with others. But those who are content (sufficient) with modest surroundings are often willing to help others in need. It's human nature -- greed is based on fear and the acquisition of possessions becomes of primary self-importance to those who never seem to have enough personal wealth.

At some point along the way, his girlfriend, Luce Archambault, suggested to Beliveau that he could use his adventure to promote non-violence toward children (in support of a United Nations proclamation).

Beliveau returned to square one (Montreal) on October 17, 2011. It would become the longest uninterrupted walk around the world.

Pardon my cynicism, but hiking for 11 years around the entire planet to promote non-violence against children is a lot like masturbating 1,000 times to end world hunger -- it makes no sense and it smacks of self-indulgence.

Accomplishing the task was quite remarkable, but don't spoil it by trying to mold yourself into a hero. You did it because you chose to escape your problems rather than overcome them, not because you had any intention of healing mankind.

During my mid life crisis many moons ago, I once had 22 shots of whiskey to promote world peace -- apparently, it didn't work.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Everything is within walking distance if you have the time." Steven Wright
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where running away from problems usually creates additional problems.
___________
-
-

Alternative 3

2011-10-22T20:15:00.001-07:00

In the mid 1970s, there was a phenomenon called "Brain Drain" whereby a significant number of mysterious disappearances and strange deaths among an array of scientists, physicists, astronomers, engineers and others in specifically related fields took place over a short period of time.

In 1977, a British TV production aired an episode called ALTERNATIVE 3 to explain this brain drain phenomenon, purportedly as a "fictional" hoax.

The thrust of the TV episode was that the ruling elite on Planet Earth were concerned about overpopulation and potential earth changes, thereby requiring various alternatives where they could continue their grand lives of opulence and control while the rest of civilization would suffer the adverse consequences.

Alternative 1 consisted of plans to explode nuclear bombs in the atmosphere, primarily to greatly reduce global population. This scheme was soon discarded for a variety of reasons.

Alternative 2 consisted of creating various underground bases to be occupied exclusively by the ruling elite (and required helpers/servants) in the event of a global catastrophe. Some of these bases have already been constructed during the 1950s and 1960s, in secrecy of course.

Alternative 3 was a plan to build bases on the moon and on Mars to be occupied by the ruling elites when Planet Earth becomes uninhabitable due to potential catastrophic events. In doing so, the ruling elites have obtained advanced technology (kept secret from the rest of the world) and have been implementing this plan for several decades by creating bases on the far side of the moon (which is why the USA never went back to the moon after the 1970s -- we were chased out of there by those who occupied the place) and underground on Mars.

In order to give credence to Alternative 3, one must assume that a group of wealthy, powerful people have formed an alliance and hold discussions about how to save themselves from overpopulation on a dying planet.

Not hard to believe at all -- numerous groups exist, known and unknown -- Old Money, secret societies, Rothschilds, Bilderbergers, the CFR, the CFR, Knights of Malta, etc., etc.

After the TV show aired in 1977, British author Leslie Watkins published a book the following year titled ALTERNATIVE 3, which expanded the premise of the scheme and explained that the TV version had been meant to be a hoax.

After publication, Watkins was besieged with letters, confirming the basic concept of Alternative 3. He wrote, "In fact, the amazing mountain of letters from virtually all parts of the world -- including vast numbers from highly intelligent people in positions of authority -- convinced me that I had accidently trespassed into a range of top-secret truths."

Yes, there is a ruling elite that controls the world in secrecy. They control international monetary systems, governments, military-industrial complexes and the mass "mainstream" media. They initiate global conflicts to further their goal of a one-world government (with them in total control) and to increase their wealth. They have been doing this for a very long time, passing the power and authority down through their closed bloodlines.

The ruling elite considers it their right, because of their innate superiority, to control the lives of the masses and will do whatever it takes to maintain their position of power.

The Puppet Masters have alternatives to save themselves from gloom and doom -- the Puppets have alternatives too, if only they would awaken to their plight.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge maximum security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break." Robert Anton Wilson
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where dreams are answers to questions one is unable to ask.
___________
-
-

Secret Service Observations

2011-10-12T19:24:00.001-07:00

The U. S. Secret Service has evolved over the years. These days, it is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. One of their many duties is to protect the President of the United States and his or her immediate family.

Over time and through various sources, Secret Service agents have disclosed that U.S. Presidents sometimes have a public persona and a private persona.

The Secret Service also assigns codenames to U.S. Presidents and members of their family -- Secret Service codenames are in parenthesis.

John F. Kennedy (Lancer) -- A womanizer who had many affairs. He set up an early warning system to be alerted whenever his wife would approach his area.

Lyndon Johnson (Volunteer) -- A highly immoral man. Very crude personality.

Richard Nixon (Searchlight) -- A moral man but also very strange. Extremely paranoid and kept within himself. Had a terrible relationship with his family.

Gerald Ford (Pass Key) -- A gentleman who treated everyone with respect.

Jimmy Carter (Deacon) -- A total phony. For example, he would exit airplanes and helicopters carrying his own suitcase or briefcase. However, the suitcase or briefcase was always empty. It was merely a prop for photo opts to impress the public. He portrayed himself as a pious non-drinker, yet he and his family consumed alcohol often. The Secret Service always has an agent, near the President, carrying the nuclear "football" (a briefcase with the capability of launching a nuclear attack) for extreme emergencies. According to the agents in charge of the devise, Carter was highly irresponsible with the football. Apparently, he didn't think much of it and kept Secret Service agents at a significant distance from him.

Ronald Reagan (Rawhide) -- A moral, honest, gracious man. Treated everyone with respect. Would take time to get to know everyone around him. Unknown to the public, he often carried a firearm with him, and even had a pistol in his briefcase when he met with Soviet leader Gorbachev.

George Herbert Walker Bush (Timberwolf) -- A kind, considerate man. Always took time to make sure the Secret Service agents were comfortable, which included bringing them meals and warm clothing when they were stationed outside in cold weather..

Bill Clinton (Eagle) -- An untrustworthy man who wanted everyone to like him. He considered the Presidency to be one big party. His wife Hillary (Evergreen) treated the Secret Service with open contempt, as if they were there to serve her and her husband. Her personality would dramatically change depending on the presence of cameras. Vice President Al Gore (Sundance) was a self-centered jerk who was overheard by Secret Service agents telling his son that he'd better do well in school or "you will end up like these guys" as he was pointing at the agents.

George W. Bush (Trailblazer) -- Like his father, he was kind and considerate of the Secret Service agents. He and his wife Laura (Tempo) went out of their way to make it comfortable for the agents. Of all the Presidents, Bush was the most prompt and ran the White House like a well-oiled machine. He also had a strict workout regimen and was in good physical condition.

Barack Obama (Renegade) -- He disdains the military and looks down on the Secret Service.

We all have our public persona and our private persona. In public, I am a quiet loner and potential serial killer. In private, I frolic with dogs and talk to trees.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage." H. L. Mencken
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the haunting spirit of Bonnie Jo Mason.
___________
-
-

Discovery of Self

2011-10-04T16:00:00.001-07:00

A Libertarian is a person who is concerned with the fundamental protection of individual rights -- minimal government, maximum individual freedom.

The Libertarian political party was formed in 1971 and has been gaining strength ever since. Their party goal states, "As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others."

At the 1977 Libertarian Party Convention, a former Harvard Professor of Psychology spoke about a new concept called the Internet. He explained that it would become a worldwide connected network of computers where people around the world would be able to communicate with one another via messages, photos, videos and information instantaneously. He also predicted this network would cause a revolution against the status quo and that nothing would ever be the same.

The professor's name was Dr. Timothy Leary (1920 - 1996).

"In the information age, you don't teach philosophy -- you perform it. If Aristotle were alive today he'd have a talk show." Timothy Leary

In 1960, Leary traveled to Mexico and sampled some Psilocybin mushrooms, experiencing an altered state of mind consciousness that changed the course of his life. He claimed he learned more about psychology in the five hours after taking the mushrooms than in his 15 years of studying and doing research in psychology.

Returning to his post as a lecturer at Harvard, Leary and other associates began a research program known as the Harvard Psilocybin Project.

Leary argued that psychedelic substances, such as Psilocybin mushrooms and synthetic LSD, would have positive therapeutic effects if utilized in proper dosages under the guidance of a psychologist.

Because of his views about the individual freedom of one's own mind, Leary soon became an enemy of the U.S. government, culminating in various arrests and imprisonment. Apparently, a person's mind is the property of the government and the altering of one's own state of mind is an extreme offense against the prevailing will of those who control the masses.

Controlling the masses is not a new concept.

One of Leary's many observations concerned the concept of monotheism (One God), which he considered to be a primitive religion designed to manipulate human beings into a "hive authority" mentality based upon a hierarchy structure of authority (a pyramid of power and control from the top down).

In an article titled THE INTELLIGENCE AGENTS, Leary wrote, "The First Commandment of all monotheisms is: I am the Lord, thy God. Thou shall have no other Gods before me. All monotheisms are vengeful, aggressive, expansionist, intolerant."

In his view, monotheism hinders mankind from evolving into the discovery of self. Of monotheistic concepts such as sin, hell, devil, evil, eternal damnation, Leary wrote, "All these doctrines are precisely designed to intimidate and crush Individualism."

During the evolution of the soul, once people evolve beyond the Hive Authority concept and begin to think for themselves, they realize everything is connected and they create their own reality -- All is One.

The hive mentality is meant to imprison one within a hierarchy. These hierarchies occur in government, religion, military, secret societies, corporate structures and other pyramids of rank and position. And those at the top of the pyramid of the hive structure go to great lengths to remain in power.

"Think for yourself and question authority." Timothy Leary

When one realizes all Knowledge is Within, one becomes part of the Universal Oneness and is no longer trapped within a hierarchical structure. When All is One, everything is equal in "rank" and value.

Timothy Leary was married 5 times and was the author or co-author of over 20 books. He believed in the concept of inward self-reliance -- Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out.

Some people wander through the Valley of the Shadow of Death in quiet desperation -- others ride in on a flaming white steed, spewing lightning bolts of truth, illuminating the dark shadows of power and greed.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "If you think you're free, there is no possible escape." Ram Dass
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where the price of freedom is responsibility.
___________
-
-

Fear and Loathing of Hashing

2011-09-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Over the years, the British have given us cricket, snooker, darts and the American Revolution. Except for the revolution, their contributions to our way of life have been rather boring. Hashing is no exception.

In 1938, a bunch of British Army officers in colonial Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, formed a running club called the Hash House Harriers, named after their meeting place, the Selanger Club, nicknamed the "Hash House."

Their idea of a jolly good time consisted of a mixture of social mingling and athleticism. They devised "Hash House Harrier" runs whereby a lead "hare" (one of the officers) would be given a head start and mark his trail with shreds of paper. The remaining officers ("harriers") would follow the clues, shouting loudly along the way, destination unknown, until they reached the end of the trail where a tub of ice-cold beer awaited them.

The 1938 charter of the original Kuala Lampur Hash House Harriers contained the following goals:

1) To promote physical fitness among our members
2) To get rid of weekend hangovers
3) To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer
4) To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel

After World War II, "hashing" spread to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand, and eventually gained popularity in the 1970s. Today, there are thousands of hashing clubs throughout the world, including the USA, each with its own internet website and newsletter. There are also regional and world hashing conventions.

A typical hashing club consists of 20-40 men and women who meet regularly to chase the hare. They follow trails of flour, chalk or paper (biodegradable material) and must deal with woods, hills, streams, cliffs, fences and even storm drains. Hashing in metropolitan areas is generally set up along streets and through alleyways.

In the Hash House Harrier tradition of running and partying, there's always cold brew at the end of the trail.

Basically, hashing is a social event for hoity-toity beer enthusiasts. In other words, it's a beer party, disguised as a sport, where participants work up a thirst by romping through the woods like a pack of crazed basset hounds.

An Internet search of "hashing clubs" will generate many thousands of hits, including various directories of hashing clubs.

However, I couldn't find any hashing clubs in my little corner of the world, but there are probably several good reasons why folks in northern Arkansas aren't into prancing through the countryside to down a beer.

First of all, a romp through some of the local countryside is also a romp through the homeland of many species of irritating creatures, such as spiders, ticks, chiggers and snakes. Having a cold beer at the end of a run sounds fine, but dealing with tiny, blood-sucking critters attached to various parts of your body is no fun at all. Stepping on a water moccasin or cottonmouth snake can potentially be a most unpleasant experience as well.

Northern Arkansas is also the home of some larger critters that attract sportsmen with deadly weapons and running through hunting territory is not a wise move. For example, a hasher with girth could easily be mistaken for a wild boar, a tasty chunk of meat, especially if he or she tends to snort while thrashing through the wild.

Plus, you don't have to work very hard to build up a thirst for a cold beer in this part of the country – all you have to do is step outside, particularly on a hot, humid summer afternoon, and walk out to the mailbox.

We have our own version of hashers around here. They do seem to enjoy their beer, but don't care to do the running leading up to drinking it. Instead, they drive around in pickup trucks, with faulty mufflers so you can always hear them coming from far away in case you need to get out of the way, and drink beer on the move.

And instead of marking a trail with biodegradable material, they toss the empty beer cans out the window. This way, they've created a trail of beer cans in case they need to go back to wherever they came from.

Hashing may be a fine sport for elitists in trendy locales, but in these parts (dry counties) we're forbidden by law from indulging in evil beverages.

Besides, in Redneck Heaven we only run if we're chasing something or something is chasing us.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "What may seem depressing or even tragic to one person may seem like an absolute scream to another person, especially if he has had between four and seven beers." Dave Barry
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where everyone is as old as they feel.
___________
-
-

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

2011-09-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

I remember my fourth grade teacher giving us a glimpse of the future. We were told that things would be so "modernized" that we would have much more free time on our hands than our parents.

My father, like almost everyone else in the 1950’s, was working 40 hours a week. I was relieved to learn that I wouldn’t have to put in that many hours when I was his age.

But it never came true -- more than a half century later, Americans are still stuck in the rut of a 40-hour workweek.

In fact, employed Americans now average more hours per week than they did fifty years ago and have less vacation time than any other industrial nation in the world.

To add to this burden, the average American family pays more in taxes than food, clothing, shelter and transportation combined.

Either we are incapable of being personally responsible for our own welfare or government has gotten vastly out of control.

Nearly 50 percent of our income goes to government. This includes federal & state income tax, social security tax, Medicare tax, real estate property tax, personal property tax, state & county & city sales tax, self-employment tax, gasoline tax, liquor tax, cigarette tax, federal excise tax, import tax, luxury tax, gift tax, inheritance tax, hotel tax, transportation tax, federal & state & county telephone tax, port-of-entry fee, marriage license fee, motor vehicle registration fee, driver’s license fee, watercraft registration fee, hunting & fishing license fee, dog & cat license fee, etc., etc.

We’re stuck at 40 hours per week with nearly 20 of those hours going to government coffers -- this is insane.

The solution to this predicament seems quite simple -- reduce the individual working hours per week, thereby creating openings for those seeking employment

Less hours per worker means more workers needed for the same productive output -- reducing unemployment rates by cutting individual work hours and hiring more people.

Thus, the birth of the 35-hour workweek or the 32-hour workweek or the 30-hour workweek.

For example, a 30-hour workweek could consist of five six-hour days or four seven-and-a-half-hour days or three ten-hour days.

It would give the economy a giant boost because more workers would be required to maintain the same level of productivity. More workers means less unemployment and welfare – more money going into the system, less taken out of the system.

Plus the economy would get a second boost with more production of leisure equipment, more travel, etc. And best of all, we’d have more free time, leading to more peace of mind.

Recent surveys show that most Americans don’t really like their jobs. They’re fed up wasting their lives away so the fat cats on top can get fatter while they get two whole days off each week to rejuvenate themselves so they can start the grind all over again on Monday. They’re working jobs they hate in order to buy things they don’t need. And sooner or later, these things end up owning them.

This is no longer the 1950s -- we don't need to squeeze everyone into a 40-hour per week job. The world has become more efficient. We should be able to cut back on working hours, creating more opportunities for those shut out of the work place, and still maintain a viable lifestyle.

Instead of continually clamoring for jobs, jobs, jobs, we should make quality of life our common objective. This would include a shorter work-week, less government intrusion into our lives, living within our national fiscal means, etc.

The government wants everyone working at full capacity to maximize tax revenues, in order to increase the scope of the government. The corporate world wants everyone working at full capacity in order to maximize profits. Financial institutions want everyone in debt to perpetuate their credit schemes in order to expand their control of the monetary system. And those who lust for wealth and power by seeking a one-world government want everyone working like obedient robots in order to gain control of the planet and enslave the world.

Endless, mindless growth is a cancer. Happiness comes from being satisfied with what you have, not with yearning for more, more, more.

Nobody, with the possible exception of Hugh Hefner, goes to their grave wishing they had spent more time working at their job.

Those of you wanting to work more than 30 hours per week, I’d be glad to give up some work hours to make you happy. After all, It’s better to give than to receive.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "If you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work." Ogden Nash
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where nothing is work unless you'd rather be doing something else.
___________
-
-

Doom of Flight 93 -- 9/11

2011-09-09T14:19:00.001-07:00

On September 11, 2001, the USA was under attack by Muslim Extremists whereby four passenger airplanes were hijacked -- two planes slammed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and another one slammed into the Pentagon Building.

The fourth hijacked airplane (Flight 93) was over Pennsylvania, heading toward the White House, but never made it.

One of my fellow University of Minnesota Alumni Association members, Tom Burnett, class of ’86, was aboard Flight 93. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, he became a national hero.

According to his friends and family, Tom was always a take-charge sort of guy. At 6’2” and 205 lbs., he had been the quarterback and leader of his high school football team in Bloomington, Minn. In 2001, at age 38, he was the senior vice president of a medical research company in California.

On September 11, 2001, he was seated in first class on United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco, returning home from a business trip in New York. His wife, Deena, was at home in San Ramon, Calif., preparing breakfast for their three daughters when she received the first of four phone calls from Tom aboard the plane.

In a low voice, Tom told his wife that his plane had been hijacked, someone had been stabbed and that there was a bomb on board. He told Deena to contact the authorities and quickly ended the call.

As Deena was on the phone with the FBI, Tom called a second time to notify her that the hijackers had managed to gain entrance into the cockpit. Deena then told Tom about how some commercial airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center. Tom peppered her with questions, then hung up.

Other passengers on Flight 93 had also been in contact with loved ones on the ground. Soon the passengers began to realize they were in a serious predicament. One of the flight attendants was talking to her husband on the phone in the kitchen galley as she was filling coffeepots with boiling water to throw at the hijackers.

Tom Burnett made another call to his wife. Deena had just learned that a plane had slammed into the Pentagon and was certain it was her husband’s flight.

As she related the latest incident, Tom’s worst fears had come true. He figured the entire East Coast of America was under attack and wondered aloud if the hijackers really had a bomb. “We’ve got to do something – I’ve got to go,” he announced, then hung up.

All the passengers had been sequestered in the tail end of the plane. Among them:

* Jeremy Glick, 6-1, 220 lb., former NCAA judo champion
* Mark Bingham, 6-5, 200 lb., former rugby player on the national championship team
* Lou Nacke, 5-3, 200 lb., weightlifter with a Superman tattoo
* Rich Guadagno, California Wildlife Enforcement Officer
* Alan Beaven, 6-3, rock climber and Scotland Yard prosecutor
* William Cashman, ex-paratrooper with the 101st Airborne

Tom Burnett made his fourth and final call to Deena. The first thing he wanted to know was if any more structures had been hit. He said he had been talking to other passengers and “we’re going to do something.”

They both reaffirmed their love for each other. Then Deena asked what else she could do.

“Just pray” Tom told her, then marched off to do what had to be done.

At precisely 9:57 AM, the cockpit voice recorder began to pick up the sounds of chaos. One of the passengers can be heard shouting, “Let’s get them!” The hijackers yelled at each other to hold the door. Dishes and trays can be heard crashing about. Lots of confusion. One of the passengers shouted something incoherent. A hijacker responded by crying out, “God is great!”

Then the voice recorder went silent.

Officially, United Flight 93 "crashed" into the countryside of southeastern Pennsylvania.

However, regardless of "official" accounts of the incident, exactly how and why Flight went down remains a mystery.

On December 24, 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was in Iraq giving the troops a pep talk when he went into a diatribe about what the world would be like if the USA hadn't invaded Iraq. The speech was carried live on CNN.

I was watching it while eating breakfast.

Rumsfeld recounted the series of tragedies caused by the terrorists on 9/11 of 2001 – four airplanes hijacked by terrorists, the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, the attack on the Pentagon, and so forth. In his remarks, he included a phrase about the tragedy of the airliner (Flight 93) which included these exact words about how sad it was that we had "shot down the plane over Pennsylvania."

That’s correct – the Secretary of Defense had informed the world that Flight 93 had been shot down over Pennsylvania. I nearly fell out of my chair, but was too busy jotting down the exact quote. It had been portrayed on the mainstream news that the passengers stormed the cockpit of Flight 93 causing it to crash.

The following day, a Pentagon spokesman held a press briefing to explain that the Secretary of Defense must have had a slip of the tongue during the speech.

So I did a bit of research.

From newspaper archives following the 9/11 incidents, multiple sources quoted several residents in and around the crash site near Shanksville, Pa., claiming to have seen a second plane – an unmarked military style jet.

Susan McElwain, 51, lives two miles from the crash site. She witnessed a plane overhead. "It came right over me. It was traveling real fast and low, but barely made a sound, then it disappeared behind some trees. A few seconds later I heard this explosion and saw this fireball rise up over the trees. The plane I saw was heading right to the point where Flight 93 crashed." She described the plane as a white (with no markings) military jet with two rear engines and two upright fins at the side.

Lee Purbaugh, 32, was working on a ridge a half mile away, the only person who saw Flight 93 as it came down. He too spotted a second jet. "It was white and circled the area twice, then flew off."

Tom Spinelli, 28, was working at a marina a mile and a half away. He also saw a white plane. "It was flying around like it was looking for something. I saw it before and after the crash."

Three days after the crash, the local newspaper (Bergen County Record) reported that five witnesses had seen a second plane. Dennis Decker and Rick Cheney, at work when they heard an explosion, ran outside and spotted a "mid-sized white jet, with engines mounted near the tail, flying low. It made a circle then headed out."

Government officials have continually insisted there was never any pursuit of Flight 93.

Earlier that morning on Sept. 11, 2001, two commercial airliners had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.

At 9:24 AM EST, NORAD received notice that American Airlines Flight 77 had been hijacked and was now heading toward Washington DC.

