MORNING SKY ALERT: Set your alarm for dawn. On Friday morning, February 1st, Venus and Jupiter converge in the southeastern sky less than 1 degree apart. It's a spectacular view worth waking up early to see.

The February 1st alignment kicks off four mornings of beautiful views as the crescent Moon moves in to join Venus and Jupiter over the weekend. Watch them decorate the sunrise on February 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. calendar

The early morning hours of 2-25-42 would bring the first alerts of an invasion. Naturally, the first thought in the minds of everyone was that another wave of Japanese planes was attacking America on its own soil. Citizens of Culver City and Santa Monica would be the first to witness the surreal sight of a giant unknown object hovering over the suburban areas of Los Angeles.

Immediately, an air raid siren shattered the peaceful sleep of the residents, and volunteer Air Raid Wardens grabbed their gear, and headed to the streets, affecting a total blackout. Army's 37th Coast Artillery Brigade swung into action, lighting up the clear, black skies with their massive spotlights. What they saw was beyond belief. With the Japanese planes still flying in their nightmares, another menacing flying machine was now right on top of them.

In a matter of a few short minutes, the entire southern area of California was looking to the skies, watching the intense spotlight beams converging on the giant invading UFO. The 37th's anti-aircraft guns helped light up the night, firing volley after volley at the large craft. Many eyewitness reports would state that the large object took many direct hits, but appeared undamaged. The 30+ minute barrage would send fragmented shells over homes, businesses, and citizens. In the aftermath six individuals were found dead from the spent and fragmented artillery shells. full story

Another heifer had a calf yesterday. This calf died too, just like the last few. Alive long enough to cry a little. I'm pretty sure I know what's causing all the trouble, but he doesn't care. I can't wait to move away from this place.

Temperature graph 1/27/08-1/30/08. The gaps are when my system was shut down.

A snapshot of my weather station data this morning. Note the wind speed and wind chill (W.C.)
Yep, it was a little chilly out there this morning. It was much worse during the night than these images from this morning show. I bet the wind was 50+MPH most of the night here. I was watching it out the window for hours.

We only got about an inch of new snow, and fortunately the drifts don't seem tall enough to worry about plowing, at least not right away. I'll look at it again when it warms up some.

Excellent woodstove weather!

I know exactly how to get rid of it. Mrs. reverend creates the same thing in our kitchen drainpipe a couple times per month!

LEWISTON - A 50- to 60-foot doughy mass is clogging a sewer line under the city's main drag, and crews have been unable to budge it.

"We're not sure exactly what it is," Public Services Director David Jones said Wednesday. "We're just trying to get rid of it. We want it to stop clogging up our pipe." full story

In the shadow of the Empire State Building lies an “automotive Bermuda Triangle” - a five-block radius where vehicles mysteriously die.

No one is sure what’s causing it, but all roads appear to lead to the looming giant in our midst - specifically, its Art Deco mast and 203-foot-long, antenna-laden spire.

“We get about 10 to 15 cars stuck near there every day,” said Isaac Leviev, manager of Citywide Towing, the AAA’s exclusive roadside assistance provider from 42nd St. to the Battery. “You pull the car four or five blocks to the west or east and the car starts right up.” full story

The heifer, whose calf died the other day, is sure a kicking bastard! I'm bruises from one end to the other. Nothing this old farmer hasn't seen before. It doesn't help that Surge brand inflations aren't worth a crap and since her tits are so small, the milker falls off of her all by itself, then I have to keep putting it back on and get kicked again. Farm and Fleet brand are half the price and twice as good, but somebody would have to go there and get them for him. Surge brings them to him and installs them so he doesn't have to do anything. Guess which ones I always end up with.

Funny thing is, this heifer is not afraid to step across the gutter like most heifers are when they get in their stanchion. She's still not coming into the barn by herself, but I was able to get her in without too much trouble this morning.

Weather turning arctic again, but only for a day or two. Not too bad here yet, but looks like the front isn't far off.

Thought these comparisons were pretty cool! Thanks Swiney!

Blogger Status
Monday, January 28, 2008

Blogger will be unavailable Monday (1/28) at 4:00PM PST [6:00PM CST] for about 10 minutes for maintenance.