At 9:30 AM, two F-16s were airborne from Hampton, Va., with orders to head for Washington, DC.

At 9:37 AM, American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon.

At 9:28 AM, the FAA learned that Flight 93 had been hijacked near Cleveland.

At 9:35 AM, Flight 93 began making a turn toward the south. At the same time, three F-16s were scrambled with orders to "protect the White House at all cost."

By 9:39 AM, Flight 93 had completed a wide turn and was now aimed at Washington DC.

At 10:03 AM, according to cockpit recordings, several passengers had managed to force their way into the cockpit in an attempt to take back control of Flight 93.

At 10:06 AM, Flight 93 "crashed" in Pennsylvania.

Debris from the wreckage was found scattered over an 8-mile area, including a 1000-pound section of an engine fan found more than a mile from the so-called crash site. This is consistent with an external explosion that separated a half ton section of one of the engines and tore open a portion of the passenger cabin and cargo hold.

Question: How does an airplane that crashes into the ground spread debris over an 8-mile area?

Answer: Duh.

A picture can often be worth a thousand words -- so can a slip of the tongue.

The official government explanation for the series of events of 9/11 simply don’t pass the smell test -- was the madness of 9/11 really the result of 19 crazed dudes with box-cutters or was there a bigger picture?

So many questions, not enough answers.

One thing is for certain, no matter what caused the plane to crash, many of the passengers on Flight 93 were genuine heroes. They rose to the occasion, took the necessary action, fought like hell and went down in a Blaze of Glory.

On September 11, 2011, we honor their courage.

Rest in Peace.
___________

Quote for the Day – “Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing.” George Orwell
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and often has more questions than answers.
___________
-
-

Friedman on Freedom

2011-09-02T16:20:00.001-07:00

Milton Friedman was born in New York City in 1912. His parents were immigrants from Austria. He received a B.A. from Rutgers University, an M.A. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

He lived through the turmoil of World War I, Prohibition, the Great Depression and the rise of fascism.

During World War II, he worked for the U.S. Treasury Department where he became disillusioned with the excesses of government and began to reject conventional economic theory in lieu of his own concepts.

"Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless... Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government... If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there would be a shortage of sand." Milton Friedman

For the remainder of his life, he was one of the world's most prominent champions of individual freedom. He advocated a free market economy in which both parties would benefit in any exchange of goods and services.

"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself." Milton Friedman

In his book, MONETARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, he argued that the Great Depression was caused by government mismanagement of the money supply rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.

"Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government... The power to do good is also the power to do harm... Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned." Milton Friedman

Friedman saw the problem as having unused machinery and unemployed people being keep apart by an attempt to keep prices and wages up, rather than allowing the marketplace to adjust to the prevailing conditions. The government added scores of new projects and agencies, thereby actually prolonging the depression.

"It's a mystery as to why people think Roosevelt's policies pulled us out of the depression." Milton Friedman.

In his 1962 book CAPTALISM AND FREEDOM, Friedman advocated free markets and minimizing the role of government as a means of creating social freedom. In his 1980 PBS TV Series, viewed by millions, he explained how free markets worked. His related book, FREE TO CHOOSE, demonstrated how a free market economy helps to resolve political and social problems. His writings were circulated behind the Iron Curtain before it fell in 1989.

In the 1970s, Friedman advised the communist government of China and the military government of Chile about free market strategy. He was highly criticized for his efforts, yet both countries have become economic miracles. Chile now has the most robust economy in Latin America and China has blossomed into an economic giant.

Friedman never shied away from controversy. He believed in a voucher system that would be used to pay tuition in both public and private schools, and he argued against the U.S. Post Office's legal monopoly on mail. He opposed the minimum wage laws and proposed a negative income tax to replace the existing welfare system.

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem... We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes non-work... A society that puts equality of outcome ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom." Milton Friedman

In 2005, Friedman and more than 500 other economists called for discussions regarding the benefits of the legalization of marijuana.

"Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal... Every friend of freedom must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the visions of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence." Milton Friedman

Although philosophically a Libertarian, he was a member of the Republican Party "on the grounds of expediency, not on principle" and considered himself to be a classic liberal, much like Thomas Jefferson.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground... I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them... Most bad government results from too much government." Thomas Jefferson

Milton Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988. Considered the most important economist of the 20th century, he died in November of 2006.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it." Thomas Sowell
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
___________
-
-

Legalized Plunder

2011-08-25T12:47:00.001-07:00

The USA was founded on the principle that government would guarantee individual freedom, thereby ensuring life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

In 1776, the word “liberal” meant an advocate of individual rights -- those who followed this principle were known as liberals.

After the Civil War, the central government became an instrument of special interests by creating a mercantile system that suppressed free markets and created monopolies. Those who had once called themselves liberals now called themselves conservatives because they opposed this change.

Eventually, the mercantile system became abusive thereby creating a movement toward socialism in an attempt to redistribute income. Those leading this movement were referred to as liberals because they were not bound by the orthodoxy of the time.

Since then our federal government has become an ever-growing apparatus where politicians exchange political favors for votes.

It’s basically a form of legalized plunder where one group of voters plunders the earnings of another group in order to benefit themselves.

This is the primary flaw of a two-party democracy.

The Democrats use government as a social tool. They tend to lean toward a collectivist viewpoint where the good of the society is more important than the rights of the individual. It's an insidious attempt to redistribute wealth by force by plundering those who succeed and rewarding those who don't, far beyond a reasonable safety net for those truly in need. Unfortunately, government generally creates more problems than solutions, stifles innovation and incentive, adds layers of suffocating bureaucracy and is almost never cost-effective.

The Republicans use government as a tool to maximize productivity. They tend to lean toward a materialistic viewpoint where the growth of the economy is of primary importance and being a global power ensures our dominance over other nations. Their creation of a massive military-industrial complex, whereby the USA spends more money on military strength than all other countries in the world combined, has turned us into unpopular interventionist global elitists and an intrusive domestic police state.

Both of these political forces require massive amounts of public funding to achieve their goals, whereby each side "compromises" with the other side thereby allowing both costly objectives to be met, creating an unmanageable federal government of colossal size with no end in sight.

A "closed" two-party political system, which has made it nearly impossible for a third party to compete, guarantees that one political party will always be the majority.

And any political party in the majority can run amok with impunity.

Since there is only one other party to keep the majority party in check, a single minority party that may someday once again be in the majority, the minority party can also run amok by mutual consent. The majority party extends government favors to its constituents and, in turn, allows the minority party to do the same, within negotiated limits, to its group of supporters.

Basically, the two parties conspire to confiscate and spend vast sums of public earnings for dual purposes. In a two-party system, there is no one to keep them in check.

Contrary to common sense, two political parties rule over a populace with more than two points of view.

Just prior to the American Revolution, one-third of the people wanted to go to war with the British, one-third wanted to remain under British rule and one-third didn’t give a hoot because they knew they would be abused no matter who governed them.

The same three-way spilt was true for the Civil War.

We have a similar three-way split today. One-third of the population tends to support Democrats, one-third supports Republicans, and one-third prefers a leaner unobtrusive government, which is exactly what the so-called Tea Party movement is all about.

Without a political base, those who oppose the two parties in power must vote for the lesser of two evils, or stay at home and bang their heads against the wall.

A two-party system has brought this country to the verge of financial self-destruction. Taxes are far too excessive, the national debt is obscene, freedom is being eroded and our quality of life seems to be deteriorating.

Voting for the lesser of two evils ensures an evil outcome -- more of the same. We desperately need a strong third political party that will keep a lid on federal spending.

On the positive side, banging your head against the wall burns 150 calories per hour.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "The worst government is often the most moral. One comprised of cynics is often very tolerable and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression." H. L. Mencken
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where head-banging is a competitive sport.
___________
-
-

Advice to Young Male Dimwits

2011-08-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

A recent article in a local Sunday newspaper asked several teen-agers what they would include if there was such a thing as a “Teen Bill of Rights” -- confirming my suspicions that most young people are about as clueless as a bag of horse feathers about the real world.

The girls in the survey all came up with clever thoughts, while most of the boys gave cutesy-pie answers, no doubt meant to amuse one and all, revealing their underlying fear and loathing about having to someday confront the dire reality of adulthood.

As a semi-responsible adult (except during full moons), I felt obligated to share my vast wisdom with these young male dimwits.

ANSWER from a 17 year-old male from Maryland – “No cruel and unusual punishment, such as cleaning up what the pet left behind or throwing out the garbage.”

ADVICE TO LAZY BONES -- If you can’t take care of a pet, you don’t deserve a pet. If you need a pet to get through life, I suggest a pet rock. And if you think throwing out the garbage is a big deal, just shove it under your bed or stick it in your closet. Most of it will rot and disappear over time, much like your first three marriages.

ANSWER from a 19 year-old male from Texas – “The right to start over. When people mess up, they are judged by that forever. Everyone deserves the chance to start again.”

ADVICE TO SCREWBALL -- You’re obviously a walking disaster. You have two choices in life. You can either move to another state every time you mess up, probably often, or remain where you are and live with a reputation as being a local screwball. The good news is that there are 50 states (unless you took the same Geography course as President Obama, in which case there are 57 states). Once you’ve been chased out of all of them you should consider living on a raft somewhere near Greenland. If you choose to stick it out in one place, you may automatically get a fresh start anyway by becoming an eccentric. Of course, you’ll need to grow a long beard, avoid bathing and talk mostly to yourself to achieve this status. By the way, very few people care if you mess up, unless you mess up on them. None of us are perfect, so don’t expect others (including yourself) to be perfect either.

ANSWER from 20 year-old male from Texas – “The right to have something to eat and something to wear, and have a helping hand when we need one.”

ADVICE TO HELPLESS -- Having a right to everything you desire will cost you everything you have. It’s called socialism, an insidious idea that enslaves everyone involved, especially people who think the world owes them something simply because they exist. If you believe others owe you, they’ll end up owning you. If you believe you are entitled to the earnings of others, you are a pathetic greedy thief. I suggest you figure out a way to survive, such as getting a job or starting a business, instead of hoping to attach yourself to the gains of others.

ANSWER from the same 20 year-old male from Texas – “The freedom of not worrying.”

ADVICE #2 TO HELPLESS -- You are a carbon-base form of random life residing on a large spinning orb rotating around a small sun in a far corner of an average galaxy. The decision to worry is up to you. To expect government to grant such a freedom is a form of insanity. Clearly you need someone else, like a wife or a cat, to do your thinking for you.

ANSWER from an 18 year-old male from California – “The right to have fun.”

ADVICE TO PARTY ANIMAL -- I suspect your version of having fun means lots of mindless juvenile activity accompanied by excessively loud music. Have all the fun you want as long as you don’t spoil life for others, such as neighbors. Fun for you may not be fun for those who are forced to endure your inconsiderate antics.

ANSWER from an 18 year-old male from Louisiana – “The right not to pay taxes until we’re old enough to vote.”

ADVICE TO PUZZLED TAXPAYER -- Congratulations. You’ve noticed that our national government is exceedingly costly and grossly unfair. On the positive side, it’s also very inefficient thereby taking forever to get things done. You have four alternatives. You can accept things as they are, or try to change things for the better, or ignore things and hope they go away, or remain frustrated the rest of your life. I’ve tried all four and none of them seem to work for me.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Maturity is to be able to stick with a job until it is finished, to be able to bear an injustice without having to get even, to be able to carry money without spending it, to do your duty without being supervised." Ann Landers
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Abigail Van Buren.
___________
-
-

Angry at the World

2011-08-11T12:00:00.001-07:00

Someone recently asked me if I was angry at the world. I may be continually at odds with the world but anger is an ugly emotion I choose to avoid.

If an apple fell out of a tree and hit me on the head I wouldn’t allow it to anger me. I have no control over the falling of an apple. The best I can do is to try not to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The same is true of any harm or injustice inflicted upon me by the rest of the world. I have no control over the forces of nature or the actions of humanity. The only thing I have control over is myself.

This is a harsh planet containing predatory animals, poisonous reptiles, voracious insects, lethal viruses, severe climates, lightning, volcanoes, earthquakes, psychopaths, perverts, serial killers and various misguided human beings who are driven to control, plunder and otherwise make life miserable for everyone else.

Those who seek to control others insist on a rigid set of rules to satisfy their individual sense of right and wrong. They require conformity on everything from what you can drink or smoke or shoot up your arm, to the height of the grass in your front lawn. And if you refuse to conform you must be punished. These are the people most active in government, continually creating more and more rules for the rest of us to obey. Invariably, they exceed the bounds of common sense and decency. One person’s set of rules is another person’s imprisonment.

Some of these control freaks carry their cause way too far. They believe their way is the only way and are willing to exterminate anyone who doesn’t feel the same way, even if they must perish in the process. These zealots will shoot people at random or blow up buses or fly airplanes into tall office buildings in order to make the world a better place. However, making the world a better place by making the world a worse place isn’t exactly a positive course of action. One person’s philosophy is another person’s nightmare.

The world is also occupied by selfish greed-heads who never seem to have enough material wealth and plunder from others in order to maintain a lifestyle they have neither earned nor deserved. They come in all shapes and sizes, from unethical corporate executives to money market manipulators to purse snatchers. They take from others by whatever means necessary with no regard for the welfare of others. One person’s illicit gain is another person’s loss.

Then there are those inconsiderate nitwits who thoughtlessly plow through life as if no one else exists. They come in all shapes and sizes, from housewives to hooligans. They drive carelessly or tear around in their ATVs and Jet Skis or toss their cigarette butts anywhere they please or make too much noise with their loud music or destroy things for kicks or whatever. One person’s recklessness is another person’s bane of existence.

If life were perfect, it would be called heaven -- instead we call it earth.

The world is a perilous place, full of self-centered people, disturbing the tranquility and/or imposing their will upon others. Being angry at inconsiderate or evil jerks only adds to the turmoil.

Most people deal incorrectly with anger. Some people try to get even by striking back, but correcting a wrong with a wrong is simply another wrong.

Others believe the anger should be released through harmless outlets such as sports or primal screams or beating a pillow. However, venting anger in a harmless direction is still indulging in anger.

The proper way to deal with anger is not to get angry in the first place.

If some jerk disrupts your life, don’t get angry -- when you become angry, the jerk wins.

The jerk wants you to be angry and bring you down to his level to justify his existence. He gets a thrill out of making you react, thereby controlling you. If you rise above it and remain noble, you’ve won.

If an apple falls on your head, don’t get angry -- you’re in control, not the apple.

It’s easy to be at odds with an imperfect world but being angry at the world is an exercise in futility, making it that much more imperfect.

You can’t change the world -- you can only change yourself.

Forgive the apple and move on.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." Mark Twain
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Jasper Lamar Crabb.
___________
-
-

The Global Pie

2011-08-01T11:02:00.001-07:00

What would be your fair share of the global pie if everything was divided equally among everyone on this planet?

If all the land on Planet Earth was divided into equal parcels, each person would have slightly less than five acres.

This would include many uninhabitable areas, such as Antarctica, Greenland, high mountain peaks, swampy lowlands, areas preserved for wildlife, recreational parks, hostile deserts, water systems (lakes, rivers), military bases and other restricted areas, further reducing reasonable inhabitable land masses to approximately three acres per person.

And if you add the amount of land required to grow food crops and raise livestock for the ever-increasing population, it's down to about two acres available per person.

As the world population continues to increase year after year, less land is available for each person. There is only so much land on this planet and they aren’t making any more.

A more startling statistic is how much money each of us would have if divided equally.

If all of the currency in circulation in the world was converted to US dollars and divided equally among everyone on the planet, we would each have approximately $450, give or take a few dollars depending on fluctuating factors.

Currency in circulation means all the money you have in your wallet or purse or cookie jar, plus all the cash businesses, including banks, have on hand. Basically, all the paper money and coins that have been printed or minted in all the countries in the world and are in public circulation, even if it’s sitting in a vault in a bank somewhere.

This does not include accumulated wealth, such as stocks, bonds, real estate holdings, net worth and so on. This is not currency; it's a paper trail. Most banks only have enough cash on hand to cover a small percentage of customer deposits.

So if you own a couple of acres and have $450 in your pocket or cookie jar, you have acquired your share of the global pie.

If you’re content with what you have, I salute you. Peace of mind is far more important than land or money.

And if you have more than your fair share, so much the better. Through effort or good fortune, you’ve exceeded the norm.

But if you’re dissatisfied unless you have more than your fair share, I pity you. More for you means less for others.

We live on a planet of credit and consumption, where more is better and endless growth is encouraged.

We work far too many hours to acquire far too many things, and governments bleed us dry while keeping the insidious cycle of excessive taxation and expansion of power (more government, less individual freedom) going full throttle, even if it means continually borrowing more and more against the future thereby creating enormous public debt to be passed onto future generations.

There’s a difference between having as much as you want and having as much as you need.

If you want more than your fair share, you suffer from envy.

If you need more than your fair share, you suffer from greed.

If you believe you are entitled to the earnings of others, you are a thief.

Your fair share of the global pie isn't so far out of reach -- if you lust for more than your fair share, you have an inflated sense of self-importance.

The best things in life aren't things. Happiness is about being content with what you have, not with what you seek to have.

Like it or not, we're all in this together. Life is not about winning or losing, or accumulating more than others -- success only occurs when everyone succeeds.
___________

Quote for the Day – "He who knows enough is enough will always have enough." Lao Tzu
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and has his fair share of the global pie (barely).
___________
-
-

Mothman

2011-07-25T15:39:00.001-07:00

A cryptid is a creature whose existence is alleged but has not been verified by scientific consensus, such as Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Loch Ness Monster, Draconian Reptilian Shape-Shifter and the Grinch who stole Christmas.

Beware my fellow Earthlings -- some of these elusive entities may indeed mingle among us.

In November of 1966, the following events took place near Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

On November 15, Newell Partridge, a rural resident, noticed some unusual interference on his TV, as his dog Bandit began howling outside. Partridge went outside with a flashlight and spotted Bandit, about 150 feet from the house, circling a large creature with glowing red eyes. He called Bandit but the dog persisted. Consumed with fear, Partridge returned into the house to retrieve a firearm, but then decided to remain indoors until dawn.

At sunrise, there was no trace of Bandit or the creature.

Later same evening, two couples were traveling in a single vehicle about seven miles north of Point Pleasant. They noticed two red lights in the shadows of an old abandoned factory. As they stopped the car to check it out, they discovered the two red lights were the eyes of a large eerie creature "shaped like a man,... maybe seven feet tall, with big wings folded against its back." They drive off in fright.

As they were about to enter the main highway, they spotted the creature standing on a nearby ridge. The creature spread its wings and flew alongside the vehicle, at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour, all the way to the city limits. As they approached Point Pleasant, they noticed the corpse of a large dog along the roadside (in the area of the Partridge residence).

They reported the incident to a deputy at the sheriff's office who considered them to be credible witnesses, having known the two couples all their lives.

On November 24, four witnesses reportedly saw an identical creature flying above the old factory in the same vicinity.

On November 25, a man was driving on the highway just north of the old factory when he spotted the creature standing in a field. The creature then spread its wings and flew away. The witness reported the incident to the Point Pleasant sheriff's office.

On November 27, A woman driving home from church saw a huge figure shaped like a man, at least seven feet tall, with large glowing red eyes. As she slowed her car, a pair of wings unfolded from its back, spreading to about 10 feet, whereby the creature rose slowly off the ground, then swooped toward her car as she accelerated to escape.

There were also other sightings reported of this terrifying creature that would become known as Mothman.

On December 15, 1967, the bridge connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, with Gallipolis, Ohio, over the Ohio River, collapsed, killing 46 people. Thereafter, fewer sightings of Mothman were reported, leading some to speculate that the creature appears before a pending disaster -- either attempting to warn people, or perhaps contributing to the disaster.

We live in a mysterious universe. According to recent discoveries (theories) in physics, there are as many as 12 dimensions (we reside in the 3rd dimension) with as many as 12 vibrations (frequencies) in each dimension -- with each vibration within each dimension being an individual reality (such as our universe being one of those realities).

If so, it is not inconceivable that an "unearthly" creature could alter from one vibration (frequency) to another, thereby slipping into another dimension.

The universe may be astonishingly vast and complex and mysterious -- but it isn't everything.

Other realities also exist -- they too are vast and complex and mysterious.

And they may not always be in harmony with our daily existence.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Everything in the universe is endowed with a consciousness of its own kind and on its own plane of perception." Helena Blavatsky
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of 7 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and lots of moths.
___________
-
-

The Fritter Dilemma

2011-07-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Some people come into money and fritter it away -- others have a knack for turning money into more money.

Jim Lindsey graduated from high school in Forest City, Ark., in 1962. He went on to the University of Arkansas and played football under Coach Frank Broyles. As a 6-2, 210 tailback, he helped the Razorbacks become national champions in 1964. And by the time he graduated in 1965, they had won 22 games in a row.

In 1966, Lindsey was drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings under Coach Norm Van Brocklin.

Bud Grant was hired to replace Van Brocklin in 1967 and Lindsey fit right in the new coach's system as a role player (backup running back and tight end) and soon became special team's captain on all the kicking plays.

Lindsey was a marginal offensive player for the Vikings, ever fearful he wouldn't make the team. He rushed for a total of 566 yards and six touchdowns, and received 65 passes for 632 yards and four touchdowns over seven seasons. But on special teams he was invaluable at breaking up wedges on kickoffs and covering punts.

Having played for Frank Broyles in college, Lindsey developed a deep appreciation of coaching. Throughout his seven years in pro football, Lindsey always assumed he would someday be a football coach, probably at the high school level somewhere in Arkansas or perhaps even back at his college alma mater.

As a second round draft pick back in 1966, Lindsey signed a three-year deal with the Vikings which paid an annual salary of $25,000 in the first year, $27,500 the second year and $30,000 the third year. He also received a signing bonus of $90.000. After taxes, the up-front cash bonus had been reduced to $60,000.

Lindsey was a small-town kid who majored in math in college. Instead of frittering away his fresh wad of cash on instant frills (cars, jewelry, etc.), he made a $60,000 down payment on a $167,000 chunk of Arkansas land.

Payments on the land came out of his salary while he and his wife lived modestly in a rented apartment.

Three years after purchasing the land, he sold it for $1.5 million.

Lindsey never did get into coaching, but he did start a real estate investment company in Fayetteville called Lindsey & Associates, plus he currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the University of Arkansas as chairman of the athletic committee.

Presently, Lindsey owns 27,500 apartment units, 12,000 acres of farmland and 28 golf courses. Not including income from the apartment building operation (which is spread over the Ozarks to Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee), Lindsey & Associates did $800 million in sales last year.

Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, was also a member of the University of Arkansas football team at the same time as Lindsey. He and Lindsey are currently embarking on a five-year project to construct 5,000 apartment units, at a cost of $50 million, on 270 acres in the Dallas area.

And the rich get richer once again.

Unless you're born into it, money is hard to come by in this world, especially if you have to work for someone else. If you start your own business it's even harder because it requires a personal commitment, diligence and plenty of good luck along the way. And no matter how much effort you put into it, success is never guaranteed.

So if you suddenly acquire a large sum of cash, don't fritter it away on flashy goodies or get-rich-quick schemes -- invest it wisely in something worthwhile, such as real property or furthering your own enterprise.

If you define success by the size of your bankroll, you need to follow certain steps, starting with a long-term plan. Then be prepared to sacrifice personal luxury, remain persistent and have the patience to see it through.

Personally, I believe success is being content with everyday life, regardless of the surrounding insanity.

I've solved all my money problems the easy way -- by not having very much of it; just enough to maintain a debt-free existence and never any extra money to fritter away on anything beyond the bare necessities of life.

To fritter or not to fritter, that is the question.

But it's only a dilemma if you have more money than you need.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present." Donald Trump
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and has a small jar of quarters for emergency transactions.
___________
-
-

Population Center of the USA

2011-07-12T08:27:00.001-07:00

According to the 2010 Census, the new center of population of the USA is a point 2.9 miles east of Plato, Missouri (population 109).

This is the spot where there are just as many people north as south, and as many people east as west.

In 2000, the center of population was a point 2.8 miles east of Edgar Springs, Missouri (population 190), some 23 miles northeast of Plato.

The USA center of population has been steadily moving west and south since it was first introduced in 1790 where it was then pinpointed 23 miles east of Baltimore.

Over the years, it has been located in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.

Based on the last 10 years, the center of population has been traveling at a speed of 3.4176 miles per year or about two feet per hour.

This is slightly faster than the U.S. Congress moves when in session.

The west-southwest drift of the center of population is no great surprise.

In 1950, Phoenix had a population of about 40,000. Today, It’s well over a million.

California had a population of 10 million in 1950. In 2000, it reached 35 million.

During those forty years, the population of California increased by approximately 1,370 people per day.

That’s a lot of Ryder trucks heading one-way.

If this west-southwest drift of the USA population center continues on its present course, in a few years it should hit Tulsa, Oklahoma, about the same time gasoline hits $99 per gallon.

By the way, the exact Center of the Universe at any given moment is wherever I'm standing at the time.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Unless we do things in this country to slow down our population, slow down our birth control, provide better water for people, provide power for people, we're gonna find out that the next wars are not going to be fought over diamonds, gold and political things." Evel Knievel.
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Davy Crockett.
___________
-
-

Computer Geeks Unleashed

2011-07-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

In April of 1966, I was drafted into the U.S. Army (Vietnam Era) and served as a computer analyst at Third Army Headquarters at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia, with the Third U. S. Army Data Processing Company.

Every company on the post had a football team. Plus there was a company of U.S. Marines stationed at a nearby supply depot that filled out our 6-team league.

We played touch football.

In the military, that meant it was illegal to break bones during a touch.

The Marines and the data processors met in October of 1967. During warm-ups, the Marines appeared confident. After all, they were big, tough dudes with necks as big as their thighs and we were computer geeks.

We had enough players to field a team, as long as we played both ways, with a couple players left over for emergency.

I often played fullback and middle linebacker. This night I was the center and a defensive lineman.

As usual, John Danko, a notorious street fighter from north Minneapolis gave us an emotional boost. Just before he kicked off to open the game, he pointed at some of the nastiest-looking Marines and announced he was going to stomp them into the ground.

When Danko kicked the ball to start the game, eleven computer geeks, including me, stormed down the field like we were all blood kin to Dick Butkus.

Thus began an evening of pure mayhem.

In the first half, Staff Sergeant Jackson blew out a knee in a pileup and was carted off to the hospital. He was replaced at defensive tackle by a guy from Philadelphia named Phillips, a decent athlete with good size.

In the third quarter, the biggest Marine on the offensive line nailed Phillips in the mouth with a forearm. Phillips lost several front teeth and was bleeding badly from a split lip, so he left the game and went off to be repaired.

John Wright, linebacker, took my place at defensive end while I slipped into the tackle position previously occupied by Jackson and Phillips. Wright was an excellent athlete, tall with speed.

When we lined up again, I told the molester of computer geeks, in rather colorful language, that he was about to encounter the next level of bad. Rather than intimidating him, it made him smile.

In the last quarter, the score was still zero-zero.

We had the marines backed up deep in their own territory when they ran up the middle. Somehow, my elbow smacked into the biggest offensive lineman’s mouth. It drew blood but his teeth remained intact. Although it was accidental, it turned out to be a turning point in the game.

A couple of other Marines accosted me but Banning and Valentino, the left side of our defensive line, joined in and soon whistles were blowing and flags flying.

Everyone on the field was now in full macho mode. Danko gave me a nod, acknowledging me for molesting the molester, sending my reputation up about four notches.

In high school, Banning had been an all-state basketball player and the Missouri State discus champion. He was basically a human gorilla.

Valentino was a tough guy from Chicago who lifted weights every spare minute of his life. But he was so strong he had no lateral movement. He could only go straight ahead, always at full throttle.

The next play, the Marine quarterback dropped back to pass.

Banning and I broke through the line, chasing the quarterback to his right. Valentino, at full speed, “tagged” the quarterback in his own end zone.

In fact, he “tagged” him so hard the quarterback rolled about three revolutions before coming to a halt with a mouth full of Georgia clay.

The final score – Computer Geeks 2, Marines 0.

Sometimes you can’t tell a book by the cover.

And sometimes geeks are more than just geeks.

John Luzon, quarterback, had a great arm. He was signed as a pitcher in the Baltimore Oriole organization.

Jack Quitoni, halfback, played semi-pro football and now coaches high school football in New York State.

Clyde Pruitt, wide receiver, was a super athlete who had played basketball on scholarship for UCLA.

Bill Banning, lineman, became a hotshot software developer for IBM, creating the OS/2 database manager.

John Valentino, lineman, moved on to Hollywood where he represents many famous actors as an agent.

John Wright, linebacker, returned to his old job in Burbank and was nominated for an Oscar for editing the movies THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990) and SPEED (1994).

And of course, I went on to become a hermit in the Ozark Mountains where I write stuff and talk to trees.

We were all draftees, serving two years in an office building on a small post in Atlanta, Georgia, doing our best to maintain our sanity. In those days, most draftees went across the Big Pond to the jungles of South Vietnam to dodge bullets.

A man named Jeffrey Mellinger was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1972. In July of 2011, after serving nearly 40 years, Command Sgt. Major Mellinger is preparing to retire from service. He is the last of the Vietnam Era draftees to retire.

Destiny is a curious thing.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead." Erma Bombeck
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Bronko Nagurski.
___________
-
-

40-Year Nightmare

2011-07-01T15:24:00.001-07:00

In January of 1966, there were 215,000 American soldiers involved in a skirmish called the Vietnam Conflict and lots of GIs were coming home in body bags. In his State of the Union Address, President Johnson declared that the USA should increase troop strength and remain in Vietnam until the Communist aggression ended.

One week later, U.S. airplanes resumed bombing of North Vietnam after a 37-day pause.

Soon thereafter, I received an official federal form letter informing me that I was being conscripted (drafted) into the U.S. Army, so I quit my job as a computer programmer in St. Paul and had a final fling as a civilian.

On April 12, 1966, I reported for basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., where I learned to stand in line, clean toilets and do squat thrusts. My drill sergeant, who had been raised by crazed wolverines, was not a pleasant fellow.

The number one song at the time was "Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel.

"People talking without speaking...
People hearing without listening...
People writing songs that voices never share...
And no one dared disturb the sound of silence."

It wasn't exactly a peppy tune but it somehow captured the mood of the day.

During my eight weeks of basic training, soccer fans in Peru went on a rampage resulting in 248 deaths, a Buddhist monk set himself on fire in front of the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam, the NFL and the AFL merged, the Supreme Court ruled that criminal suspects must be informed of their rights (Miranda vs. Arizona), and the Medicare insurance program went into effect.

I was too busy standing at attention to notice.

After basic training, I reported for duty at the Third Army Data Processing Company at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, Ga., where I spent the remainder of my two year obligation of active duty as a data processing analyst.

It was fairly easy duty.

Even so, I never stopped counting the days until I could return to the real world once again.

The summer of 1966 was a time of social upheaval. There was a race riot in Atlanta near Ft. McPherson. There were also race riots in Omaha, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and elsewhere. Plus, opposition to our involvement in Vietnam was becoming increasingly widespread.

And I was stuck in Georgia shuffling Army paperwork.

In any event, I was drafted into the Army in April of 1966 and honorably did my duty.

It's hard to cut two years out of your life in your early 20s. I was just beginning my career as a computer programmer and had to start completely over again after my discharge. It took another year or two to catch back up to where I had been before I was drafted.

I've been plagued ever since by a reoccurring dream whereby I'm drafted into the Army a second time and am unable to convince anyone of authority that I don't belong there because I had already served and no longer had a military obligation.

The theme is always the same but usually it's on different military installations.

I also know two other former draftees I served with at Ft. McPherson who have the same reoccurring nightmare. Our duty wasn't very traumatic but for some reason we can't get past it. I suspect it has something to do with the helplessness of being stuck in a situation we didn't want to be in and the only way out was to do the time.

Young men and women who enlist into the military do so voluntarily and accept the consequences.

However, those who are drafted are forced into mandatory servitude whether they like it or not, and are torn between serving their country and losing their freedom. They must give up their freedom and individuality, and are required to be obedient to strict (often unreasonable) orders at all times.

Plus, many career soldiers resented draftees and made life tougher for them. A draftee is merely a pawn in someone else's war whose fate is dictated by others.

On April 12, 2006, I had a dream that I was finally discharged from my military obligation.

When I woke up and pondered the dream, I realized it was the fortieth anniversary, to the exact day, of my military service. I had served two years of active duty, and 40 years of conscription over again and again in my dreams.

Fortunately, I haven't had the dream since -- it only took me 40 years to get over it.

The subconscious mind is a reservoir of unresolved conflict. If you suppress it, your dreams will remind you.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "An Army is a collection of armed men obligated to obey one man." William Tecumseh Sherman
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and a reservoir of unresolved conflicts.
___________
-
-

The Secret

2011-06-26T17:09:00.001-07:00

Apparently, there's a secret that has been floating around throughout the ages and discovered by a select few people, such as Aristotle, Plato, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Carl Jung, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill and others. These great people of history were "past secret teachers."

Inspired when she read the 1910 classic THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH by Wallace Wattles, author Rhonda Byrne has created a DVD (and book) titled THE SECRET sharing her discovery of the secret teachings.

Basically, the secret is the Law of Attraction -- in other words, whatever you wish for can be yours.

It's about positive thinking, as well as visualizing what it would be like to obtain whatever you wished to come true.

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." Henry Ford

The Law of Attraction has four steps.

Step 1: Visualize your goal. Close your eyes and picture what you desire in your mind. Then imagine the desire has already come true. Imagine how it would feel. Imagine how it would smell.

Step 2: Believe your desire will materialize. Don't worry about how or when -- just concentrate on the fact that it will become realized. It will happen. Continue to believe and the Law of Attraction will make it come true.

Step 3: Keep the faith. Doubt brings about failure. You must never sway from the desire. You must realize there is no other option than to succeed. You must believe everything you think about will come true.

Step 4: Be fearless. Be relentless. Do not procrastinate. Do not waiver at the critical moment. Do not sabotage your pending success. When the opportunity presents itself, you must boldly grab it.

Being a lazy person with a powerful imagination, this sounded like the perfect gimmick for me. So I spent the better part of several months imagining what my life would be like if I could achieve my lofty goals.

There I was, locked in my imagination, living a life of glory, dressed in purple, wearing number 50, knocking down Bears and Lions and Green Bay Packers. I was a middle linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings.

But no matter how hard I concentrated on my desire, I was never even asked to show up at Viking training camp. I was basically stuck on step 3. Even though my imagination was impeccable, doubts began to creep in.

Perhaps I was being a bit unrealistic. After all, in my 60s, I might actually be a little too old for professional football.

Therefore, I needed to come up with a more attainable goal -- something that was unlikely to happen yet possible.

Although I was a dashing figure of a man with plenty of wit and wisdom, I always found it difficult to hook up with the right woman. In fact, I usually found it difficult to hook up with any sort of woman at all. So I decided I would visualize a desirable, compatible woman who would enter my life and we would live happily ever after.

First of all, my ideal woman doesn't have to be perfect. Although I'm nearly perfect myself, perfection in others is too much to expect. Finding a compatible mate is hard enough without being unreasonable about it.

Physical traits aren't too important. Tall or short doesn't matter, a few extra pounds are okay, a full set of teeth is desirable and a certain degree of attractiveness helps. But no redheads (too fiery).

And it would also be really nice if she actually liked me.

Every day now, bi-hourly, I visualize this woman. She knocks on my door and utters something like "Hi there, big guy. I understand you're looking for me." Then our eyes meet and we instantly fall in love... or maybe not.

I may never be a professional middle linebacker but somewhere out there is a semi-perfect woman who has nothing better to do with her life than hang out with me.

But don't knock on my door before noon – I sleep late.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "The secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body." Dan Millman
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and a secret desire to live in a world without secrets.
___________
-
-

11 Dimensions of Humdrum

2011-06-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

"The world is incomprehensible, thus we must treat the world as it is -- a sheer mystery." Carlos Castaneda

The Dogon is a small African tribe in the southwest corner of the Sahara Desert.

A thousand years ago, the Dogon collectively refused to convert to Islam. Thereafter, Islamic law classified the Dogon, as well as other groups in the region, as being fair game for slavery, which included the murder of the males and enslavement of the women and children.

Consequently, the Dogon established their villages in defensive positions along the walls of sandstone cliffs in an area near the Niger River, south of Timbuktu in Mali, where the tribe has been basically isolated from the rest of the world.

The Dogon have a cave on their land with wall carvings over 700 years old. The holy man of the tribe sits at the entrance of the cave to protect it. When he dies, another holy man takes his place.

Some of the carvings depict a pod coming out of the sky and landing on three legs. The pod contains amphibious beings, called the Nommo, also known as the "masters of the water," which have fish-like characteristics.

The Nommo told the Dogon they came from the third planet out from Sirius. They related a story similar to the Lucifer rebellion within the Bible whereby the Dogon were one of the Nommo races, but had rebelled against the Creator and were relegated to Earth.

Robert Temple, a British archeologist, wrote a book in 1976 titled THE SIRIUS MYSTERY, which included the sacred knowledge of the Dogon. It seems the Dogon had detailed knowledge about astronomy for some 4,600 years.

Sirius is the brightest star in our sky. Orion's Belt contains three bright stars in a row. If you follow that line downward to the left, you will see a very bright star -- this is Sirius.

According to ancient Dogon sacred knowledge, the brightest star in the sky (Sirius) had a companion star that was invisible to the naked eye, with an orbit of 50 years, made out of the heaviest matter in the universe.

It wasn't until the early 1970s that this phenomenon could be confirmed by astronomy telescopes. Sirius, now known as Sirius A, is part of a binary star system and has a companion star, a white dwarf called Sirius B, naked to the human eye, which has an orbit of 50.1 years. According to scientific computations, Sirius B weighs about 2,000 pounds per cubic inch -- recent calculations believe it may even be considerably heavier than that.

The Dogon also had knowledge of the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, the existence of Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, and many other astronomical facts not discovered until modern telescopes came into existence. Also based on the Dogon knowledge, a red dwarf star was discovered in the Sirius system in 1996.

Thus, it has been postulated that the Dogon had been visited by extraterrestrial beings eons ago.

The continent of Africa is replete with tribal stories of advanced beings that descended from above (or ascended from below the earth) in ancient times and interfaced with the indigenous peoples.

For example, Zulu shaman Credo Mutwa claims that many thousand years ago "there arrived out of the skies, a race of people who were like lizards, people who could change shape at will... who married their daughters and produced a power race of Kings and tribal Chiefs."

A couple thousand years ago, an entity named Quetzalcoatl, which means "flying serpent" (reptilian being), was worshipped as the God of Knowledge in Mesoamerica (Central and South America). He was able to travel between the earth and the sky. Many Native American tribes have legends of beings that ascended from the stars.

Even the Bible has references to advanced beings who came to earth from elsewhere. In Genesis 6:4, the sons of the gods (advanced beings from beyond the earth) came down from the heavens and cohabited with the daughters of man (earthly women) creating a (hybrid) offspring called the Nephilim, who became the mighty ones (earthly gods, royalty).

According to some of the latest scientific discoveries, such as String Theory and Torsion Field physics, there may be as many as 11 dimensions (or 10 or 12, depending on the flavor of the day). Every dimension may contain multiple vibrations (frequencies) which are unaware (unseen, unknown) of other varying vibrations.

Life is a mystery. It unravels a bit more and more every day, with every answer leading to 11 more questions.

By the time we figure it out, we'll probably have to start all over again, with the invention of fire -- all the way to the invention of Lady Gaga.

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

BB -- 11:11
___________

Quote for the Day -- "We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." Carl Sagan
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Sonyah the Southern Oracle.
___________
-
-

Growth Addicts

2011-06-09T13:43:00.001-07:00

An addict is someone who is obsessively devoted to something.

People can become addicted to all sorts of things, such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, sweets, sports, gambling, sex, travel, TV, gardening, gossip, etc. They can even be addicted to community growth.

Most people with common sense realize there is an optimal size to almost anything. A garden won’t flourish if plants are too close together or too far apart. A forest won’t flourish if trees are too close together or too far apart. An animal herd won’t flourish if there are too many animals for their range.

Bigger isn’t always better.

However, Growth Addicts are unaware of the ramifications of overpopulation. These are people who have some sort of inane behavioral quirk whereby they simply can’t accept the size and scope of the community in which they live. They are compelled by some sort of neurological disorder to stimulate community growth.

If you ever ask one of these Growth Addicts at what point the growth should level off, they’ll look at you as if you’re crazy.

To a Growth Addict, there never is enough growth.

To a Growth Addict, growth is a way of life.

Many local politicians are afflicted with this disorder. They promise to lure industry into their area under the preposterous notion that this would have a positive impact on the entire community. Many real estate folks are also afflicted with this disorder. They travel to far away locations and attempt to persuade people to relocate to their area. Some local business owners are also under the delusion that community expansion will benefit them.

I lived a few miles outside a small town in Arizona in 1986-1992. It had a population of about 3,000 and seemed like an ideal place to live, especially after having spent nearly 12 years in Los Angeles.

However, it didn’t take long to sour on the place.

The city council was made up of bankers and real estate brokers. They had this simple-minded notion that bigger was better and that if they didn’t do something drastic the world would pass them by. Their idea of progress was to attract industry so they could grow at a much faster rate than would normally take place.

Their first course of action was to spend huge sums of taxpayer funds building an industrial park near the airport. Naturally, as bankers and land brokers, they all got a piece of the action.

When no one would build a business in their overpriced industrial park, they spent huge sums of taxpayer funds promoting the fiasco, including expensive advertisements in business publications in such places as Taiwan and Hong Kong. To date, the industrial park still remains empty.

During another brainstorming session, the city council determined the town would be more attractive if it had “funky” pink sidewalks, just like the ones in a popular ski resort town in Colorado. Tons of taxpayer dollars went into the project. All the concrete sidewalks in town were ripped up and replaced with pink, inlaid bricks. When the dust finally settled, it looked like cowboy town with pink sidewalks.

Progress, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. One person’s idea of progress is another person’s nightmare.

Promoting business and encouraging population growth should not be a function of local government, which has enough problems simply keeping up with the natural flow of change.

The flaw in this thinking is obvious. As more industry is added to an area, more people will move there to take advantage of the expanding economy. Suddenly, you’re back to the same old problem of needing to add more industry to support the growing population.

Local business won’t benefit from this ploy. As the area grows, new businesses will pop up, creating more competition -- a bigger pie with smaller slices. Eventually, local businesses will become overrun by national chains.

Nothing will be improved -- there will just be more of everything, including more traffic, more crime and a need for more solutions, requiring more tax revenue.

Most people live in a certain area because they like it there. For those who yearn for a larger community, it would be easier to move elsewhere than scheme to make the area grow faster than it would otherwise grow naturally.

Rather than move on, Growth Addicts insist upon spoiling things for everyone else. Bringing more business, more industry and more people into a community doesn’t benefit anyone, including those who have an insatiable urge to hasten progress.

Most areas will grow at a nice steady pace without Growth Addicts forcing their will upon the natural flow of progress.

Perhaps, Growth Addicts dislike their community because they subconsciously dislike themselves. Instead of taking responsibility for their own happiness they manipulate the world around them in a vain attempt to alter a reality they blame for their own perceived misfortunes. If so, Growth Addicts are in dire need of psychological help.

Some of my best friends are growth addicts. Even members of my own family are infected with this insidious malady. They can’t seem to help it and don’t even appear to be aware of their dysfunctional condition.

If you’re not a Growth Addict, read no further.

An intervention is a confrontation, usually initiated by family and friends, directed toward an addict in an attempt to rid the addict of his or her harmful addiction.

Consider this to be an intervention.

I am your friend.

You have a serious mental disorder.

I want to help you get well.

STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT.

We don’t need your guidance and control.

You’re obsession for growth only makes things worse.

More industry means more people, creating more problems that will be solved by bringing in more industry. Then more industry will attract more people, requiring even more industry, which will again attract more people, and so on, and so on.

This is a vicious cycle without end.

Bigger isn’t better -- it’s just bigger.

You have an unhealthy addiction.

It’s unhealthy for you and everyone around you.

Get over it.

Your problem isn’t the size of the community; your problem is you.

If you have a compulsion to make changes, look inward.

Stop and smell the roses.

Or move to a bigger city.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it." Milton Friedman
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where work is a four-letter word.
___________
-
-

Superstitions

2011-06-06T12:42:00.001-07:00

A superstition is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance. It’s also evidence that mankind hasn’t exactly reached the peak of intellectual potential.

"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue." Voltaire

Some superstitions are peculiar to a particular country.

1) In Ireland, it’s considered lucky to kiss the Blarney Stone, but unlucky to spill a drink.

2) In Nigeria, it’s bad luck to sweep a house at night, but a thorough sweeping in the morning gets rid of evil spirits.