Posted by John at 12:21 PST

000
FLUS43 KARX 282000
HWOARX

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
200 PM CST MON JAN 28 2008

IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029-032>034-
041>044-053>055-061-291200-
ADAMS-ALLAMAKEE-BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLARK-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-DODGE-
FAYETTE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-GRANT-HOUSTON-HOWARD-JACKSON-JUNEAU-LA CROSSE-
MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED-RICHLAND-TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU-VERNON-
WABASHA-WINNESHIEK-WINONA-
200 PM CST MON JAN 28 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...
SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

FALLING TEMPERATURES...ACCUMULATING SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...AND STRONG
WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY A POWERFUL ARCTIC COLD FRONT WHICH WILL SURGE
ACROSS THE TRI-STATE REGION BEGINNING EARLY TUESDAY MORNING IN THE
INTERSTATE 35 CORRIDOR...INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN BY EARLY AFTERNOON.

IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT...TEMPERATURES WILL PLUMMET FROM THE UPPER
20S AND 30S INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE AND BELOW ZERO BY TUESDAY
EVENING...AND WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS PAST
40 MPH. THIS WILL CAUSE WIND CHILLS TO FALL INTO THE 20S AND 30S
BELOW ZERO FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON...INTO TUESDAY NIGHT.

A BRIEF PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE IN THE WAKE OF
THE FRONT TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON...WITH ACCUMULATION
POTENTIAL OF 2 TO 6 INCHES. COMBINED WITH THE STRONG WINDS...
BLOWING SNOW AND LOW VISIBILITIES APPEAR LIKELY...WITH THE POTENTIAL
FOR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS IN THE MOST WIND PRONE AREAS.

THE COMBINATION OF THESE WINTER WEATHER ELEMENTS ADDS UP TO A
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER SITUATION FOR ALL AREAS
BEGINNING TUESDAY MORNING AND CONTINUING INTO THE EVENING. PERSONS
LEAVING THE HOUSE IN THE MORNING...WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 30S...
MAY NOT BE PREPARED FOR THE SIGNIFICANT COLD THAT WILL BE SEEN AS
THEY HEAD HOME. A WINTER STORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED TO HIGHLIGHT
THE POTENTIAL FOR DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT WARNING
AND ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED AS THE DETAILS BECOME MORE CLEAR.

YET ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM MAY BRING SOME SNOW TO THE AREA WEDNESDAY
NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. HOWEVER...MUCH UNCERTAINTY REMAINS WITH THE
STRENGTH AND TRACK OF THIS SYSTEM FOR LATER IN THE WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

REPORTS OF WIND GUSTS...BLOWING SNOW...AND SNOW AMOUNTS WOULD BE
MOST APPRECIATED TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT.

.EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION...

NO CALL IS SCHEDULED.

$$

MW/BINAU

Brian Whitworth, Ph.D., Information Systems, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Information and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand:

“The most common comment you would expect is, ‘You can’t prove it.’ But if you think about it, let’s suppose that everybody thought the world was a virtual reality. They were brought up from childhood to believe this. And you one day had the idea that it was an objective reality – that it was not created by computer processing, that it was just actually there in existence. And I said to you, ‘OK, why don’t you prove it?’ I think you would have a bit of trouble proving it.

You could say, ‘Well, I know the world is objective because I experience it.’

People would reply, ‘But you only experience your input.’

And someone might say, ‘Well, I have lots of mathematical laws that can predict things.’

And the other says, ‘Well, of course you do because it’s all based on mathematics.’

Then you say, ‘Look, the universe is enormous! It’s huge!! How can it possibly be a virtual reality to be so big?’

And the other would say, ‘It’s only big to you. It’s only big to people inside it.’

And you might say, ‘But it’s been going for billions of years!’

And the other might say, ‘Well, that might be just a few seconds of processing. Nobody really knows.’

And so on. You would actually find it quite difficult to prove your case. So, I guess the point is that people assume that objective reality is a proven theory, but it is not. It’s an axiom just as unproven as virtual reality theory.

So from a scientific perspective, neither objective reality nor virtual reality is proven. And what is happening is that modern physics with things like time dilation and space contraction, teleportation, multi-existence and so on, seem actually more supportive of a virtual reality universe than an objective reality one. full story

Was this "grey" captured during the so called Mexican Roswell?

On the History Channel:

Coyame, Mexico is a small town not far from the US border. It's home to three thousand people and possibly the best-kept secret of all-time. In August of 1974, the USA military was tracking a mysterious object over Mexico; then suddenly it disappeared from radar near Coyame. At the same time a civilian plane headed in the opposite direction is reported missing. What follows next is the stuff Hollywood blockbusters are made of: a crash site, a spacecraft, dead bodies, a covert recovery mission, and a government cover-up. Is this the story of the century, or just a piece of Mexican folklore? Over the last 15 years, Mexico has experienced an unprecedented UFO wave. While the sheer volume of encounters garners attention, it's the apparent quality, or credibility, of these incidents that has our attention. Through interviews with witnesses and experts we examine the evidence, and controversial footage released by the Mexican military reveals never before seen video. full story

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
428 AM CST MON JAN 28 2008

IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029-032>034-
041>044-053>055-061-282200-
ADAMS-ALLAMAKEE-BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLARK-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-DODGE-
FAYETTE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-GRANT-HOUSTON-HOWARD-JACKSON-JUNEAU-LA CROSSE-
MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED-RICHLAND-TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU-VERNON-
WABASHA-WINNESHIEK-WINONA-
428 AM CST MON JAN 28 2008

...ARCTIC COLD BLAST TO BRING SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...STRONG WINDS
AND DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT...