3) In Japan, killing a spider in the morning results in the destruction of a human soul.

4) In Scotland, it’s bad luck to stand with your back to the edge of a door, and the sight of three swans flying together is a precursor of a national disaster.

5) In Malta, church clocks have two faces, one showing the correct time and another with a false time to confuse the Devil about the time of the service.

The world of show business has its share of superstitions.

1) If an actor uses a bar of soap belonging to another actor, it’s believed that some of the luck will rub off on him.

2) But if an actor leaves soap behind in the dressing room, he may never be employed again.

3) To open an umbrella or drop a comb onstage is bad luck.

4) Actors never look over the shoulder of a colleague into a mirror

5) Set designers avoid the color yellow.

6) The most egregious act occurs when someone whistles in the dressing room. Surely disaster will soon follow.

Gamblers are notorious for being superstitious.

1) They always wear their lucky ring or shirt or whatever.

2) Many will rub or blow on the dice or cards.

3) Sitting in the right chair or standing in the right spot is a must.

4) True gamblers never cross anything, including their legs, and never place a bet before 6:00 PM on Fridays.

Professional athletes, particularly baseball players, are among the most superstitious people on the planet.

1) On game day, they will eat the same meal or park in the same spot or walk the same path using the same number of steps entering the clubhouse.

2) Many baseball players will always enter the playing field in the exact same manner each time, performing personal rituals such as touching the same base or crossing a line at the same spot.

3) When batting, most baseball players will take the exact same number of practice swings while making the same gestures to help bring them luck.

Being an astute observer of human nature, I’ve come up with my own set of superstitions.

1) If a black cat crosses your path, it usually means the cat is going somewhere.

2) Wearing cloves of garlic around your neck will ward off evil spirits. Except for goat farmers and residents of New Jersey, it will also ward off most people.

3) Finding a four-leaf clover is good luck. It also means you have nothing better to do than crawl around outdoors on your hands and knees, gazing at clover.

4) Three men on a match is bad luck, unless you only have one match and there are three of you, or you are French Canadian.

5) A rabbit’s foot is good luck, except for the rabbit.

6) If you crack a mirror, it’s bad luck. If all you were doing was looking at the mirror when it cracked, it’s time for some cosmetic surgery.

7) If your name is Usama and you have a towel wrapped around your head and have 4 wives and your hobby is mass murder, you will someday have unwelcome visitors from a faraway land with itchy trigger fingers drop in on you from above to remove you from this dimension and confiscate your collection of pornography.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out -- without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable." H.L. Mencken
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where good luck involves indoor plumbing.
___________
-
-

The Flow of Life

2011-06-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

Life is like a river of natural events -- it flows where it wants to flow, and there's not much you can usually do about it without an enormous amount of effort and a slew of unintended consequences.

Basically, you have 3 choices in The Flow of Life -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or change The Flow.

William Shakespeare was a very prolific writer who was mostly understood by snooty British intellectuals, high school English teachers and people with brain damage. Most of the rest of us who were forced to read his drivel back in high school didn’t have a clue what Shakespeare was all about.

One of his more famous excerpts comes in act 3 of Hamlet – “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; or to take arms against a sea of troubles…”

This is all a person really needs to know about life. Unfortunately, reading Shakespeare is a lot like reading the graffiti on the wall of a public restroom – it seems somewhat clever yet is often confusing, but you don’t really care because you’ve got better things to do than hang around and try to figure it out.

What Shakespeare was really trying to tell the world was that there is a choice in life we all face. We can choose to go with The Flow and suffer the consequences (suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune) or we can choose to go off in our own direction (take arms against a sea of trouble) and suffer the consequences. Choosing not to make a choice automatically puts you into the category of going with The Flow.

In other words, you can go with The Flow or follow your own path. Either way, there will be consequences to suffer.

Some people choose to go with The Flow. They elect people to lead them, obey the rules, pay their taxes and march off to war. They may not like it sometimes but they go along in order to get along. These are the followers of the flock of humanity and conformists who are obedient of authority, usually out of a sense of duty or fear of consequences.

Some people go off in their own direction, avoiding The Flow as much as humanly possible. Although often ridiculed by those who conform, they couldn't care less. And even when they’re alone they’re never lonely because they don’t need to be validated by others. These are the weirdoes who prefer to be different simply to gain self-respect within their own existence.

Then there are those who try to have it both ways, going with The Flow when it suits them and avoiding it when it doesn't. Most of the time they choose to go with The Flow, until The Flow takes them where they don’t want to be, then they rebel a bit. But taking arms against a sea of trouble requires strength and fortitude, forcing them to get back into The Flow when the going gets too tough. These are the flip-floppers who jump on and off of band wagons depending on which way the wind blows.

Furthermore, some people attempt to manipulate The Flow toward their personal desires. They demand the right to create and enforce their own version of heaven on Earth. Many of them believe they are creating a better world, while others are simply attempting to gain power, control or riches. Either way, it is a form of selfishness. No one has the moral certitude to change the world into their personal vision of wonderfulness, because wonderfulness is always in the eye of the beholder.

People who choose to always go with The Flow are happy people. Occasionally, they suffer the consequences of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune but life is full of consequences and they don’t blame themselves for their suffering because they were merely caught in The Flow of the decision-making of others. Plus, the burden of making independent decisions is avoided because The Flow makes all the decisions for them.

People who choose to always avoid The Flow are also happy people. They go their own direction and follow their own path. They face lots of obstacles for not conforming to The Flow, but their suffering is of their own making and therefore more palatable. Independent people understand that suffering builds character, thereby making their way of life that much more endearing. Rather than allow the rest of the world to err on their behalf, they’d prefer to screw up their lives on their own.

Those who try to have it both ways are unhappy people. They have no direction in life. Rather than being comfortable within The Flow or comfortable outside The Flow, they are dissatisfied with both options and spend their days whining about how The Flow has ruined their lives.

People who try to change The Flow are also an unhappy lot. They tend to align with others who also want to change The Flow, exerting group pressure by forming associations and unions and political parties and religions and secret societies in order to manipulate The Flow in their favor. But no matter how effective they are at manipulating The Flow, they’re fighting an endless battle because there are always other interests attempting to manipulate The Flow in a variety of directions. And the ends rarely justify the means because there is no End to The Flow.

Flow Changers have been battling Flow Changers since the beginning of time. They are convinced their way is the correct way and insist everyone else conform to their notion of correctness, right down to the correct length of grass in your front yard and the correct state of mind from which you are forbidden to alter. Flow Changers are self-righteous, rebellious conformists who demand selfless, non-rebellious conformity from everyone else.

So if you want to be happy, accept the slings and arrows (go with The Flow) and fall in line like a proper obedient citizen (conformist). Or take arms against a sea of trouble (avoid The Flow) and follow your own path like a free independent thinker (outcast). One or the other -- you can't be both.

The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity.

The reward for conformity is everyone likes you but you lack the integrity (freedom) to be your true self. Even dead fish go with The Flow.

The reward for being an outcast is self-respect. It's better to avoid The Flow than to be swept away by it.

If you want to be an unhappy jerk, attempt to change The Flow and regulate the world. But always bear in mind that no good deed goes unpunished.

"You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A Wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow." Ursula K. Le Guin

There are only two things in life -- you and everything else. The only thing you can change is you.

Ultimately, you have 3 choices -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or bang your head against the wall.
___________

Quote for the Day -- “No two ideals were ever more incompatible than the security of conformity and the freedom of individuality. After the choice is made, the rest is easy – unless you don’t have the guts to stick by your choice.” Hunter S. Thompson
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Raoul Duke.
___________
-
-

A Black Sheep on Memorial Day

2011-05-27T16:17:00.001-07:00

Gregory "Pappy" Boyington was born in Idaho on December 4, 1912.

He went to high school in Tacoma, Wash., then on to the University of Washington (1930-34) where he was in the ROTC program and majored in engineering.

He worked summers in an Idaho gold mine to help pay his way through college and became a draftsman for Boeing Aircraft upon graduation.

One year later, he joined the Marines where he was a flight instructor for six years and later volunteered to be a "Flying Tiger" pilot in China and Burma.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Boyington saw action in the South Pacific where he was credited with shooting down 28 Japanese aircraft, a WWII record for a Marine pilot.

On the day of his 28th kill, Boyington was shot down by a Japanese Zero fighter and eventually picked up by an enemy submarine.

He spent 20 months in a prisoner of war camp where he suffered frequent beatings and near starvation. For some reason, his whereabouts were never reported to the Allies by the Japanese and he was listed as missing in action. On August 28, 1945, his prison camp was liberated.

Along with the Navy Cross, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Boyington led a turbulent life. He was a heavy drinker, went through a series of failed marriages and bounced from one job to another (beer salesman, stock salesman, jewelry salesman and wrestling referee).

In 1958, he wrote a book about his WWII exploits at an airfield in the New Hebrides titled BAA BAA, BLACK SHEEP. In it, he described how he had to form a squadron of fighter pilots from a group of raw replacement pilots, dubbed "The Black Sheep Squadron."

In 1976, the book was made into an NBC TV series starring Robert Conrad as Pappy Boyington. The series, difficult and expensive to produce, lasted only two years.

Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, American hero and troubled soul, died on January 11, 1988. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

At the end of his memoir, he wrote, "Just name a hero and I'll prove he's a bum."

In 2006, a University of Washington senior and former Air Force weather forecaster, Andrew Everett, presented a resolution to the college's student senate suggesting the school honor Boyington with a small statue.

However, this proposal was rebuffed by members of the student Democratic Party on the student senate.

According to the minutes of the meeting, Ashley Miller argued, "many monuments at UW already commemorate rich, white men." Jill Edwards stated she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce." One member of the senate even referred to Boyington as "a murderer."

Perhaps the world does indeed have too many statues honoring people who have performed heroic acts, but the reasoning behind this rejection is astonishing. Some of these students are in dire need of a brain transplant.

First of all, Boyington was never rich and he was part Sioux Indian. To protest honoring him because he is rich and white is both incorrect and blatant bigotry. Rejecting a person based on that person's social status and ethnicity is a prime example of how far certain people will sink to ensure special privileges for those who don't earn it.

Bigotry is a two-way street and a liberal, naive, politically-correct bigot is still a bigot.

Discriminating against Boyington because he was a Marine is another example of bigotry. And to call him a murderer is inexcusable. Killing another human being, during the course of a world war, when that person is aggressively trying to kill you is not murder – it's called self-preservation.

War is an ugly, unfortunate fact of life but sometimes it's a necessity.

It's easy to assume if you're nice to the rest of the world, it will be nice to you -- but the world is not made out of sugar and spice and everything nice. When you grow up, reality will set in and self-preservation will take over.

Pappy Boyington was just another guy stumbling through life. He was also a hero and deserves our respect.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom." Bob Dylan
___________

Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available of Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Davy Crockett.
___________
-
-

Moose on the Loose

2011-05-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

The summer I was in sixth grade, my family went on a camping trip to Yellowstone Park. We pitched our tents in the most remote official campsite, along a stream in the northeast corner of the park.

After breakfast one morning, the four of us embarked on a hike, mostly uphill along the stream, to a huge meadow where we were going to fly fish for trout.

When we reached the edge of the meadow, we took a break. It had been a steep climb over very rocky terrain and we needed a rest.

A couple of minutes later, my dad wanted to push on, knowing the fishing holes were only a few more miles across the meadow. The rest of us were pooped so he went on alone.

Soon thereafter, I took off by myself along the same path hoping to catch up with my father. My mother and younger brother stayed behind to rest some more.

It wasn’t long before I was quite a distance from the resting spot and my father still wasn’t in sight.

Then I came over a small hill where something caught my eye. There were a couple of large animals a mere 20 feet off to my left in front of a clump of aspen trees. Yellowstone Park was full of bears and they had a reputation of occasionally mauling a tourist just to prove they could.

I froze in my tracks.

To my relief, it turned out to be a female moose with a baby moose at her side.

Then to my horror, I quickly realized I had encroached upon their territory, much too close, and surprised them. I also knew the most dangerous animals were the ones that were wounded or the ones with young offspring nearby. Off to my right was nothing but a wide-open field. The only trees I could possibly get to were on the opposite side of the moose.

I remained frozen hoping they would go away. I considered calling for my father but he was probably too far away to hear and I also didn’t want to startle the moose.

Soon my worst nightmare began. The baby moose took a few cautious steps toward me. Big momma moose didn’t like it at all. She began snorting and pawing her hoof into the ground.

The baby moose took another step in my direction. I had a fly rod in my right hand. I figured if the moose attacked, I’d fend it off with the fly rod, circle around it and dash into the clump of aspen trees. I even picked one out that looked easy to climb in a hurry.

There were several facts I didn’t know about moose at the time. The average moose is over six feet at the shoulder and weighs over a thousand pounds. It can run 35 miles per hour -- about twice as fast as a human being. According to the U.S. Forest Service, more people in America are killed by moose attacks than by bear attacks.

And the surest way to provoke a wild animal is to get between it and its offspring.

So there I was, patiently waiting to fend off a moose with a fly rod.

The baby moose took another step forward and big momma moose was becoming extremely excited. They were so close to me I could actually smell them.

Just as I sensed the impending mayhem, big momma moose stopped pawing her hoof and jerked her head back in the direction from which I had just arrived.

Then I heard it too. It was my mother and brother coming up over the hill, talking to each other.

The baby moose quickly scooted back to big momma and they both scampered off beyond the clump of aspen trees and out of sight.

Here are some tips when encountering moose on the loose:

1) Don’t run away from a wild animal, especially one that is faster, heavier and dumber than you are.

2) Don’t approach a baby wild animal. Any female that has recently given birth has a lot of repressed anger.

3) Don’t hike in moose territory alone. If you manage to survive a moose attack, you’ll need someone to drag you back to the car and drive you to the nearest emergency room.

4) Don’t try to bring down a moose with a fly rod. Something closer to an AK-47 would be more effective.

5) Don’t make any moose jokes. Moose are very sensitive to ridicule.

6) Don’t forget to bring a video camera. Moose attacks make good entertainment.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees..." Henry David Thoreau
___________

Bret Burquest is the author of four novels, and has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available of Amazon.com. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Davy Crockett.
___________
-
-

Judgment Day -- May 21, 2011

2011-05-14T16:19:00.001-07:00

Harold Camping, a former civil engineer, is an 89-year-old preacher from Oakland, California. He founded Family Radio in the 1950s.

His radio network creates religious programs in 48 languages and has tens of thousands of followers around the world, with radios stations in such places as Russia, Turkey and South Africa. With assets exceeding $100 million, his religious broadcasting network now owns 66 radio stations in the USA alone.

According to Camping, May 21, 2011, will be the Day of Judgment on Planet Earth.

He has predicted the Second Coming of the Lord on May 21, whereby two percent of the global population will be instantly propelled into Heaven (known as the Rapture) and the remaining 98 percent will be sent straight to Hell.

Camping bases his prediction on 70 years of studying the Bible and mathematics. He believes Jesus Christ died on April 1, in 33 AD (based on the Bible). He then discovered that if you multiply three holy numbers of 5, 10 and 17 together twice you come up with the figure of 722, 500.

"When I found this out, it blew my mind," Camping claims.

It turns out that May 21, 2011, is exactly 722, 500 days from April 1, 33 AD.

Therefore, Camping is certain it will be the Day of Judgment.

This isn't the first time Camping has made the same prediction. Years ago, he predicted the Second Coming would be on September 6, 1994.

"At that time there was a lot of Bible I had not researched really carefully," was his explanation recently. But he now insists, after further Bible study, that "God has given us outstanding proofs that it really is going to happen."

Hallelujah -- proof positive.

Since the beginning of time, people possessed with a sense of pending doom, high certainty and a personal pipeline to the Big Kahuna have predicted the end of the world. To my knowledge, it hasn’t happened yet.

Near the end of the first millennium, many people in Europe predicted the end of the world would occur in the year 1000. As the date approached, Christian armies from southern Europe waged war against the pagan countries to the north in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, by force if necessary, before Christ returned in 1000. When Christ didn’t return, those who criticized the church were labeled as heretics and exterminated.

It didn't happen.

In 1346, one-third of the population of Europe was killed by the black plague. Since this proportion seemed to correspond to Biblical prophecy, people presumed the end of the world was imminent. However, Christians had killed a majority of the cats in Europe at the time thinking the felines were associated with witches. Less cats, more rats. It was later discovered that fleas carried by rats caused the plague.

The world didn’t end after all.

On February 14, 1835, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, made a pronouncement at a meeting of church leaders that Jesus would return in 56 years.

It didn’t happen.

The Jehovah Witnesses claimed that the war of Armageddon would start in 1914, based on the prophecy of Daniel, Chapter 4.

It didn’t happen.

The Jehovah Witnesses subsequently revised their proclamations, many times, to 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975, 1994, etc.

It didn’t happen, didn’t happen, didn’t happen, etc.

The founder of the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, predicted that the “Day of the Lord” would occur in 1936.

It didn’t happen.

Undeterred, Herbert W. Armstrong later predicted it would happen in 1975 instead. Many of his followers gave up all their earthly possessions in anticipation of the Rapture.

It didn’t happen.

David Davidson wrote a book titled THE GREAT PYRAMID, ITS DIVINE MESSAGE where he claimed the structure of the pyramid of Gizah foretold future events, including the end of the world in August of 1953.

It didn’t happen.

In 1978, Pat Robertson of the 700 Club announced that the world would end in 1982.

It didn’t happen.

Hal Lindsey, writer of Christian prophecy, wrote a book in 1970 titled THE LATE, GREAT PLANET EARTH where he claimed the Rapture would commence in 1988 (40 years after the creation of the state of Israel).

It didn’t happen.

Edgar Whisenaut, a NASA scientist wrote 88 REASONS WHY THE RAPTURE WILL OCCUR IN 1988.

It didn’t happen.

Prophecy is a tricky business, especially when you credit the Big Kahuna for your inside information. Perhaps, it's not wise to mess with the Big Kahuna if you intend to spend the remainder of eternity in his/her/its presence.

On December 21, 2012, I will be hosting an "End of the World" party at my place. There will be an $11 cover change which will be donated to my left pocket. No shoes, no shirt, no problem. Bring snacks.
___________

Quote for the Day – "Never make predictions, especially about the future." Casey Stengel
___________

Bret Burquest recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available on Amazon) -- topics include collective consciousness, UFOs, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, Atlantis, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after WW II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience, Mayan calendar 2012, much more.
___________
-
-

Osama Bin Laden and Geronimo

2011-05-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

On May 1, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by a U.S. Navy SEAL team that stormed his compound. 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.

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, 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 a 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 hundredth 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 want the remains turned over to the family so he can 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.

Their antics are infantile, sadomasochistic and downright disgusting. It's 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.

The purpose of their satanic behavior within Skull and Bones, no doubt, 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.

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.

All 44 presidents of the United States are related by blood. For example, Obama is a distant cousin of George W. Bush. This bloodline of influential, wealthy families controls international 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.

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 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.

___________

Quote for the Day – "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
___________

Bret Burquest recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available on Amazon) -- topics include collective consciousness, UFOs, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, Atlantis, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after WW II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience, Mayan calendar 2012, much more.
___________
-
-

Politicians and Power

2011-04-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

In the November midterm elections of 2006, the Democrats scored a net gain of seats in Congress even though they did not hold the office of President.

In the November midterm elections of 2010, the Republicans scored a net gain of seats in Congress even though they did not hold the office of President.

This trend has been historically true since World War II, when Republicans picked up seats under Democratic Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Carter, Clinton and Obama. Similarly, under Republican Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I and Bush II, Democrats gained seats.

This historical fact tends to indicate that the American people are dissatisfied with the federal government and apparently don't want whatever party is in power in the White House to also be in control of Congress.

The following "Never-to-be-Forgotten Principles of Government," by former Libertarian Presidential candidate Harry Browne (his comments in quotes, plus my elaborations) may reflect the underlying causes of this phenomenon.

1) Government is force.

"Every government program or regulation is a demand that someone do what he doesn't want to do, refrain from doing what he does want to do, or pay for something he doesn't want to pay for." Harry Browne

All too often, this force is used against those who have not intruded on anyone else's person or property.

2) Government is politics.

"Whenever you turn over to the government a financial, social, medical, military, or commercial matter, it's automatically transformed into a political issue; to be decided by those with the most political influence." Harry Browne

Politicians act mainly in terms of political favoritism, rather than in terms of the ultimate benefit to society.

3) You don't control government.

"No law will be written the way you have in mind, it won't be administered in the way you have in mind, and it won't be adjudicated the way you have in mind." Harry Browne

While the purpose of laws may embrace noble intentions, they are written by politicians for political purposes, administered by bureaucrats for political purposes and adjudicated by judges appointed for political purposes.

4) Every government program will be more expensive and more expansive than anything you had in mind when you proposed it.

"It will be applied in all sorts of ways you never dreamed of." Harry Browne

When Medicare was first created in 1965, the politicians projected the cost in 1992 would be $3 billion. The actual cost in 1992 was $110 billion. The same politicians have driven this country into a $14 trillion national debt.

5) Power will always be misused.

"Give good people the power to do good and that power eventually will be in the hands of bad people to do bad." Harry Browne

A power base attracts those who seek to promote self-interests and control others. The more power they have, the more control they have and the more havoc they can inflict. The only way to prevent it is to limit the power of government in the first place. Giving power to politicians is like giving a bottle of gin to chimpanzees.

6) Government doesn't work.

"Because government is a force, because government programs are designed to enrich the politically powerful, because every new government program soon wanders from its original purpose, and because politicians eventually misuse the power you give them, it's inevitable that no government program will deliver on the promises the politicians make for it." Harry Browne

Government programs almost always cost more than it would cost in the private sector, often have adverse side-effects, usually have disappointing results and create vast bureaucracies that outlive their usefulness.

7) Government must be subject to absolute limits.

"Because politicians have every incentive to expand government, and with it their power, there must be absolute limits on government." Harry Browne

These limits are already provided for in the Constitution where the primary freedom it guarantees is freedom from excessive government. The Founding Fathers were aware government was the problem, not the solution. Unfortunately, we've strayed far from the original intent based on individual freedom and individual responsibility.

Freedom is never free.

Governments with too much power, in the wrong hands, become instruments of evil.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good." Thomas Sowell
___________

Bret Burquest recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available on Amazon) -- topics include collective consciousness, UFOs, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, Atlantis, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after WW II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience, Mayan calendar 2012, much more.
___________
-
-

Road to Toluca Lake

2011-04-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

At age 30, I left the harsh Minnesota winters for the land of fruits and nuts. I soon found a job as a senior systems analyst for a large computer complex near downtown Los Angeles and rented a house on stilts in the Hollywood Hills, overlooking Universal Studios in the San Fernando Valley.

Six months later, I found a better job at a small computer software company next door to Warner Brothers studios. My office was officially in Los Angeles and the movie studio was officially in Burbank, both bordering the tiny community called Toluca Lake -- a small, quaint area within the Los Angeles metropolis.

Soon I begin looking for a house to purchase. One day I spotted an ad about a fixer with a pool, within my price range, that was “less than 20 blocks from Bob Hope.” I didn’t know it at the time but the real estate agents in the area used Bob Hope as a point of reference – the closer to Bob Hope’s house, the more exclusive the property. In real estate, location is everything. Apparently, this particular real estate agent had a sense of humor.

I bought the house. The pool was basically a swamp and cost several thousand dollars to get back into shape. Every day I drove to work, I passed by Bob Hope’s estate which was a couple of acres surrounded by high walls. I was told he had his own golf hole in the backyard – about a nine-iron shot.

Not long thereafter, I married. We sold the house and bought a yacht. We lived on the yacht for six months, then sold it and bought a condo in Sherman Oaks. Next we sold the condo and rented an A-frame in Topanga. Then it was time to buy another house. This time, we found one in an area real estate agents refer to as Toluca Woods, south of Cahuenga Boulevard and north of Riverside Drive, "within 10 blocks of Bob Hope."

It was a nice area. William Holden once owned the house at the end of the block. My wife and I often dined at the local hangouts where we would bump into some of the more famous Toluca Lake residents such as Jonathon Winters and Andy Griffith. The fellow I worked for was a member of Lakeside Country Club in Toluca Lake, Bob Hope’s home course. I played a few rounds of golf and occasionally lunched there.

Then we divorced. My wife, bless her heart, kept the Toluca Woods house and I moved back into the Hollywood Hills. Oddly enough, I rented a place on the very same street, a little further uphill, as the house on stilts I had rented when I first moved to Los Angeles. Back to square one once again.

Anyway, that’s my Bob Hope story. I never met him, or even saw him, yet he seemed to have an impact on my life.

Leslie Towne Hope was born in Eltham, England on May 29, 1903. His father was an English stonemason and his mother an aspiring Welch concert singer. In 1907, Leslie’s father moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio. By way of his father’s naturalization, Leslie became known as “Bob.” In 1920, Bob and his brothers became U.S. citizens.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Bob Hope was a star of radio, television and the films. He and crooner Bing Crosby were featured in several “Road” pictures and carried on a famous comic feud. Hope was also a frequent host of the Academy Awards ceremonies in Hollywood. Although he never won an Oscar for a film performance, he received five honorary Academy Awards for his contributions to the motion picture industry.

Bob Hope will always be remembered for his tireless service to our military troops. He spent much of World War II traveling the globe to entertain Allied Forces. He continued this practice during later conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East and elsewhere, well into the 1990s.

Bob Hope traveled off on the Road to the Great Beyond on July 27, 2003, at age 100. When his grandson asked him at his deathbed where he wanted to be buried, he remarked, "Surprise me."

Thanks for the memories.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "I love to go to Washington -- if only to be near my money." Bob Hope
___________

Bret Burquest recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available on Amazon) -- topics include collective consciousness, UFOs, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, Atlantis, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after WW II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience, Mayan calendar 2012, much more.
___________
-
-

Interview with an Air Conditioner

2011-04-11T19:19:00.001-07:00

Starting in the mid 1960s, I spent a couple of decades as an ambitious computer programmer and manager, in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. Married for 5 years, then divorced. In my 40s, I was burned out. I quit the full-time corporate grind and became a programmer for hire (hourly rates, short-term contracts). I also left the big city for a less stressful life in the boondocks.

After living in the Arizona desert for 6 years, I moved to the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas, where I became even more reclusive. With no computer programming jobs available in Redneck Heaven, I managed to get a part-time job teaching computer courses at a local college (2001-2006) and writing a column for a weekly newspaper (2001-2007).

When I started at the newspaper, it was understood that I was to be part-time (about 15 hours per week), working primarily on putting the paper together on the computer. But various levels of management had other ideas about my duties whereupon it soon became apparent that I would either have to become embroiled in office politics or leave.

I had been with the paper for only two weeks, pondering my next move, when I asked the editor-in-chief on Friday afternoon if I could write an article for the paper. She was a crusty old newspaper warhorse and gruffly told me to go have an interview with an air conditioner.

It was early spring. Obviously, she wanted me to write a piece about how everyone should do some maintenance on their air conditioner prior to seasonal usage. But being the smartass rebel I am, I took a different approach.

That weekend, I cranked out the short piece below and turned it in to the editor on Monday morning. From that day on I wrote a weekly column for the paper for 7 years straight, never missing an issue, until we got new management with a "my way or the highway" attitude -- I took the highway.
__________________________

INTERVIEW WITH AN AIR CONDITIONER

One of the news editors suggested I interview an air conditioner. After all, summer was right around the corner and it was assumed readers would want to know the general feelings of their outdoor cooling equipment.

I had always been under the impression appliances were incapable of speech but I could be wrong. Rather than question the wisdom of the editor, I decided to go along with it.

So I sat on my deck the following Saturday afternoon, gazing at my air conditioner, trying to figure out a way to communicate with it.

Finally, I walked right up to it and introduced myself.

I wasn’t too surprised at the silence that followed. Then I felt a little embarrassed. After all I had lived there for two years. Surely it knew who I was by now.

“So how’s it going?” I said, as if I was expecting an answer.

Again, the air conditioner didn’t respond.

However, my dog wandered over for a closer look. She seemed a bit perplexed that I would be talking to the big green box sitting on a slab of concrete next to our abode.

“Ya ready for another summer?” I asked the big green box.

Again no response.

I wanted to ask it if it had a name but was certain I wouldn’t get an answer. For some strange reason, I wanted to call it Frosty. Then I noticed it already had a name engraved on its side that read Intertherm; a proper name for a hunk of cooling equipment.

I wondered if Intertherm was looking forward to summer and being in use on a daily basis.

Suddenly, my dog tilted her head to the right, as if the big green box had communicated with her.

I quickly realized Intertherm was indeed looking forward to heavy usage, after all that’s what machines do. They delight in running smoothing and helping those who created them.

Without uttering another word, I thanked the air conditioner for its fine service and assured it, in my mind, that I would take proper care of it.

My dog gave me an understanding look, then ran off to regain her sanity by chasing a squirrel.

I have no idea if I actually communicated with my air conditioner but it could’ve been possible. If nothing else, it left me in a good mood. Intertherm seemed to be in a good mood too. I even caught a glimpse of a smile as I walked away.

I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to my toaster, mostly about sports.

So now that summer is around the corner, have a chat with your air conditioner. But don’t call it Frosty.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier." H.L. Mencken
___________

Bret Burquest recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available on Amazon) -- topics include collective consciousness, UFOs, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, Atlantis, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after WW II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience, Mayan calendar 2012, much more.
___________
-
-

Catch-22

2011-04-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

CATCH-22

In 1961, Joseph Heller wrote a classic novel about military madness during World War II and the human desire to survive it. It was his first novel and he called it CATCH-18. His publisher, Simon & Schuster, felt the title would conflict with the new Leon Uris novel called MILO 18, so they changed it to CATCH-22.

In the novel, catch-22 is a term used by bomber pilots to describe their dilemma. In order to get out of combat you must be judged to be crazy, but if you express a desire to get out you are thereby judged to be sane. Therefore, you can never get out of combat. If a pilot wanted to be grounded, all he had to do was ask. But by asking, it proved he was rational and therefore was required to fly.

"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." Joseph Heller

Catch-22 is now a term in the English language which means the only solution to a problem is denied by a circumstance (or rule) inherent in the problem. Within a catch-22 rule there is always an exception that makes the rule a circular argument that can’t be resolved.

People with power tend to go to great lengths to maintain their power and those without power suffer the consequences. Creating a catch-22 is one way to maintain that power.

The real world is full of catch-22s.

Getting your first job, particularly in a specialized technical field, is a catch-22. You can’t get the job because you have no experience and you can’t get any experience until you get a job. In Hollywood, it’s nearly impossible to break in. In order to sell a screenplay you must be a member of the Writer’s Guild and you can’t become a member of the Writer’s Guild unless you’ve sold a screenplay. The same is true for actors. You can’t play a part unless you belong to the Actor’s Guild and you can’t get into the Actor’s Guild unless you’ve played a part.

Marriage is often a circumstance without a solution, a circular argument that can’t be resolved, making it a classical catch-22. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them.

Our entire banking system is built around a catch-22. If you are poor and desperately need a loan, you don’t qualify for a loan. But if you can prove that you have enough accumulated net worth, in other words don’t really need a loan, then you qualify.

Military strength is another catch-22. The USA spends an excessive amount of money building a powerful military to protect itself from its potential enemies, thereby creating more potential enemies who resent the powerful military in the first place. The stronger we become, the more despised we become. Thus, the stronger we become, the stronger we must become.

As the lone superpower on Earth we have become trapped in our own catch-22. We see ourselves as noble crusaders saving the rest of the world from evil, while the rest of the world sees us as self-appointed global cops perpetuating evil by imposing our will on others. Even if our intentions are honorable, it doesn’t mean they will be perceived that way or that they will always be honorable in the future. Being the toughest dude on the block requires cooperation and restraint. No one likes a bully. And no one likes a self-appointed cop either. A planet with a single superpower is a planet out of balance.

Even your basic personality is a catch-22. Honesty often offends people whereas deceit gratifies them with what they want to hear. You can alienate people with your opinions or you can accommodate them by being agreeable. Pleasing others and being an honest human being with conviction are in direct conflict.

Life is a catch–22. You can make dust or eat dust. Either way, it’s always dusty.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity, and some people have mediocrity thrust upon them." Joseph Heller
___________

Bret Burquest recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available on Amazon) -- topics include collective consciousness, UFOs, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, Atlantis, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after WW II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience, Mayan calendar 2012, much more.
___________
-
-

The Metabolic Syndrome

2011-04-01T14:52:00.001-07:00

Properly maintaining the following metabolic factors, dubbed the Deadly Quartet, is crucial to good health.

1) Weight
2) Blood pressure
3) Blood-sugar (insulin) level
4) Cholesterol levels

According to the Mayo Clinic, having any of these factors at an abnormal level increases the risk of serious disease. When one or more of these conditions is out of appropriate balance, it's called the Metabolic Syndrome.

Many studies have shown that stress can lead to Metabolic Syndrome. Wake Forest University conducted an experiment whereby they exposed laboratory monkeys to chronic social stress causing "a significant number of animals to develop Metabolic Syndrome." A Yale University study found a link between chronic psychological stress (in human subjects) and abnormal fat storage that appeared to lead to the same syndrome.

Cortisol is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal gland. It helps regulate blood pressure, releases insulin for blood sugar maintenance, controls metabolism, responds to inflammation, aids the immune system, and so forth. It's present in the body at higher levels in the morning and lowest in the evening.

During stress, the adrenal gland becomes more active, secreting high levels of cortisol into the bloodstream.

Abnormally high amounts of cortisol can result in abdominal fat storage, elevated insulin levels (linked to heart attacks, strokes and diabetes), high blood pressure, high blood sugar, poor cholesterol levels and more.

The bottom line is that stress, especially chronic stress, can lead to Metabolic Syndrome. An estimated one out of four Americans currently exhibit signs of this malady. How we react to stress plays a major role as well.

There are a zillion causes of stress -- anger, depression, fear, incompatible occupation, difficult relationships, finances, health, ambition, perfectionism, competitiveness, low self-esteem, heartache, accidents, crime, etc.

Dr. Murray Mittleman, a cardiovascular specialist, interviewed 1,600 heart attack victims and determined the risk of a heart attack was more than twice as great if the person had been very angry just prior to the attack.

Anger is a petty indulgence by self-centered people. Get over it – you're not the center of the universe.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Center reported that people who experience major depression were four times as likely to have a heart attack as those who were not depressed.

Depression is primarily a self-inflicted emotion by people who become discouraged (give up) or suppress anger. A study at Duke University found that 60 percent of clinically depressed people who took a brisk walk at least three times per week were no longer depressed after 16 weeks. Get off your butt and take care of business.

Anxiety is commonplace in this world. Your adrenalin pumps faster whenever you go into a state of worry or fear. When in a continual state of stress, you get an adrenalin overload, leading to the Metabolic Syndrome.

To relieve stress, some people overindulge in things to take their mind off of reality, such as food, booze, drugs, smoking, and caffeine. Or they may immerse themselves in activities to distract themselves, such as TV, music, hobbies, sports, games, work, travel, etc. But distractions are simply diversions. The stress is still there.

Stress stems from a lack of courage to deal with reality and the anguish of not being in control of your life.

All you have to do to straighten out is drop the anger, climb out of the depression, change your diet, exercise regularly, drink moderately, quit smoking, find a stress-free occupation, dump bad relationships, acquire positive relationships, be carefree in your leisure time, overcome your fears, take a deep breath, relax your body, quiet your mind, smile at the sky and thank whatever might be looking down at you for your divine existence.

Life can be a glorious journey or a bad ride – it's simply a matter of choice. So take control and be happy.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety." Aesop
___________

Bret Burquest recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available on Amazon) -- topics include collective consciousness, UFOs, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, Atlantis, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after WW II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience, Mayan calendar 2012, much more.
___________
-
-

Abiotic Oil

2011-03-25T20:18:00.001-07:00

The USA controls three percent of the world's proven oil supply yet consumes 25 percent of the world's oil, thereby allowing foreign governments, corrupt political leaders and terrorists to have leverage on our economy.

To make matters worse, the USA production of crude oil has been curtailed in the aftermath of the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf in April of 2010 whereby off-shore drilling has been put on hold by the Obama Administration.

Under these conditions, oil industry insiders reap large profits and cause economic instability. The USA has become dependent on foreign suppliers, particularly from the Middle East where self-centered sheiks and tyrants squander zillions of dollars on themselves while their subjects struggle in poverty.

But suppose the supply of oil was somehow regenerating itself and not in danger of being depleted after all.

Dr. Thomas Gold is a physicist at Cornell University. Some of his accomplishments include landmark research on the workings of the ear, developing the mathematics of the rules of cosmology, and overseeing the construction and operation of the world's largest radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

Dr. Gold is also a proponent of the abiotic theory of oil. Developed by the Russians in the 1950s, the abiotic theory states that oil is not derived from decayed plant and animal life, but is rather a bio-product of a continual biochemical reaction below the surface of the earth that is forced to attainable depths by the centrifugal forces of the earth's rotation.

In other words, oil is continually being produced (created) deep within the planet and "seeps" toward the surface by the centrifugal force of the rotation of the planet, which rotates at a speed of over 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, as Planet Earth travels through the Universe at 67,000 miles per hour. Basically, Planet Earth is a spinning, moving orb through space.

THE DEEP HOT BIOSPHERE: THE MYTH OF FOSSIL FUELS is Dr. Gold's groundbreaking book, published in 1998, that promotes the idea that oil is not a fossil fuel and, contrary to popular belief, is a renewable resource.

While conventional scientific wisdom dictates that life is formed on the Earth's surface, with the aid of the sun, Dr. Gold believes that most living entities reside deep within the Earth's crust at temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Celsius, living off of methane and other hydrocarbons.

Although highly regarded as a physicist, Dr. Gold has had a history as being a maverick. In the 1950s, the first radio astronomers discovered odd radio sources in the sky and thought they were unusual stars. Dr. Gold claimed they were actually distant galaxies. Years later, with new technology, Dr. Gold was proven to be correct.

In the 1960s, a different type of radio source was detected in the skies, flashing on and off with regularity. Dr. Gold wrote that these pulsars were neutron stars, the existence of which had been predicted but had never been seen. Although many of his colleagues scoffed at this explanation, once again Dr. Gold was proven to be correct.

Jerome R. Corsi (PhD from Harvard) is the author of 18 books, including ATOMIC IRAN and UNFIT FOR COMMAND. Craig R. Smith, Chairman of the board of Swiss America Trading Company, is the author of 24 scholarly books. Corsi and Smith have co-authored BLACK GOLD STRANGLEHOLD, which shares the notion that oil is continually created deep inside the planet and contends that the so-called scarcity is a marketing ploy to charge higher prices.

For example, researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, as well as other studies, have demonstrated that fossils from plants and animals are not necessary to create crude oil or natural gas.

It's a fact that numerous capped wells which were formerly dry have been discovered to be plentiful once again after many years. Perhaps this is newly created oil "seeping upward" by the pressure of the expansion of newly created crude oil (and centrifugal force).

According to various sources, including NASA, USGS and many oceanographic institutes, there is a "natural" oil seepage into the earth's oceans, estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 millions gallons of crude oil per year. Once again, this is clearly an example of "seeping upward" on the ocean floor from lower depths below the floor surface -- highly unlikely to be extinct dinosaur juice "trapped" under the depths of the ocean.

In 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo used tar from natural oil seepage, known to sailors as asphaltum, off the coast of North America to waterproof his ships -- just as the Native American Chumash Indians did with their canoes. In 1792, English explorer George Vancouver noted in his log that parts of the Pacific Coast were covered in all directions "with an oily surface so thick that the entire sea took on an iridescent hue."

Natural seepage of oil under the ocean, which is currently monitored by NASA, continues to this day. And 75 million gallons of crude oil seeping upward from the ocean floor every year is no small amount -- additional evidence of the possibility of oil perpetually regenerating itself.

Presently, in the Spring of 2011, the Middle East is in extreme turmoil. World War III may be on the horizon. And it's all about the availability and production of crude oil, supposedly a limited resource formed millions of years ago by decaying vegetation and extinct animals.

However, all of this spilled blood in the Middle East may be unnecessary. Perhaps oil is a renewal resource, continually generating additional crude oil deep within the earth whereby it seeps upward toward the surface on a regular basis.

Perhaps there are those within the oil industry (and elsewhere) who are aware of the abiotic phenomenon but remain silent (or prevent disclosure) of this fact in order to remain highly profitable.

Food for thought.
___________

Quote for the Day – "Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water." Miguel de Cervantes
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four fiction novels. He has recently published a nonfiction book titled THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon) -- mind-bending topics such as collective consciousness, UFO phenomena, parallel dimensions, Edgar Cayce, St. Germain, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, the End of Days, the White Buffalo, Jesse James, Noah's Ark, JFK and MLK assassinations, Dead Sea Scrolls, Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderbergers, Hitler after World War II, reincarnation, Near Death Experience and Mayan calendar 2012.
___________
-
-

Toxic Drums

2011-03-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

The Farallon Islands are a small group of islands off the coast of San Francisco, some 27 miles outside the Golden Gate. These islands are officially part of the city and county of San Francisco, California.

From 1946 to 1970, the United States routinely dumped 55-gallon drums of nuclear waste (plutonium, uranium, strontium) off the Farallon Islands on a regular basis. The drums that failed to sink, which had no protective linings to prevent seepage, were riddled with bullet holes by U.S. Navy gunners until they sank out of sight.

In all, 47,500 drums containing radioactive material were dumped into the waters off Farallon Islands.

You don't have to be a hard-core Tree Hugger to realize that dumping nuclear waste into the ocean is incredibly irresponsible and highly dangerous to the survival of Planet Earth and the Human Race.

Other nations dumping nuclear waste into oceanic waters include China, Russia, Japan, New Zealand and nearly all the nations of Europe.

Which begs the question -- "Is the entire human race nuts?"

In March of 2011, an earthquake and tsunami ripped through northern Japan rendering several nuclear power plants into a state of dire emergency (nuclear meltdown). Radioactivity is deadly to living creatures, including people. As I write this piece, nuclear scientists are scrambling feverishly, trying to prevent a nuclear disaster of monumental proportions.

Thousands of people died in the initial magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami, and the area near the damaged nuclear power plants has been evacuated for scores of miles in all directions from the power plants.

A tragedy like this doesn't build character, it reveals it. On March 17, 2011, CNN announced that actress Sandra Bullock donated $1 million to the Red Cross toward relief efforts of this disaster in Japan. Perhaps there is hope for the human race after all.

There are no passengers on the Planet of Wounded Souls -- we are all crew.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think we are -- the tree is the real thing." Abraham Lincoln
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where Mother Earth will mess with you if you mess with her. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Saving Daylight in 2011

2011-03-12T11:57:00.001-08:00

Time is a wonderful invention. It keeps everything from happening all at once.

This weekend, March 12-13, 2011, is Daylight Savings Time once again. Spring forward, fall back, and do a cartwheel on your front lawn. As per our obligation as followers of leaders, it is our responsibility to adjust our clocks, watches and sundials by an hour to remain in sync with the rest of the world.

It all started in 1784, when Benjamin Franklin wrote a whimsical essay titled "Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle" in which he advocated what is today referred to as Daylight Saving Time.

Over the ensuing years, the notion of saving daylight slowly began to catch on with those who would apparently score low on a whimsy-o-meter.

Germany and England first adopted Daylight Saving Time in the spring of 1916, during World War I.

In March of 1918, the U.S. Congress established times zones, which had been used by the railroads and most cities since 1883, and included a conversion to Daylight Saving Time for the remainder of World War I.

DST proved to be very unpopular in the USA and was repealed in 1919. President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the legislation but Congress overrode the veto. Thus, America returned to normal after the war to end all wars.

In February of 1942, DST was once again reinstated in the USA. Apparently, it's easier to fight world wars if you adjust the time pieces to save daylight. That way, you have an extra hour each day to fight and the enemy can't sneak away in the dark quite as easily.

In September of 1945, the "war time" requirement was removed.

From 1945 to 1966, the U.S. Congress had better things to do than mess with time. States and localities were free to observe or not to observe DST.

But in April of 1966, the Federal Uniform Time Act mandated DST nationwide. However, individual states could become exempt from DST by passing a state law. Then in 1972, the Act was amended to permit states that straddle time zones (such as Indiana) to exempt areas within zones.

The primary benefit of advancing clocks by an hour in the spring and reversing them in the fall is to give people more afternoon sun during the summer.

However, an extra hour of daylight in the afternoon costs an hour of daylight in the morning.

While a time change may benefit some, it can be inconvenient or a burden to others.