A POWERFUL ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL SURGE ACROSS THE TRI-STATE REGION
TUESDAY MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL BRING A DRAMATIC DROP IN
TEMPERATURES WITH ITS PASSAGE...WITH TEMPERATURES LIKELY DROPPING
MORE THAN 20 DEGREES WITHIN A FEW HOURS AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE AREA
DURING THE MORNING. BY THE AFTERNOON...SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES WILL
BE SPREADING INTO THE AREA...AND THESE TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO
PLUMMET INTO THE TEENS BELOW ZERO TUESDAY NIGHT.

A BAND OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW IS ALSO LIKELY TO DEVELOP BEHIND
THE FRONT ON TUESDAY MORNING...AND WILL MOVE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA
WITH A BRIEF BUT INTENSE PERIOD OF FALLING SNOW. A QUICK COUPLE OF
INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS BAND OF SNOW...AND WHEN
COMBINED WITH INCREASING WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH...WILL PRODUCE VERY
LOW VISIBILITIES...AND TREACHEROUS TRAVEL.

ONCE THE BAND OF SNOW DIMINISHES AND WINDS CONTINUE TO INCREASE INTO
THE AFTERNOON...WIDESPREAD BLOWING SNOW IS LIKELY...WITH LOW
VISIBILITIES IN OPEN AREAS. THIS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING
HOURS BEFORE WINDS DIMINISH.

COMBINING THE BITTERLY COLD ARCTIC AIRMASS...AND STRONG WINDS...
WIND CHILL VALUES WILL TUMBLE INTO THE 20S BELOW ZERO ON TUESDAY
AFTERNOON...AND WILL FALL FURTHER INTO THE 30S BELOW ZERO TUESDAY
NIGHT.

THE COMBINATION OF THESE WINTER WEATHER ELEMENTS ADDS UP TO A
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER SITUATION FOR ALL AREAS
BEGINNING TUESDAY MORNING AND CONTINUING INTO THE EVENING. IF
CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TO INCREASE ON SNOWFALL AMOUNTS...DURATION...
AND LOCATION...VARIOUS WINTER STORM RELATED WATCHES...WARNINGS...
AND ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED DURING THE DAY TODAY TO HIGHLIGHT
SPECIFIC THREATS...TIMES...AND LOCATIONS FOR THIS POTENTIALLY HIGH-
IMPACT WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

$$

BINAU

Australia UFO photo taken by satellite image Friday at an incredible distance of 2146 feet. full story

Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that a U.S. spy satellite has lost power and propulsion and is expected to crash to Earth in late February or March. It is unknown where on the planet the satellite might come down. "We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. full story

ST. MARTINVILLE — Some Louisiana ghost hunters are not ready to call a house they investigated in St. Martinville haunted just yet, but they are reporting one unexplained phenomenon.

On Jan. 5, the group Louisiana Spirits was called to investigate a house owned by Michelle and J.D. Kirkwood, which is one of the Olivier homes.

“We were very eager to investigate the Olivier house, especially after all of the strange happenings reported by the homeowners,” said Brad Duplechien, founder of Louisiana Spirits. “Such happenings included footsteps being heard upstairs, strange noises being heard and an upstairs door that opened on its own.”Duplechien said the first thing they did was try to “debunk” what the Kirkwoods were reporting to make sure there were no obvious explanations for what was thought to be paranormal activity.

“We enter each case neutral, yet once all logical explanations have been ruled out, then and only then do we look at the paranormal for our findings,” Duplechien said.

There were some things that had to be ruled out early in the investigation, Duplechien said.

“Being the home is quite old, the floors seemed to creak all the way on the other side of the house when someone would walk,” he said. “Also, on an older roof, the slightest sounds echoes, giving you the idea that someone could be walking around upstairs.”

Jennifer Broussard, another member of Louisiana Spirits, said the investigation that night was “pretty uneventful.”

“There were a couple of investigators who had some personal experiences, but at the end of the night, that’s all that is, personal experiences,” Broussard said.