1) Sleep patterns are interrupted which generally take up to five days after each time shift to overcome
2) Personal health and work-related productivity suffer with changing sleep patterns
3) Those who must rise with the sun (agriculture) are out of sync with the societal time schedules
4) Studies show that traffic accidents increase significantly during periods following the time shifts
5) Computers must all change their internal clocks in accordance with human time
6) More afternoon sunlight actually increases energy consumption
7) Time shifts cause much confusion with international business
8) All Amtrak trains must stop for an hour in the fall to remain in sync with published timetables
9) In the spring, Amtrak trains become an hour behind schedule and must do their best to catch up

The state of Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time. I lived there in 1987-92 and life was much simpler sticking to a consistent time. I never understood why the rest of the country was so unenlightened.

Saving daylight is a lot like saving a jar of air. Basically, it's an exercise in stupidity resulting in an empty jar.

By the way, the U.S. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, has given us even more daylight to be saved. Starting in 2007, Daylight Saving Time was extended another four or five weeks in the USA (except Arizona, Hawaii and parts of Indiana), from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.

Note to Congress: Daylight Saving Time really doesn't save any daylight -- it only causes irritation, much like most everything else you do. If DST is such a great idea, why not do it all year around and avoid the grief?

When confronted with rules made by nitwits, one course of action is to become a nitwit. When the times change in the spring, show up at work an hour late, complaining you didn't realize the change had occurred. In the fall, show up two hours late during the time change, explaining you were confused. It works either way.

Time is precious. Don't give it away so freely. The only freedom you have in this dimension is the time that belongs to you.
___________

Quote for the Day – "Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted." John Lennon
___________

Bret Burquest is a former award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where the future arrives one day at a time, unless you sleep really late. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

3/11/11 -- Day of Rage

2011-02-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

The Middle East is erupting in a frenzy of chaos. The locals want to rid themselves of corrupt ruthless dictators, some of whom have been abetted and supported by the USA for decades by means of foreign aide and military protection.

The USA wants their oil, thus wants "stability" in the region -- but the locals want the USA to stop interfering in their affairs because the only ones profiting from the oil are the corrupt ruthless dictators. What goes around, comes around.

In recent days, there has been a call on Internet social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for a Day of Rage on March 11 all over Saudi Arabia. If this event takes place with a significant number of participants, it will be a major turning point in human history.

Saudi Arabia produces over 10 percent of the world's oil and it is the world's largest known oil reserve. Any major turmoil or disruption in this region would have dire consequences on the rest of the world and would undoubtedly compel other countries to intervene with force.

This could be the trigger for World War III.

The USA is being led by an inexperienced young man who was a first-term U.S. senator and whose only previous experience was as a community organizer in city neighborhoods. These factors may have played a role in the Middle East uprisings.

The young leader of the USA is being tested by international forces -- individuals and organizations hostile to democracy and/or free enterprise.

The young leader of the USA doesn't seem to comprehend the gravity of the situation. It is global in nature and the enslavement of the entire human race is at stake. The world is being suckered into a global conflagration by powerful forces that covertly manipulate global events to achieve their ultimate objective of world dominance through a One World government, with them in control.

It is interesting how the young leader of the USA has been so eager to support the protesters in the Middle East he perceives as yearning for freedom from government. Yet when protesters in his own country peacefully protested for more freedom from their own government, via the Tea Party movement for restraint on unsustainable federal spending, the young leader of the USA denigrated and ridiculed the protestors.

It's called hypocrisy.

Powerful global elitists behind closed doors are pulling the strings and enriching themselves in the process. They control the supply and demand of global currency, the first step toward a global government (New World Order). And they are multiple steps ahead of anyone else who is in position to stop them.

Note to the USA -- Don't get drawn into World War III and don't allow the elitists to enslave the human race.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." Denis Diderot
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the last day of rage occurred when he ran out of peanut butter. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

UFO Truth Embargo

2011-02-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

Stephen Bassett is the founder of the Paradigm Research Group and executive director of the Extraterrestrial Political Action Committee, also called X-PPAC. He is the only registered lobbyist in the USA representing UFO and Extraterrestrial researchers and activists.

On February 18, 2011, Bassett sent an open letter to one of the new freshman U.S. Senators in Washington. The following is a partial transcript of that letter.

Senator Xxxxx, there is something quite important you need to know. Beginning in the summer of 1947, and more formally in early 1953, the United States government instituted a policy of embargo on the formal acknowledgement of an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race.

This policy was initiated for national security reasons and pursued with great vigor and considerable resources. This truth embargo, while it has weakened considerably during the past ten years, remains in place to this day.

History will argue at length whether this embargo was good policy and lasted too long. Whatever that verdict may be, history will show that information was withheld, disinformation was introduced into the public domain, researchers were intimidated and perhaps murdered, research organizations were infiltrated and dismantled, and witnesses to events and evidence were threatened.

It is the matter of witness intimidation that is most germane to this letter. You see, Senator, as reported to researchers, it was not uncommon for representatives of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies to tell witnesses they would be killed if they spoke about their UFO/ET experiences. They were also told that even if they did speak out, no one would believe them.

Senator, the Cold War has been over for twenty years. We are well into the 21st Century.

Does it concern you the United States Congress has done nothing to resolve this matter and has next to no oversight of the secret structures that manage the extraterrestrial issue?

Does it concern you that American presidents are not fully briefed on this matter or the depth of their briefing is often based upon their political affiliation?

Respectfully,
Stephen Bassett
Executive Director
___________

Quote for the Day -- "The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of the government." Ron Paul
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where ET has found no logical reason to land a craft. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

One Hundred Years Ago -- 1911

2011-02-15T14:37:00.001-08:00

Time seems to be accelerating, advancing humanity at an exponential rate.

A hundred years ago, 1911, in the USA the average annual income was $520, which was adequate since a pound of butter was 34 cents, a half gallon of milk was 17 cents, a pound of round steak was 18 cents, a pound of potatoes was 22 cents and a brand new car was $750.

The following events took place in 1911:

Jan 10 -- The first bombs ever dropped from airplanes took place when U.S. Army aviators were used to preserve the neutrality of the Rio Grande during the Mexican Revolution

Jan 27 -- Fingerprints were accepted as evidence for the first time in a U.S. courtroom

Feb 8 -- The USA helped to overthrow the president of Honduras

Feb 22 -- The Canadian Parliament voted to preserve the union with the British Empire

Mar 7 -- The USA sent 20,000 troops to the Mexican border during the Mexican Revolution

Mar 11 -- General Motors Cadillac Division presented the first electric self-starter

Mar 30 -- The Yangtze River in China overflowed killing 100,000 people

Apr 14 -- The Mona Lisa painting was stolen from the Louvre in Paris

May 8 -- England and China signed a treaty making opium the leading trading commodity

May 15 -- The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the break-up of the Standard Oil Company owned by John D. Rockefeller, in violation of anti-trust laws, forming 34 new companies, including Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Arco, Conoco

May 16 -- The remains of a Neanderthal man were discovered in New Jersey

May 30 -- The first long-distance auto race in Indianapolis -- average speed was 74.4 mph and one driver was killed.

Jun 6 -- The U.S. Navy acquired its first airplane

Jun 22 -- The first white line down the center of a roadway was created in Michigan

Jul 15 -- Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud visited New York City prior to their lectures at Clark University

Jul 23 -- A volcano in the Philippines killed 1,335 people

Aug 15 -- Proctor & Gamble introduced Crisco shortening

Aug 22 -- President William Taft vetoed a joint resolution granting statehood to Arizona because the state constitution authorized the recall of judges -- the offending clause was removed, Arizona was admitted to statehood and soon thereafter the offending clause was restored into the state constitution

Sep 17 -- Calbraith Rodgers attempted to fly an aircraft across the continental United States (4,321 miles) from New York to California within 30 days to collect a $50,000 prize -- it took 84 days, involving 70 crash landings

Sep 25 -- Italy declared war on Turkey

Sep 27 -- Henry Ford reduced the retail price of the Model T to $690

Oct 4 -- The first public elevator began operation in London, England

Oct 10 -- A bomb explosion in China triggered a revolution whereby the Manchu Dynasty was overthrown

Oct 11 -- The Philadelphia Athletics won the Baseball World Series over the New York Giants

Oct 16 -- Goodyear began flying blimps

Nov 10 -- President Taft ended a 57-day speaking tour

Nov 11 -- California granted women the right to vote, the sixth state in the Union to do so

Dec 2 -- Louis Chevrolet established the Chevrolet Motor Company

Dec 14 -- Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole

Dec 16 -- Chinese men stopped shaving their heads and wearing braids, a style under the order of the emperor since 1644

Dec 31 -- Russia exported 13.7 million tons of grain while 30 million of its peasants suffered from famine

Dec 31 -- The most popular song in 1911 was "Oh, you Beautiful Doll"

Those born in 1911 -- John Sturges (movie director), Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (baseball player), Ronald Reagan (actor, U.S. President), Merle Oberon (actress), Jean Harlow (actress), L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology), Melvin Calvin (chemist, Nobel Prize 1961), Hubert Humphrey (U.S. Vice President), Maureen O'Sullivan (actress), Vincent Price (actor), Luis W. Alvarez (physicist, Nobel Prize 1968), Albert Hirschfield (illustrator), Robert Johnson (blues musician), George Pompidou (Prime Minister of France), Terry Thomas (actor), Ginger Rogers (actress), Hume Cronyn (actor), Marshall McLuhan (professor, writer), Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner (blues musician), Lucille Ball (actress), Cantinflas (actor), Bill Monroe (father of Bluegrass music), William Golding (novelist, Nobel Prize 1983), Sonny Terry (musician), Will Rogers, Jr. (actor), Mahalia Jackson (gospel singer), Roy Rogers (singing cowboy actor), Chester "Chet" Huntley (broadcast journalist), Joshua "Josh" Gibson (baseball player).

Those who control the present control the past, those who control the past control the future -- those in control tend to deviate from the truth to reflect positively in themselves and the actual past becomes a pile of ashes.

In two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "It ain't bragging if you can do it." Dizzy Dean
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where time moves at the speed of slow. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Indiana Jones in 2011

2011-02-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

In 1980, I was a computer programmer in Los Angeles, taking screenwriting classes at night. One day I learned of the existence of 12 pyramids (two rows of six each) that an orbiting satellite had discovered in a remote area of the dense Amazon rain forest in Brazil, near Peru. I decided to use this information for my first screenplay.

I knew a physicist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena who explained all the technical details involved to me, including how a satellite could use spectroscopy to determine the physical properties of items on earth.

Thus, I decided to write a screenplay about a scientist examining satellite data who discovers a pattern of 12 pyramids with a smaller pyramid in the middle of the pattern encased in gold. The scientist destroys his findings, forms a small expedition and journeys to South America to seek a treasure (with bad guys on his trail, of course). The working title was THE MIDDLE PYRAMID – certain to be a blockbuster adventure movie, or so I fantasized.

I worked on the screenplay for about six months, mostly on weekends using a typewriter, and finished the first draft just about the same time a movie came out in 1981 titled RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, about a scientist (archeologist) embarked on an expedition for treasure (the Ark of the Covenant) with bad guys on the same trail. Sadly, I realized that my screenplay would now look like a rip off of the same film, so I shelved it and begrudgingly started another one.

Although George Lucas and Phil Kaufman were credited for the story, and Lawrence Kasdan received screen credit for the screenplay of RAIDERS, a man named Randolph Fillmore purportedly wrote the first draft. In Hollywood, multiple writers often work on the same film but the Writer's Guild determines who gets final credit.

According to various sources, Randolph Fillmore was a volunteer who worked with an archeologist named Dr. Vendyl Jones in 1977. Dr. Jones agreed to help Fillmore with the script on two conditions. First, it couldn't be set in Israel and, secondly, that Fillmore wouldn't use his name. Thus, Fillmore set the story in Egypt and altered Dr. Jones' name. "Vendyl Jones" became "Endy Jones" which later became "Indiana Jones."

Dr. Vendyl Jones is one of the leaders of the Noahide movement, comprised of non-Jews who observe the seven laws of Noah. As a teacher, he published a book in 1959 predicting the precise outbreak of the Six Day War and was the only non-Jewish American (Texan) who fought in combat in the Six Day War in 1967.

The Ark of the Covenant is considered to be the container of the Ten Commandments given to Moses at Mount Sinai. According to the Bible, the Ark measures 2.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits (62.5 inches by 37.5 inches by 37.5 inches), which is precisely identical in size to the king's chamber in the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

Dr. Jones is currently waiting for permission from the Israeli government to probe for the Ark which he believes was hidden in a secret passage (placed there just before the destruction of the First Temple) under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He contends the passageway is a tunnel that extends 18 miles southward. The Ark was subsequently brought through the tunnel to its current resting place in the Judean Desert.

With the help of an ancient document found in Qumran, Dr. Jones is convinced he knows the location of the Ark. In the Copper Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the first five lines read: "In the desolation of the Valley of Achur, in the opening under the ascent, which is a mountain facing eastward, covered by forty placed boulders – here is a tabernacle and all the golden fixtures." Dr. Jones believes this is the key to finding the Ark.

Having walked over a group of boulders in that exact location many times, Dr. Jones suddenly came to realize the huge boulders didn't come off the mountain – they had to have been brought in from someplace else. He plans to drill a bore hole and drop a pin camera into the chamber below. All he needs now is permission.

"Israel is a lot like heaven," Dr. Jones proclaims, "it's a lot easier to get forgiveness than it is permission."

Time will tell -- if such an important religious artifact is to be found, it will probably happen when it's meant to happen.

May the Force be with you -- oops, that's a different movie.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "It's not the years -- it's the mileage." Indiana Jones
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where archeological discoveries consist mainly of old beer cans along dirt roads. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

One Hundred to Zip

2011-01-29T11:52:00.001-08:00

On January 14, 2011, Christian Heritage High School (Utah) beat West Ridge Academy (Utah) in a girl's basketball game by the score of 108-3. Even though Christian Heritage High thought it would be disrespectful to slow down the game, there were endless remarks about the ugliness and unsportsmanlike conduct in the outcome of the game by various national sports and news talking heads.

A similar event took place in January of 2009. Dallas Academy High School in Texas had only 20 girls in attendance and 8 members on the girl's varsity basketball team. They hadn't won a game in more than 4 years. On January 10, 2009, Dallas Academy played Covenant School in a girl's varsity basketball game. Both are private, parochial schools. Covenant School beat Dallas Academy 100 to zero.

Micah Grimes was in his fourth season as coach of the Covenant High School Girls Varsity Basketball Team. The team had a record of 2-19 in his first season and he built the program into a state championship contender last season. Covenant often plays larger out-of-district school and had a 6-3 record for the 2008-2009 season so far.

When the score was 25-0 against Dallas Academy, Grimes called off Covenant's full-court defensive pressure and began resting starters. The score was 59-0 at halftime. In the fourth quarter, Covenant only scored 12 points, totally ceasing scoring in the last four minutes once they reached 100.

Kyle Queal, head of Covenant Academy, subsequently issued an apology to Dallas Academy and offered to forfeit the game. "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened.... A victory without honor is a great loss."

On Sunday, January 25, 2009, Coach Grimes posted the following statement on a youth basketball website: "I respectfully disagree with the apology, especially that the Covenant School Girl's Basketball Team should feel embarrassed or ashamed. We played the game as it was meant to be played and would not intentionally run up the score on any opponent. My girls played with honor and integrity and showed respect to Dallas Academy."

Shortly thereafter on the same day, Coach Grimes was fired.

Later, Covenant School posted a statement on their website seeking the "forgiveness of Dallas Academy" while expressing their "regrets" for the "shameful" outcome of the game. "This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like approach to competition."

A Christ-like approach to competition????

Is it a Christ-like approach to fire someone for properly doing their job????

Is everyone in Texas insane????

One of the freshman players on the Dallas Academy team, Shelby Hyatt, was asked about the game. "Even if you're losing, you might as well keep playing. Keep trying and it's going to be okay."

Well, apparently everyone in Texas isn't insane after all.

Recently, a school district in California banned the game of tag from grade school playgrounds. They felt that someone had to be “it” and would thereby get their feelings hurt, thus creating victims with low self-esteem.

Self-esteem is a confidence and satisfaction in oneself. It comes from what we think of ourselves. Basically, you are what you think you are. The higher your self-esteem, the more confidence and satisfaction you possess.

To have high self-esteem, you must realistically accept who and what you are, and have a feeling of worth and competency. You must be capable of meeting life’s challenge and believe you’re worthy of happiness. People with high self-esteem respect themselves, thereby gaining respect from others.

People with low self-esteem often withdraw within themselves or try to prove themselves by impressing others. They lack confidence, hence avoid exposing themselves to failure, or become arrogant and egotistical to make up for their shortcomings. They’ll often blame others rather than take responsibility for their actions.

Nothing builds self-esteem like accomplishment.

Sports are an endeavor in achievement. As in life, there are winners and losers. The lesson to be learned in any competition is to win with honor and to lose with grace. You give it your best effort and live with the consequences.

Some signs you may be suffering from low self-esteem are:

1) You’re not only afraid of heights but are also afraid of widths.
2) You consider indecision to be the key to flexibility.
3) Sometimes you stop to think, then forget to start again.
4) Your imaginary friend is smarter and better looking than you.
5) You used to be indecisive, but now you’re not so sure.
6) If at first you don’t succeed, you blame it on the vast right-wing conspiracy.
7) You believe that reality is the leading cause of stress.
8) When you finally get it all together, you forget where you put it.
9) You believe that growing old is inevitable but growing up is optional.
10) You always wanted to be a procrastinator but never got around to it.
11) You don’t suffer from low self-esteem – you enjoy every minute of it.
12) You were “it” once playing tag as a child and it ruined your life.

Life is a series of trials and tribulations – sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you’re “it.” Embrace the experience and move on. In only two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.
___________

Quote for the Day – "Sports does not build character, it reveals it." John Wooden
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where reality is the leading cause of stress. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Nothing, Nothing Still

2011-01-23T09:54:00.001-08:00

Nothing, Nothing Still
The Orb of Wounded Souls hurls through the Void
The Dark Rift awaiting at the center of the Way
Great Expectations approach the 3rd Density

The Age of Enlightenment is upon the Orb
At the end of the Grand Procession in 12 of 12
Enlightened Ones ascend into the 4th Density
Retrograde in 3D for those who cling to envy

The Whore of Babylon sits on the Throne
Illuminated Dragons behind the Golden Curtain
The Mark of the Beast flies on Friday
Schrodinger's Cat hides in the box

11 and 11 will comprehend the Curse
The Orb is a carnal entrapment of shades of gray
33 Masters dwell in the 7th Realm
Where patience reigns Supreme as One

Complex souls are birds of youth
Formed from the Rock of Ages
Evolving into lustful barbarians
Becoming slaves of shining objects

The bush burns slowly for those who covet
Choosing helplessness over freedom
When trampled by uniformed boots of security
The truth no longer sets them free

Space and Time harness the Universe
Patience is the Third element of the Trinity
Matter is the mystical illusion of the 3rd Density
Energy being the hidden essence of Being

The ancient Tzu sits atop a mountain above the fray
As the golden sun sinks into a red glow of splendor
Comprehending answers before seeking questions
Knowing that all knowing is within

The Journey through Eternity is forever
Surrounded by Infinity
Suffering is the key to Understanding
Understanding is the key to Bliss

Everything is what it is
All is One
Soul purpose is to become pure within
Accepting the sole perfection of the One

Nothing is as it seems
Nothing is beyond comprehension
Nothing is beneath perfection
Nothing, Nothing Still

Chinese New Year 2011

2011-01-16T17:36:00.001-08:00

The Chinese invented many things, including paper, metallurgy, the compass, fortune cookies, Kung Fu and dynamite. They also invented astrology. In fact, the Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history.

According to Chinese astrology, 2011 is the Year of the Metal Rabbit.

Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac in 2600 BC. As with other supreme rulers of his era, he had a lot of time on his hands and was eager to impress his subjects with his superior knowledge.

The first day of the Chinese New Year is celebrated at the second new moon after the winter solstice which can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February, depending on cyclical lunar conditions.

The Chinese lunar year is divided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days. Each 12-year cycle is then positioned within a major cycle of 60 years (five 12-month cycles) representing the characteristics of each upcoming year.

Chinese astrology is basically composed of two cycles – 12 annual animal cycles and 5 two-year element cycles. The 12 annual animals are Dog, Boar, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey and Rooster. The five element cycles, each lasting two years, are fire, earth, metal, water and wood.

In 2011, the Chinese New Year starts on February 3. The Year of the Metal Tiger will end and the Year of the Metal Rabbit will be ushered in. Celebrations will last for 15 days, until the full moon arrives and the Lantern Festival takes place.

The Rabbit is a symbol of sensitivity, compassion and creativity. Rabbit-born people thrive on business dealings. For them, the Year 2011 will yield much professional success and personal happiness.

A person born this year will be born in the Year of the Metal Rabbit. Rabbit-born people are charismatic, thoughtful, calm, gentle, sympathetic, fashionable, persistent and extremely shrewd in business dealings.

Other Rabbit-born people were born in 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987 and 1999. Included in this group are Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Angeline Jolie, Frank Sinatra and Albert Einstein

I was born during the Year of the Wood Monkey. According to the Chinese astrology, I am certain to be very intelligent, well liked by everyone and highly successful in whatever field of endeavor I choose.

Obviously, Chinese astrology isn’t an exact science.
___________

Quote for the Day – "When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead... and the White Knight is talking backwards and the Red Queen's 'off with her head'... remember what the dormouse said... feed your head... feed your head." (WHITE RABBIT lyrics by Grace Slick)
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where falling down a rabbit hole is as easy as falling off a log. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

The Three Choices of Life

2011-01-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

Life is like a river of natural events -- it flows where it wants to flow, and there's not much you can usually do about it without an enormous amount of effort and a slew of unintended consequences. Basically, you have 3 choices in The Flow of Life -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or change The Flow.

William Shakespeare was a very prolific writer who was mostly understood by snooty British intellectuals, high school English teachers and people with brain damage. Most of the rest of us who were forced to read his drivel back in high school didn’t have a clue what Shakespeare was all about.

One of his more famous excerpts comes in act 3 of Hamlet – “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; or to take arms against a sea of troubles…”

This is all a person really needs to know about life. Unfortunately, reading Shakespeare is a lot like reading the graffiti on the wall of a public restroom – it seems somewhat clever yet is often confusing, but you don’t really care because you’ve got better things to do than hang around and try to figure it out.

What Shakespeare was really trying to tell the world was that there is a choice in life we all face. We can choose to go with The Flow and suffer the consequences (suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune) or we can choose to go off in our own direction (take arms against a sea of trouble) and suffer the consequences. Choosing not to make a choice automatically puts you into the category of going with The Flow. In other words, you can go with The Flow or follow your own path. Either way, there will be consequences to suffer.

Some people choose to go with The Flow. They elect people to lead them, obey the rules, pay their taxes and march off to war. They may not like it sometimes but they go along in order to get along. These are the followers of the flock of humanity and conformists who are obedient of authority, usually out of a sense of duty or fear of consequences.

Some people go off in their own direction, avoiding The Flow as much as humanly possible. Although often ridiculed by those who conform, they couldn't care less. And even when they’re alone they’re never lonely because they don’t need to be validated by others. These are the weirdoes who prefer to be different simply to gain self-respect within their own existence.

Then there are those who try to have it both ways, going with The Flow when it suits them and avoiding it when it doesn't. Most of the time they choose to go with The Flow, until The Flow takes them where they don’t want to be, then they rebel a bit. But taking arms against a sea of trouble requires strength and fortitude, forcing them to get back into The Flow when the going gets too tough. These are the flip-floppers who jump on and off of band wagons depending on which way the wind blows.

Furthermore, some people attempt to manipulate The Flow toward their personal desires. They demand the right to create and enforce their own version of heaven on Earth. Many of them believe they are creating a better world, while others are simply attempting to gain power, control or riches. Either way, it is a form of selfishness. No one has the moral certitude to change the world into their personal vision of wonderfulness, because wonderfulness is always in the eye of the beholder.

People who choose to always go with The Flow are happy people. Occasionally, they suffer the consequences of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune but life is full of consequences and they don’t blame themselves for their suffering because they were merely caught in The Flow of the decision-making of others. Plus, the burden of making independent decisions is avoided because The Flow makes all the decisions for them.

People who choose to always avoid The Flow are also happy people. They go their own direction and follow their own path. They face lots of obstacles for not conforming to The Flow, but their suffering is of their own making and therefore more palatable. Independent people understand that suffering builds character, thereby making their way of life that much more endearing. Rather than allow the rest of the world to err on their behalf, they’d prefer to screw up their lives on their own.

Those who try to have it both ways are unhappy people. They have no direction in life. Rather than being comfortable within The Flow or comfortable outside The Flow, they are dissatisfied with both options and spend their days whining about how The Flow has ruined their lives.

People who try to change The Flow are also an unhappy lot. They tend to align with others who also want to change The Flow, exerting group pressure by forming associations and unions and political parties and religions and secret societies in order to manipulate The Flow in their favor. But no matter how effective they are at manipulating The Flow, they’re fighting an endless battle because there are always other interests attempting to manipulate The Flow in a variety of directions. And the ends rarely justify the means because there is no End to The Flow.

Flow Changers have been battling Flow Changers since the beginning of time. They are convinced their way is the correct way and insist everyone else conform to their notion of correctness, right down to the correct length of grass in your front yard and the correct state of mind from which you are forbidden to alter. Flow Changers are self-righteous, rebellious conformists who demand selfless, non-rebellious conformity from everyone else.

So if you want to be happy, accept the slings and arrows (go with The Flow) and fall in line like a proper obedient citizen (conformist). Or take arms against a sea of trouble (avoid The Flow) and follow your own path like a free independent thinker (outcast). One or the other -- you can't be both.

The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. The reward for conformity is everyone likes you but yourself. Even dead fish go with The Flow. The reward for being an outcast is self-respect. It's better to avoid The Flow than to be swept away by it.

If you want to be an unhappy jerk, attempt to change The Flow and regulate the world. But always bear in mind that no good deed goes unpunished.

"You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A Wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow." Ursula K. Le Guin

There are only two things in life -- you and everything else. The only thing you can change is you.

Ultimately, you have 3 choices -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or bang your head against the wall.
___________

Quote for the Day -- “No two ideals were ever more incompatible than the security of conformity and the freedom of individuality. After the choice is made, the rest is easy – unless you don’t have the guts to stick by your choice.” Hunter S. Thompson
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where changing The Flow often has something to do with indoor plumbing. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Another Starving Writer

2010-12-31T14:24:00.001-08:00

HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL

Not long ago, a friend I worked with many years ago decided to take a year off and write a novel. Then yesterday, an old high school pal asked me what it takes to write a novel. Since I have four published novels floating around in the ozone somewhere, I sent them this advice.

1) To write a novel, you must be a persistent self-starter with thick skin and high self-esteem. You need to work at it every day until your fingers lock up and your brain bleeds. Once you start, you can never quit.

2) You should have a unique premise or idea or twist for a novel. There’s no point writing something that’s already been written. It’s called a novel because there’s something novel about it.

3) Almost all novels have a distinct structure. There are three acts – a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning usually opens with an enticing (exciting or mysterious or bizarre or whatever) hook to compel the reader to continue past the first line and first paragraph and first page. Then something happens (plot point #1) to propel the narrative into act two, the main conflict. A second plot point eventually occurs to launch the story into the third act, the resolution. All scenes and dialogue should advance the plot line or help define the characters; if they don’t, they should probably be deleted.

4) It helps if the characters are three dimensional, rather than stereotypical or predictable.

5) It helps if the dialogue is authentic and unique to the characters, rather than stereotypical or predictable.

6) It’s best to throw the main characters into a situation and let the story evolve from there. Sometimes the story line will take an unexpected turn based on the “authentic” actions of the characters. This way the story becomes much more realistic because it’s driven by the reactions of the characters themselves.

7) Once you’ve finished writing the novel, you’ve only begun. You must rewrite and rewrite and rewrite until it flows in a fluid, poetic manner. And you must not hesitate to remove a favorite line or two if they don’t fit -- it may break your heart but the integrity of the final product is more important than the brilliance of a single moment within the text that doesn’t belong there. It takes a ton of work to get it just right. Just as a good actor doesn’t appear to be acting, good literature reads as though it wasn’t even written, much less rewritten.

8) You must know when to quit. Every time you read it you’ll find little things to change or fix. At some point you must pronounce it finished. This is very hard to do but you must be decisive.

9) You must strive for perfection. You can’t hand a manuscript to a publisher or a literary agent containing errors or coffee stains. When you spend a zillion hours attempting to create something worthy enough to present to the literary world, it must be presentable. A sloppy product suggests sloppy writing.

10) The finished product is only the end of phase one. Phase two is getting it published and phase three is stimulating sales. Getting it published isn’t easy. Only one out of about 200 novels submitted to publishers ever gets published. Your odds are somewhat better getting published if you sign with a literary agent but finding a good one who will represent you is just about as hard as finding a publisher. Self-publishing has become easier these days with print-on-demand technology but most people will spend more money than they will ever take in.

11) Even if you manage to get a novel published, only about one in twenty published novels makes enough money to break even for the publisher. Writers get a percentage of sales, based on retail price. A percentage of very little is less than very little. Only a small percentage of published writers actually makes a living at it and very few of them ever get rich. The true riches come from the self-satisfaction of accomplishment.

12) If it’s in your twisted mind to write a novel then do it and don’t quit until you get it done. Don’t worry about what others think of your stupid plans. You’re writing because you’re a writer and that’s what writers do. Let the rest of the world go about their boring nine-to-five business. You’re above such petty nonsense.

It is better to be a starving writer than wishing you were a starving writer.

Novels by Bret Burquest:
THE DOGMAN OF TOPANGA -- romantic suspense/thriller
A BAD RUN OF FATE -- psychological mystery
GOOMBA IN MONTANA -- coming-of-age suspense/thriller
THE ELEVENTH SAGE -- metaphysical mystery
___________

Quote for the Day -- "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed it imitation." Herman Melville
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where starving writers dine on hickory bark. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

The Ordeal of Jeffery MacDonald

2010-12-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

This is an article I wrote a couple of years for another website. Just thought I'd post it on one of my blog sites too.

JEFFERY MacDONALD

At 3:42 AM on February 17, 1970, dispatchers at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, received an emergency call from Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, M.D., a Green Beret group surgeon, concerning an incident in his residence on base.

Upon arrival, responding officers discovered a gruesome scene.

MacDonald's wife, Colette, who was pregnant with their third child, was dead on the floor of her bedroom. She had been severely battered, both arms were broken and she had been stabbed 37 times with a knife and an ice pick. The word "pig" had been written in blood on her headboard.

Daughter Kimberly, age 5, was found in her bed. She had been battered in the head and stabbed 8 to 10 times in the neck with a knife.

Daughter Kristen, age 2, was found in her bed, having been stabbed 33 times with a knife and 15 times with an ice pick.

MacDonald was found alive but unconscious, requiring mouth-to-mouth resuscitation at the scene by a military policeman. He had various cuts and bruises, 3 contusions on his head where he was knocked out and at least 17 stab wounds, one of which was life threatening that deeply punctured his lung, causing the lung to partially collapse by 40 percent. He was released from the hospital after one week.

MacDONALD'S VERSION OF THE INCIDENT

MacDonald told investigators that he had been sleeping on the living room couch because his youngest daughter had been in bed with his wife and had wet his side of the bed. He was awakened by screams from his wife and oldest daughter.

As he rose from the couch, three male intruders attacked him with a club and an ice pick. His pajama top was pulled off in the struggle and he used it to ward off thrusts from the ice pick. Eventually, he was knocked unconscious in the living room at the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

One of the male intruders was a black man wearing an army field jacket with E6 stripes. The other two males were white.

During this struggle, MacDonald claimed there was a white female in a white floppy hat observing the attack while holding a lighted candle and chanting "Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs."

MacDONALD'S BACKGROUND

Jeffery Robert MacDonald was born on October 12, 1943, in Queens, New York. In high school, he was voted most popular and most likely to succeed. He won a scholarship to Princeton University and married his high school sweetheart, Colette.

Three years at Princeton was followed by attending Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. After a one year internship at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, MacDonald joined the U.S. Army. He was appointed to the Green Berets in 1969 as a group surgeon and stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

ARMY INVESTIGATION

The crime scene had been examined by the army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID). They found some inconsistencies with MacDonald's account of what happened.

The murder weapons, which were MacDonald household items, were found outside the back door. Fiber's from MacDonald's torn pajama top were found under Colette's body, but no fibers were found in the living room where MacDonald claimed he had struggled with the intruders. Although the coffee table and a plant were overturned in the living room, CID investigators didn't believe it showed signs of a struggle.

Plus, the CID investigators found an issue of ESQUIRE magazine in the living room. In it was an article about the Manson Family murders that had taken place the previous summer. The investigators theorized the article was where MacDonald got the idea of blaming crazed druggies attacking his family and writing "acid is groovy, kill the pigs" on the wall in blood.

ARMY HEARING

An army Article 32 hearing convened in July of 1970, overseen by Colonel Warren Rock, to litigate the incident. MacDonald was represented by Bernard Segal, a civilian attorney from Philadelphia.

The defense concentrated on two aspects of the case – the improper management of the crime scene by the CID and the existence of other suspects.

Segal presented evidence that the CID lost critical evidence, including skin found under Colette's fingernails.

In addition, Segal claimed to have located the woman MacDonald witnessed in the floppy white hat at the scene. Her name was Helena Stoeckley, the daughter of a retired army colonel, and she was a well-known drug user in the area of Fort Bragg. Several witnesses claimed that Stoeckley had admitted to them that she had been involved in the crime. Plus, several witnesses remembered Stoeckley wearing similar clothing during the time frame of the incident just as MacDonald had described.

During a six-week pre-court marshal hearing, Col. Rock learned that Helena Stoeckley had made statements suggesting she had been involved in the killings. It was revealed that Stoeckley was a narcotic informer for army military police and local law enforcement.

Stoeckley admitted to army investigators that she had been wearing a floppy hat, blonde wig and boots on the night of the murder. She later admitted that she had burned the hat, wig and boots, fearing they would incriminate her in the crime. She also claimed she was on drugs at the times of the incident and had no alibi for that evening.

According to military policeman Kenneth Mica who had responded to the crime scene, a woman fitting Stoeckley's description was seen standing at a street corner on the army post, three blocks from the crime scene, as they drove by.

In October of 1970, the military proceeding issued a report dismissing all charges against MacDonald on the grounds that the allegations were "not true" and recommended that civilian authorities investigate Stoeckley.

FORMAL COMPLAINT

After the Article 32 hearing, Macdonald returned to work as a medical doctor. After a brief stint in New York, he moved to California where he became an emergency room physician at the St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach.

In April of 1974, Alfred and Mildred Kassab, Colette's stepfather and mother, filed a formal complaint against MacDonald for the murders of their daughter and grandchildren.

A grand jury was convened in August of 1974 in North Carolina to look into the matter.

On January 24, 1975, the grand jury indicted MacDonald on murder charges. Within the hour, MacDonald was arrested in California.

On January 31, 1975, MacDonald was freed on $100,000 bail pending disposition of the charges.

COURT APPEALS

July 29, 1975 – District Judge Franklin T. Dupree Jr. denied MacDonald's motion against double jeopardy and speedy trial motions. The trial date of August 18, 1975 would stand.

August 15, 1975 – The Fourth Circuit of Appeals stayed the trial.

January 23, 1976 – A panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2 to 1 decision, ordered the indictment dismissed on the grounds of being denied a speedy trial.

May 1, 1978 – The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8 to zero decision, reinstated the indictment on behalf of the Government.

October 22, 1978 -- the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected MacDonald's double jeopardy appeal.

March 19, 1979 – The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to reject MacDonald's double jeopardy appeal.

CIVILIAN TRIAL

On July 16, 1979, the murder trial of Jeffrey MacDonald began in Raleigh, North Carolina, before Judge Franklin T. Dupree. Attorney's Bernard Segal and Wade Smith represented MacDonald.

Judge Dupree refused to allow into evidence a psychiatric evaluation of MacDonald submitted by the defense suggesting MacDonald was incapable of killing his wife and children.

However, Judge Dupree allowed the prosecution to introduce the 1970 copy of ESQUIRE magazine, containing the article about the Charles Manson murders in August 1969, into evidence. Government attorneys maintained this is where MacDonald got the idea of blaming a crazed hippie gang for the killings.

The prosecution presented MacDonald's pajama top as evidence. In contained 48 small, smooth, cylindrical ice pick holes. MacDonald's wife had been stabbed 21 times by an ice pick. The prosecution demonstrated that by folding the pajama top a certain way that all 48 holes could have been made by 21 stricks with an ice pick. Their theory was that MacDonald had stabbed his wife 21 times through the pajama top while the pajama top was lying on Colette's chest.

The audio tape of the April 6, 1970, military investigation interview of MacDonald was played for the jury. In it, MacDonald explained his version of the incident in a very "matter-of-fact" manner. It was an unemotional recitation of events, damaging MacDonald's case. However, MacDonald was a Green Beret and an emergency room physician – his normal demeanor under stress would be calm and precise.

The defense called Helena Stoeckley to the stand. Just prior to her testimony, Stoeckley was interviewed by the defense and the prosecution, during which time she denied ever being in MacDonald's apartment. She testified that she could not remember her activities on the night of the murders because of excessive drug use.

The defense attempted to introduce into evidence testimony from other witnesses who claimed that Steockley had confessed to the killings. However Judge Dupree refused that evidence because of Stoeckley's history of long-term drug abuse.

The defense called forensic expert James Thornton. He attempted to demonstrate that the pajama top was wrapped around MacDonald's wrist by conducting an experiment whereby a similar pajama top was placed over a ham, and moved back and forth on a sled while being stabbed with an ice pick.

The defense called several character witnesses, then MacDonald took the stand as the last witness where he tearfully denied committing the murders.

On August 29, 1979, MacDonald was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder, in the death of Kristen, the oldest daughter, and two counts of second-degree murder. Judge Dupree sentenced MacDonald to three consecutive life sentences.

MACDONALD'S WOUNDS

During the trial, the prosecution claimed that all of MacDonald's wounds were inflicted by Colette, during a violent confrontation, except for the single wound to MacDonald's lung which was self-inflicted.

However, all six doctors who were consulted at the Army Hearing testified that a self-inflicted wound in such a manner could not have a predicted outcome, even by a doctor inflicting the wound on himself, plus the liver could have been damaged, resulting in death.

Due to a mix-up at Womack Hospital, where MacDonald was treated after the incident, no photographs of MacDonald's wounds were ever taken.

At Womack Hospital, Dr. Paul Manson and Dr. Robert McGann observed (and testified) that MacDonald had a "large contusion" on his forehead and another one over his right temple.

Army officer Ron Harrison, a friend of MacDonald, told Army investigators he observed the bruises on the front of MacDonald's head, and also noticed limps on the back of his head. He further observed numerous wounds on MacDonald's chest, arms and abdomen, and what he believed to be ice pick wounds to the neck.

At the Army hearing, Dr. Straub testified that he "spread apart" an abdominal wound whereby he observed that it "had gone through a great deal of the muscle of the abdominal wall."

During grand jury testimony in 1974, Dr. Severt Jacobson of Womack Hospital testified that he observed cuts to MacDonald's hand and forearms "from a very sharp object." He further described four puncture wounds to the upper chest and multiple puncture wounds to the arms and abdomen.

Upon admission to Womack Hospital, Army surgeon Dr. Frank Gemma noted "several small puncture wounds that may have come from an instrument such as an ice pick."

All in all, MacDonald was stabbed at least 17 times and had multiple contusions to the head. The wound to the lung required a chest tube and two surgeries.

MORE APPEALS

On July 29, 1980, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2 to 1 panel decision, reversed MacDonald's murder conviction on the grounds violating the Sixth Amendment to a speedy trial.

On August 22, 1980, MacDonald was freed on $100,000 bail and returned to St. Mary's Medical Center in Long Beach at his old position as Director of Emergency Medicine.

On December 18, 1980, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 5 to 5 decision, allowed the earlier decision of a reversal of the murder conviction to stand.

On May 31, 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 decision, ruled that MacDonald's rights to a speedy trial had not been violated.

MacDonald was immediately re-arrested and returned to prison.

On August 16, 1982, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed MacDonald's convictions based on the remaining points of his appeal.

On January 10, 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court refused a further appeal from MacDonald.

On March 1, 1985, Judge Dupree rejected all motions by MacDonald for a new trial. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Dupree's ruling and refused to reopen the case.

On October 6, 1986, The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In July of 1991, Judge Dupree heard arguments that MacDonald should be granted a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Dupree denied the petition.

STOECKLEY CONFESSION TO PROSECUTORS

In 1971, Helena Stoeckley was administered a polygraph test by the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in which she denied being at the crime scene. She failed the polygraph test.

On January 12, 2006, MacDonald was granted leave from prison to file his fourth appeal. This petition included a sworn affidavit from a retired U.S. Marshal named Jimmy Britt who worked the civilian trial.

Britt stated that he overheard Helena Stoeckley admit to the prosecutor, James Blackburn, that she had been present at the MacDonald residence at the time of the killings, and that Blackburn then threatened her with prosecution if she testified.

Also, during her retention as a material witness during the trial, Stoeckley had contacted Judge Dupree, claiming she was terrified of Bernard Segal, the lead defense attorney. Consequently, when she met with the defense council prior to the trial she told them she had no recollection of the night of the murders.

Jimmy Britt died on October 19, 2008.

STOECKLEY CONFESSION TO HER MOTHER

On April 16, 2007, MacDonald's attorneys filed an affidavit with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals wherein Helena Stoeckley's mother stated that her daughter twice confessed to her that she was present at MacDonald's residence the night of the murders and that she was afraid of testifying to that fact for fear of prosecution.

Also included in the latest appeal was the newly discovered evidence of alleged threats against Stoeckley by the prosecution and recently completed DNA results.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals granted MacDonald's motion and remanded the matter to the District Court Eastern Division for a decision.

In November of 2008, Judge Fox of the District Court Eastern Division denied the motion regarding Helena Stoeckley's mother's statement, denied the motion regarding Britt's statement, and denied the motion regarding the new DNA results. The denials were based on technicalities, whereby MacDonald's attorneys had not obtained the required authorization from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to properly submit the motions to the District Court Eastern Division. The court stated that MacDonald must file a separate motion regarding DNA results and would need pre-authorization from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to do so.

GREG MITCHELL

Greg Mitchell was Helena Stoeckley's boyfriend. He was a soldier and a heroin addict, now deceased. Prior to his death, Mitchell confessed to the crime to his boss, his pastor and various other people. Several of these people have signed sworn statements of witnessing this confession.

Mitchell stated that on the night of the incident he and his friends were strung out on drugs. They went to the MacDonald home because they were upset that MacDonald would not provide them with methadone, a substance utilized by drug addicts. He further stated that things went bad and they all scattered when the phone rang.

Two independent coroners have concluded that some of the injuries on the victims are consistent with a left-handed attacker. MacDonald is right-handed. Mitchell is left-handed.

SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE

During the trial, the defense attorneys requested to review laboratory notes, but the prosecution insisted that nothing found at the crime scene supported MacDonald's story. The judge refused to order the prosecution to turn over the notes.

Over the years since the trial, MacDonald's attorneys have used the Freedom of Information Act to discover evidence that was withheld by the prosecution prior to and during the trial. Fibers and fingerprints found in the apartment were never matched to anyone known to have been in the apartment prior to or after the murders.

For example, a bloody adult palm print was found on the footboard of the master bed, near Collette's body. The print did not match MacDonald or anyone known to have been present at the crime scene.

For example, black wool fibers were found on Colette's shoulder and mouth, which would potentially point to an intruder, but this evidence was deliberately withheld from the defense. These black fibers did not match any items in the MacDonald household.

For example, A 2-inch pubic hair was found between Colette's legs. It did not match MacDonald or any other known source.

For example, a blue acrylic fiber was found in Collette's right hand. This material could not be matched to any items in the MacDonald household.

For example, a blue acrylic fiber was found where MacDonald had been rendered unconscious. This material could not be matched to any items in the MacDonald household.

For example, two identical 22-inch blonde synthetic wig hairs were found in a hairbrush on a table in the living room where MacDonald had been attacked but that evidence was never disclosed to the defense.

For example, A brown hair, with root intact, was found under Kimberly's bloody fingernail. This hair did not match MacDonald.

For example, a bloody hair, with root intact, was found under the fingernail of Kristen's fingernail. Source unknown.

In the aftermath of the trial, all of MacDonald's claims of suppression of evidence were rejected by the courts. The rulings cited that even if the suppressed evidence would have been introduced it would not have been enough to have changed the verdict of the jury.

DNA RESULTS

In 1997, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed MacDonald attorneys to pursue DNA testing on limited blood and hair evidence.

In December of 2000, DNA testing began, conducted by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory.