Broussard said she hands out forms at the beginning of each investigation so members can write down their personal experiences. She said it is done this way so they do not feed off of one another’s experiences.

“We had (a group member) who wrote about noises from the vent in the living room and noises like someone had bumped the bed,” she said.

But, Duplechien said when they began to review the audio and video recordings days after the investigation, they all noticed something that could not be explained. He said they came across a distinct voice that was not their own.

“One of our investigators was doing audio work in an attempt to capture EVPs, or electronic voice phenomena,” he said.

“Our investigator was asking questions out loud. Nothing was heard at the time the question was asked, but when the audio recording was played back, you can hear a very loud and distinct “No” from an unknown individual.”

Duplechien expects to upload that recording to the group’s Web site, www.laspirits.com, in the coming days. And, despite capturing that recording during their investigation, he said they are not ready to call the home haunted. He said they are, however, planning a follow-up investigation in the near future. full story

CONVERGING PLANETS: Awake at dawn? Go outside and look at Venus and Jupiter. The two brightest planets are converging in the southeastern sky for a spectacular close encounter on Feb. 1st.

By the end of next week, the two planets will be so close together, you can hide them behind the tip of your index finger held at arm's length. That's worth waking up for.

At first glance, it seems to be an ordinary snap of a group of young people.

But look more carefully and there appears to be an extraordinary, ghostly presence among them.

Peeping out between the knees of two of the girls is the face of a child. full story

A new heifer had a calf during the night. The poor little bugger died, like so many do this time of year, but wasn't born dead. I got to listen to him crying for a little while first. The heifer had never been in the barn before, so it took an hour to get her in there. I got frostbite on the heel of my left foot.

Warmer for the weekend, but also maybe some freezing rain and ice. Six inches of snow tonight.

I can't wait to get out and do some riding again. Maybe someday. There's been too much snow in the woods, so can't even get out there. I could go to BRF, but no time yet.

The U.S. military has owned up to having F-16 fighters in the air near Stephenville on the night that several residents reported unusual lights in the sky. But the correction issued Wednesday doesn't exactly turn UFOs into Identified Flying Objects.

Several dozen witnesses reported that they had seen unusual lights in the sky near Stephenville shortly after dusk Jan. 8. One sighting included a report that the lights were pursued by military jets. Military officials had repeatedly denied they had any flights in the area that night.

But that position changed Wednesday with a terse news release:

"In the interest of public awareness, Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs realized an error was made regarding the reported training activity of military aircraft. Ten F-16s from the 457th Fighter Squadron were performing training operations from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday January 8, 2008, in the Brownwood Military Operating Area (MOA), which includes the airspace above Erath County."

Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the former Carswell Field, blamed the erroneous release on "an internal communications error."

That still left unanswered the question of what F-16s might have been doing that would look like a line of silent, glowing spheres. Maj. Lewis said he could not give any details.

"What we do down there falls under operational procedures that cannot be released because of operations security for our mission," he said.

One battle tactic used routinely by F-16s involves the ejection of flares that are intended to confuse heat-seeking missiles. The flares can be ejected several at a time, and could form a pattern of bright lights traveling across the sky.

But such activity would not match other aspects of the descriptions of the Stephenville lights. Witnesses generally described what they saw as silent, apparently changing speeds and passing over populated areas. That does not sound like a flare release, said Jay Miller, an aviation consultant and historian in Fort Worth.

For one thing, any jet that dumps flares would also be trying to get away as fast as possible.

"He's going to be in full afterburner," Mr. Miller said, and that's very loud. But the jets wouldn't be the only noise associated with flares.

"Flares don't burn silently. They actually burn quite loudly," he said.

Flares are also extremely hot and dangerous, and it's highly unlikely that any drill would involve their use over populated areas, Mr. Miller said.

Wednesday's news release refocused attention on the lights a few days after more than 500 people attended a meeting intended to gather witness statements. The weekend meeting was hosted by the Mutual UFO Network, which collected more than 200 reports, though many were not about the recent sightings.

The military's admission that it had jets up in the area actually strengthens the credibility of some of the reports, said Ken Cherry, Texas state director for the network. After all, some of the witnesses had said they had seen military aircraft along with the lights.

"We have witnesses who could clearly distinguish the difference between an F-16 and some extraordinary craft performing in a manner not typical of an aircraft," he said.

Steve Allen, a pilot, was one of three men who first went public with their sightings to the local newspaper. Wednesday's military news release answers none of his questions, he said.

The Brownwood Military Operating Area is not close enough to Stephenville to explain what he saw, Mr. Allen said. And pilots are supposed to perform training exercises at high altitude, he said. What he saw happened near the ground.