On March 10, 2006, the lab released the results. No DNA was found to match Helena Stoeckley or Greg Mitchell, Stoeckley's companion. However, three hairs were found that did not match any of the MacDonald family members. One was located on a bed sheet, another one was found in Colette's body outline and another one was found under Kristen's fingernail.

To date, these DNA results have not been accepted by the court because there was no pre-authorization for what should have been a separate motion for DNA results.

POLYGRAPH TESTS

MacDonald passed two polygraph tests. One was administered by Dr. David Raskin, a leading expert in this field. The results were examined by two other experts. In all cases, the findings were "no deception."

Helena Stoeckley was administered a polygraph test whereby she denied involvement in the murders. The results were "deception." She was later given another polygraph test whereby she admitted her presence during the murders The findings indicated "no deception."

OTHER MITIGATING FACTORS

Two independent witnesses heard a group of people approaching MacDonald's building around 2 AM and leaving in the opposite direction some time later.

A fingerprint was discovered on an empty glass that had contained chocolate milk. It could not be matched to any of the MacDonald family or friends or investigators.

According to defense attorneys, Helena Stoeckley was able to describe items within the MacDonald residence, including a broken rocking horse in one of the children's room and a jewelry box in the master bedroom.

BOTTOM LINE

While MacDonald's explanation of events may seem strange, a group of drugged-crazed hippies attacking him and his family in the wee hours of the night, the government's scenario is equally full of holes.

They would have the world believe that Dr. MacDonald brutally murdered his wife and two small daughters. They would have you believe that Colette inflicted multiple wounds on MacDonald, with a club, a knife and an ice pick, during a violent confrontation.

His wife, Colette, was repeatedly beaten with a club, both arms were broken, and she was stabbed 37 times with a knife and an ice pick. This would require MacDonald to change murder weapons, from club to knife to ice pick.

His daughter, Kimberly (age 5), was clubbed in the head multiple times and stabbed in the neck between 8 and 10 times. Once again, MacDonald would have to switch murder weapons, from club to knife.

His daughter, Kristen (age 2), was stabbed 33 times with a knife and 15 times with an ice pick. Once again, MacDonald would have to switch from knife to ice pick.

Then MacDonald would have to dispose of the murder weapons outside his back door and write "pig" in blood on the bedroom wall.

Next, he would have to stab himself, deep enough to puncture a lung, call on the phone for help and render himself unconscious before help arrived.

It simply doesn't seem very plausible.

CURRENT STATUS

On May 10, 2005, MacDonald had a parole hearing where he refused to admit guilt. Parole was denied, with a recommendation that he serve another 15 years before being eligible for another parole hearing.

Jeffrey MacDonald has been incarcerated for over 27 years and currently resides in a federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland, where he remains steadfast in his innocence.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Book – Fatal Justice by Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost (presents evidence withheld by prosecutors)
Website 1 – www.themacdonaldcase.org
Website 2 – www.11watchers.com

* * *

Bret Burquest is a former award-winning newspaper columnist and author of four novels. He has lived in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Kansas City, Memphis, the Arizona desert, and is now retired in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas.

Red-Nosed Reindeer

2010-12-15T16:28:00.001-08:00

CHRISTMAS MYTHS

Christmas, like many other holidays, has its share of historical inaccuracies and myths.

For example, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was not one of Santa’s reindeer and didn’t live on the North Pole. In fact, he was invented in 1939 by Robert L. May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward department stores, as a promotional gimmick.

By 1946, a total of 6 million copies of the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer booklet had been distributed to Montgomery Ward customers.

May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and music for a Rudolph song which was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949. It sold 2 million copies that year alone and went on to become the second best-selling record of all time, second only to “White Christmas.”

However, May’s original story differs from the song lyrics. According to May, Rudolph lived in an ordinary reindeer village considerably south of the North Pole. Even though he was taunted for having a shiny red nose, his parents were not embarrassed. They brought Rudolph up in a loving home and gave him a high sense of self-esteem. Santa delivered presents to their house one night during a thick fog. Impressed by the glow of Rudolph’s shiny red nose, Santa chose him to lead his team of reindeer to complete his rounds.

This brings to mind other Christmas myths.

MYTH #1 -- Santa Claus is a fat man in a red suit.

Not true. He's fairly thin and usually wears boxer shorts with a tank top around the house. He just dons multiple layers of clothing to keep warm in late December, when zipping around the night sky in an open sleigh. Santa’s delivery outfit is bright red to protect him from trigger-happy sportsmen – he doesn’t want to be mistaken for a flock of geese.

MYTH #2 -- Santa Claus lives at the North Pole.

Not true. He lives in Canada, halfway between Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw. The north pole is a large block of ice, populated by three polar bears and a wayward penguin. Canada is a lot like the North Pole – it's cold and nobody ever goes there.

MYTH #3 – Santa has a bunch of little helpers called elves.

Not true. They're mostly vertically-challenged (short) Swedes.

MYTH #4 -- Santa Claus climbs down chimneys to deliver his presents.

No longer true. He once did climb down chimneys but got stuck several times in Colorado where legislation in 1969 required all chimneys to contain filters. In 1970, Santa reverted to using doors and windows, but he was busted in 1972 in Hackensack, New Jersey, for breaking and entering. Ever since then, Santa has used the Star Trek method of teleportation whereby his molecular structure is disassembled on the rooftop and reassembled directly in front of the Christmas tree. This way he is guilty only of entering but not of breaking, usually a misdemeanor in most places.

MYTH #5 – Santa Claus likes to have some cookies and milk waiting for his arrival.

No longer true. In 1983, he developed a gastrointestinal infection while hovering over Thailand. Too much curry, causing a bad case of diarrhea, which can be quite a dilemma while flying through the air in an open sleigh.

MYTH #6 – Kids will get presents that reflect the latest craze.

Not true. There is no latest craze. Remember Cabbage Patch dolls, Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles and Tickle-Me Elmo? They were the latest craze for about fifteen minutes. By the time the kids open presents, the latest craze will become a closet relic. If you want to give your kids a gift that has some worth, give them something that will get them out of the house, like a bicycle or a chainsaw.

MYTH #7 – Santa knows who has been naughty and nice.

Not true. That's the CIA, FBI, NSA, NWO, DEA, IRS, ATF, CFR, KGB, MI6, MJ12 and the Jehovah Witnesses who are keeping tabs on everyone. Santa has enough to do without spying on you.

MYTH #8 – Santa’s reindeer are named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.

Not true. Actually, those are only nicknames to make it easier to come up with Christmas jingles. Their real names are Fox Maulder, Elmer Fudd, Sponge Bob, Snoop Dogg, Joe Sixpack, Clark Kent, D. B. Cooper and Dweezle Zappa.
___________

Quote for the Day – "Humans live through their myths and only endure their realities." Robert Anton Wilson
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where myths are facts until proven otherwise. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

The Santa Dimension

2010-12-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

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 presents 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 rushed outside in 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. Halverson 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 marbles rather than attempting to fathom the unfathomable.

It all started when 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. 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. Halverson made us print the alphabet all afternoon. She wanted to make sure we slanted our letters at the proper angle. Mrs. Halverson 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.

I left a plate of cookies out for Santa last year. The next morning the plate was empty. I'm not exactly sure what happened though -- my dog had some cookie crumbs on his whiskers and didn't eat much that day.

Happy Holidays.
___________

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 for my autograph.” Shirley Temple
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where Santa always leaves a lump of coal under my tree. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Being Born of a Virgin

2010-12-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

In the fourth century, the Romans and Persians celebrated the birthday of their sun god, Mithras, during the last week of December. The sun "dies" at the winter solstice, its lowest position in the sky in the northern hemisphere. Three days later, on December 25, the celebration of the "birth" of the sun takes place.

The Catholic Church felt this celebration by a rival pagan religion threatened the existence of Christianity so they decided to conduct a festival of their own during the last week of December which would force a competition with the pagan festivities.

Even though the Catholic Church believed the actual birth of Jesus Christ was in the spring, they chose December 25 as the official birthday and thereby began a tradition of holding Christ's Mass during a time frame where it would interrupt the pagan celebrations.

Over time, "Christ's Mass" eventually became "Christmas" and December 25 became known thereafter as the day Jesus Christ was born.

A man named Nicholas was born in Turkey in 280 AD. He was very pious from an early age and devoted his life to Christianity. He eventually became a Christian priest and later became a bishop.

Nicholas had a reputation as a kindly, wise soul who was generous toward the poor. He was a rich young man who didn’t like to be seen giving gifts. He traveled the country helping people, always at night after the children were asleep.

The most famous story about Nicholas is when he learned of a poor man who had no money to give to his three daughters on their wedding day. Nicholas dropped bags of gold into the stockings the girls had left to dry by the fire. Ever since, children have hung stocking by the fireplace in hopes that old St. Nick would drop by and fill the stockings with goodies.

Turkey was part of the Roman Empire at the time. In 303 AD, the Roman Emperor, named Diocletian, demanded that all of his subjects worship him as god.

Nicholas would not allow his conscience to betray his religious convictions so he refused to worship the Emperor, landing him in prison. Conditions were harsh, including torture, but the 23-year-old Nicholas held to his beliefs.

In 313 AD, when Constantine became the new Emperor of the Roman Empire, he released Nicholas and other Christians from prison. Nicholas returned to his post as Bishop of Myra, where he continued his good deeds.

Constantine later became a Christian and convened the Council on Nicaea in 325 AD. He appointed Nicholas as a delegate to the Council, the purpose of which was to create statements of beliefs and canons of doctrinal orthodoxy, thereby contriving a unity of beliefs for ecumenical (worldwide) Christendom.

Nicholas died on December 6, 343 AD.

In 394 AD, Roman Emperor, Flavius Theodosius, banned all pagan rites. This decree ended the practice of worshipping the sun god, Mithras.

In 800 AD, Nicholas was officially recognized as a saint by the Eastern Catholic Church. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, the patron saint of children, the patron saint of Sicily, Greece, Russia and other countries.

In the 1200s, France began to celebrate December 6 as Bishop Nicholas Day.

By the end of the 1400s, St. Nicholas was the third most beloved religious figure, after Jesus and Mary. There were more than 2,000 chapels and monasteries named after him.

Holland kept the legend of St. Nicholas alive in the 1500s, as Dutch children would place wooden shoes near the fireplace to be filled with treats. The Dutch spelled St. Nicholas as Sint Nikolaas. The name later became corrupted to Sinterklaas. Eventually, the English version of the name became Santa Claus.

And that's how all of the Christmas nonsense evolved.

St Nicholas was a man of strong convictions, having spent many years in prison merely for holding to his religious beliefs. Such courageous moral fortitude, whether or not one agrees with such beliefs, is a divine example of an individual soul remaining steadfast in a world of petty tyrants who demand the right to enforce their version of heaven on Earth.

Ironically, the pagan worship of the sun god included such notions as Mithras being born of a virgin in a cave on December 25. His birth was attended by shepherds. He was considered to be a master and a teacher. He traveled with 12 companions, performed miracles and promised immortality to those who believed in him. Upon his death, he was buried in a tomb and rose again after three days on March 25 (Easter).

The religion of Mithraism preceded Christianity by approximately 600 years.

Religion is a curious thing.
___________

Quote for the Day – "Bah, humbug." Ebenezer Scrooge
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where Wiccans frolic on the Winter Solstice. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Monsters of the Id

2010-12-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

If our subconscious thoughts were pleasant, we wouldn't have to bury them so deep.

The "id" is one of three categories of the human psyche. Completely unconscious, it is the source of psychic energy derived from instinctual desires -- the subconscious mind. The other two categories are ego (consciousness, perception of reality) and super-ego (sense of morality, guilt).

According to Sigmund Freud, the id is "the dark, inaccessible part of our personality.... striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle."

In other words, the id is lurking deep within us, remaining hidden from our conscious thoughts, driven by primal instincts.

Actor Leslie Nielsen died on November 28. 2010, at age 84. He had appeared in over 100 movies. Known primarily for his comedic roles in movies such as AIRPLANE and NAKED GUN, he was featured in the 1956 MGM classic science fiction movie THE FORBIDDEN PLANET as the commander of a spaceship on a rescue mission, only his second film.

The plot and characters of THE FORBIDDEN PLANET were inspired by William Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST. The thrust of the story-line includes a "plastic educator" device which advances one's intelligence. However, it also has the capacity to create "Monsters of the Id" -- manifesting malevolent beings that kill the subjects of the subconscious anger of the person utilizing the device. Thus, the monsters are an extension of the id of the person unknowingly creating them.

Sometimes, so-called reality is stranger than fiction.

In October of 1943, the U.S. Navy conducted a Top Secret exercise in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard that attempted to render a vessel (the USS Eldridge) invisible to radar detection. Part of the experiment also dealt with investigating possible military applications of rotating magnetic fields applied to humans, as a potential psychological warfare tool. It was part of an operation called "Project Rainbow," later dubbed the Philadelphia Experiment. The results were unfavorable to catastrophic, depending upon which version you read.

According to various sources, researchers from the Philadelphia Experiment met in 1952-53 whereupon they obtained approval and funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a weapon that would induce symptoms of psychotic disorders and schizophrenia. It was called the "Phoenix Project" and initially began operations at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. For several reasons, it was soon moved to a nearby decommissioned U.S. Air Force Base at Montauk, New York.

By 1967-68, all the equipment and operations had been moved underground beneath the former Air Force base. In 1969, the surface area became a wildlife refuge, while everything underground was designated a "D1 Base" and property of the U.S. Air Force.

Many experiments were conducted as part of the Montauk Project. These supposedly included time travel and contact with intelligent beings beyond Earth.

In 1983, one of the resident psychics (Duncan Cameron) sat in the "Montauk Chair" and visualized a monster. The monster then materialized and went on a rampage. Described as 25 feet tall, the monster developed a mind of his own and began destroying everything in its path.

It was a real-life creation of a "Monster of the Id" and it apparently got everyone's attention in a hurry. Scientists hacked away at equipment with axes until the power finally went down. The Monster then dematerialized and the project was soon abandoned.

Beware of what you visualize -- it may come storming angrily out of your id into reality and scare your cat.

I have a friend in California who had a very serious Near Death Experience (NDE) in 2002. Ever since, she has experienced elevated psychic abilities, plus a much wider visual and auditory sensory range than before. Everything we see is made up of a vast array of frequencies (vibrations). Human senses are based on frequencies. The frequency range of human sight and hearing is exceedingly small compared to what exists all around us.

My friend's sensory frequency ranges have expanded. She now has the ability to see "entities" drifting into and out of and near by other people. She continually sees them around us in our daily lives. Perhaps these are Creatures of the Id, being formed in a nearby dimension (frequency). My friend senses they are with us always, yet out of our sensory range of frequencies. Some are malevolent -- perhaps Monsters of the Id. Others are angelic -- perhaps spirit guides. And many seem to be benign -- perhaps observant watchers.

Everything we perceive in our material world is made up of atoms -- electrons orbiting a nucleus of protons. It's an assembly of energy, not solid matter. And it's more than 99 percent empty space. Basically, everything we perceive as solid is merely a glob of energy. We are not objects, we are perceivers of objects. In fact, there are those who believe the entire universe is manifested by a collective consciousness.

Creatures of the Id are almost certainly globs of energy as well, surfacing when compelled by another frequency (the host) or whatever.

Delving into the mysteries of the universe and beyond is not for the timid. I don't know all the answers, but I do have a lot of the questions.

In the movie AIRPLANE, when told, "Surely, you can't be serious." -- Leslie Nielsen uttered the famous line, "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley."

R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen -- Shirley, you will be missed.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, play no jokes and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought or image. What we continually think about eventually will manifest in our lives." Robert Collier
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where Creatures of the Id fear to tread. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Reptilian Masters

2010-11-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

We live in a world where governments and other centers of power often operate in secrecy. Thus, conspiracy theories abound. While some conspiracy theories may seem utterly mind-boggling and laughable at first glance, not all conspiracy theories are theories.

There are those who believe royal families are descendents of “serpent gods” -- reptilian entities with the ability to shape-shift between reptilian and human form at will.

There are those who believe royal families are called “blue bloods” because their increased reptilian genetic makeup contains additional copper, which turns bluish-green when exposed to air.

There are those who believe these reptilian shape-shifters originally descended upon earth from the Draco star system eons ago and remain in positions of power by interbreeding among themselves.

There are those who believe the reptilians consider themselves to be superior to other forms because they are androgynous (both male and female simultaneously) and are satanic in nature.

There are those who believe reptilians have the ability to appear in and out of our physical reality.

There are those who believe the reptilians were unable at first to enter into our physical reality because they had a high vibration rate rendering them unable to sustain a physical body.

There are those who believe that in order to survive in our reality, it was necessary for pure reptilians to mate with earthlings, producing reptilian hybrids called Nephilim.

There are those who believe reptilians are highly attracted to light-haired (blond or red), blue-eyed or green-eyed people because they need their genetics to survive in this dimension.

There are those who believe a group of global elites known as the Illuminati are of reptilian bloodlines (shape-shifters), led by an entity code-named Pindar (phallus of the dragon), and that the current Pindar is the head of the Rothschild family.

There are those who believe the 13 Illuminati families consist of Rothschild (Bauer), Bruce, Cavendish (Kennedy), De Medici, Hanover, Hapsburg, Krupp, Plantagenet, Rockefeller, Romanov, Sinclair (St. Clair), Warburg, Windsor (British Royal family).

There are those who believe these Illuminati “money” families are obsessed with breeding among themselves in order to remain genetically pure within the reptilian bloodline and to systematically gain control of most of the major positions of economic, political, military and media power in the world.

There are those who believe there is another layer of families, under the 13 Illuminati families, called the Committee of 300, with reptilian DNA but not necessarily of shape-shifter quantity. Some of these families include Beale, Bouvier, Bush, Campbell, Carnegie, Cooledge, Delano, Douglas, Ford, Graham, Hamilton, Harriman, Loeb, Mellon, Montgomery, Morgan, Norman, Oppenheimer, Rhodes, Roosevelt, Russell, Savoy, Spencer, Stuart, Taft, Wilson and more.

There are those who believe that the Illuminati elitists, who currently control world banking, political leaders and mainstream media, are attempting to create a one-world government (New World Order) in order to enslave humanity under their rule, thereby enriching and empowering themselves through total domination of the planet.

There are those who believe the reptilian Windsors (British royalty) chose Diana because of her blond-haired, blue-eyed genetic DNA structure.

There are those who believe the Windsors needed an infusion of Diana’s essence (genes) to maintain their human form.

There are those who believe the Windsors had Diana killed because she had already conceived Pindar’s son, William, and her essence (soul?) was needed to replenish the Windsor genetic bloodline.

If these mind-bogglers are true, we are presently being occupied and manipulated by intelligent forces, beyond our perceived reality, that lust for power and control -- whereby we are being kept in a state of continual conflict (distraction) while our Masters create a New World Order to feed off of our labor and stimulate their satanic desires through our fear.

On the positive side, the Slaves outnumber the Masters and appear to be slowing waking up to the exploitative nature of the illusion being programmed into their reality.

The Truth will set you Free -- but first it will make you miserable.
___________

Quote for the Day -- “I believe that the human race has developed a form of collective schizophrenia in which we are not only the slaves to this imposed thought behavior, but we are also the police force of it.” David Icke
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where mighty trees are simply yesterday's nuts that held their ground. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-

Origin of Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

As I write this piece, Thanksgiving in 2010 occurred yesterday. I stayed home this year and cleaned the bathroom, another annual event at my place.

On December 4, 1619, the first Thanksgiving celebration was held in America at the Berkeley Plantation in Virginia. Thirty-eight English settlers attended the event. It was part of their original charter to set aside one day every year to observe a day of thanksgiving for their annual harvest. Due to hardships and other factors, the annual festivities lasted only one year.

On December 11, 1620, one hundred and two Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. The first winter was brutal. Nearly half died from starvation and illness. The following summer, assisted by friendly Indians, the survivors reaped a bountiful harvest. To show their appreciation, Governor William Bradford invited nearly 100 Indians to join the Pilgrims in a feast of thanksgiving, starting on December 13, 1621, and lasting for three days.

Two years later, the Pilgrims were hit with a draught. One day they gathered to pray for rain. The next morning it started to rain and didn’t stop for several days. With the crops saved, Governor Bradford, being the party animal he was, declared another day of thanksgiving. Once again the Indians were invited.

As other settlers arrived to the colonies, they too held their own thanksgiving celebrations, each independent of the other.

In 1668, the government decided to get involved, as governments tend to do, declaring November 25 to be Thanksgiving Day. This proclamation lasted only five years.

The first national celebration of Thanksgiving occurred in 1777. It was a one-time event to celebrate the American victory over the British at Saratoga. Americans love to celebrate wars, which may be why they participate in so many of them.

In 1789, President George Washington created a proclamation declaring Thanksgiving a national event, to be held on the first Thursday of November. Apparently, the first President was a party animal too.

John Adams, the second President, moved Thanksgiving from Thursday to the previous Wednesday. Politicians are often meddlesome nitwits who believe that making changes, whether they make sense or not, are a sign of leadership. Later in his tenure, Adams moved it back to Thursday.

Not much of a party animal, the Third President, Thomas Jefferson, was opposed to Thanksgiving and cancelled the national festivities.

Finally, in July of 1863, shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Over the next 75 years, every President followed Lincoln’s precedent, annually declaring a national Thanksgiving Day.

Then in 1941, when Congress had a majority of party animals on hand, Congress permanently established the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday called Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving is a tradition in my family. Some of last year’s activities included:

1) Built a pyramid of empty beer cans at halftime of football game.
2) Performed the Heimlich maneuver on my nephew to remove a walnut.
3) Moved a couch over the spot where the cat threw up to avoid a messy cleanup.
4) Debated Uncle Earl about the impact of global warming on Japanese baseball.
5) Wrestled with my brother to see who got the wishbone.
6) After dinner we set up the Christmas tree in anticipation of the next holiday in line.
7) Most of us took a short nap, except for Uncle Earl who kept debating by himself.
8) Wrestled with my brother to see who got stuck driving crazy Aunt Edna to the airport.
9) Scanned the Internet, looking for a list of symptoms of salmonella.

Thanksgiving is an occasion to thank Mother Earth for blessing you with a bountiful harvest and to thank Father Time for allowing you to enjoy life for another year. And to remind yourself to start your annual diet, right after the New Year rolls in.

Life is a precious experience. Be thankful for all the joy and sorrow it brings -- for without sorrow, there would be no joy.
___________

Quote for the Day -- "To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do." Victor Hugo
___________

Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where road-kill makes a fine holiday feast. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
___________
-
-