He said he and his friends first spotted a row of glowing spheres that silently changed formation before vanishing. A few minutes later, they saw two more glowing spheres, with military jets in hot pursuit.

"They were on the deck and with the pedal down," he said.

Mr. Allen said that he had no trouble hearing the roar from the jets when they appeared, but he had heard nothing from the glowing lights before that.

"A bunch of stuff is bubbling up," he said about Wednesday's news release. "They may have to tell us the truth." full story

Yep, I got it. The flu that's going around. Damn. I got too much stuff to do to be sick. I feel a little better this afternoon, but haven't tried to eat anything yet.

-17 below zero this morning.

Castle Rock Family ATV Club Newsletter:

Dear Club Member(s) and Interested Parties

The following is the next three CRFAC scheduled events:

Club Annual Meeting- January 27, 2008: The 2008 CRFAC Annual Meeting be
held on January 27, 2008 at 12pm at the Pine Cove on Castle Rock Lake. At
the annual meeting,
the election of 2 Board Members will take place. A summary of the Board
term status if as follows:

Doug Lindner - Past President position - Current President
Dale Swinehart - term expires 2010 - Current Vice-President
Ron Bark - term expires 2010 - Current Board Member
Randy Dohnke - term expires 2009 - Current Board Member
Jim Fank - term expires 2009 - Current Board Member
Roger Bean - term expires 2008 - Current Treasurer and "Temporary
Recorder" - this board position up for election
Vacant - term expires 2008 - this board position up for election


Feb 2, 2008 Annual Winter Poker Run on the lake at Shipwreck with an ice
date of Feb 23, 2008. Posters for the Poker Run have been distributed to
area businesses. Sandy Stanley is the event coordinator contact but will
need support. Anyone willing to help with the event should contact Sandy or
Karyn F. Also bring a dish to pass. Shipwreck will provide meat, buns, etc.
Registration at 10:00am. $10.00 per person with 50% payout. Raffles,
music, and free food. Can travel by any means of transportation.


February 29/March 1, 2008 - ATV Safety Certification Course will be held at
the Outdoors Forever Club House on County Rd N east of Mauston. Times are
Friday, Feb 29th - 6-9pm and Saturday, March 1st 9-3pm. Contact Doug Lindner
at (608) 847 3784 for information and registration.

For the Board of Directors
Roger Bean

Darwin and Dale are planning on marking the ice for the poker run this Sat. morning with the ATVs. Anyone wanting to go along would be greatly appreciated. Darwin is checking the ice out today on the snowmobile and all the talk so far is the ice is at least 12" thick. Let Dale know if anyone wants to help, and he will set up a time to meet. _swiney@excite.com

William E. Jones writes, "I thought your readers should be aware of the Cordell Hull story that alien artifacts were in our hands in 1939." In early December of 1999 the Center of UFO Studies received a letter from the daughter of the Reverend Turner Hamilton Holt: "Today I want to share some knowledge that has been, by request, kept secret in our family since sometime in World War II. This concerns something my father was shown by his cousin Cordell Hull, the Secretary of State under Franklin Roosevelt. Snip, my father, who was young, brilliant, and sound of mind, told us this story because he didn't want the information to be lost.

One day when my father was in D.C,. Cordell swore him to secrecy and took him to a sub-basement in the U.S. Capitol building, and showed him an amazing sight:

(1) Four large glass jars holding 4 creatures unknown to my father or Cordell [and],

(2) A wrecked round craft of some kind nearby.

"My father wanted my sister and I to make this information known long after he and Cordell were dead, because he felt it was a very important bit of information. We have researched your group {Mufon} and feel it is the most reliable group in the country. We hope that you will research and search this information. The jars with creatures in formaldehyde and the wrecked craft are some where! "Cordell said they were afraid they would start a panic if the public found out about it." Sincerely, Lucile Andrew, Ashland, Ohio.

Cordell Hull was one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th Century with absolutely no apparent reason to tell this story unless it was true, especially at a time when stories of flying saucers and their alien drivers had not yet become part of our culture. Hull was elected U.S. Senator 1931-1937, as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and became the Secretary of State under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1933, the longest in American history until 1944, when he resigned because of ill health. He was also offered the Vice Presidency and in 1945, Cordell Hull won the 1945 Nobel Prize for Peace.

Reverend Holt and Hull were both born in Pickett County and were cousins and friends. Holt attained a Doctor in Theology degree from Ashland Theological Seminary, and was a minister at the Shenandoah Christian Church in Greenwich, Ohio. He was a community leader, and wrote a book entitled Life's Convictionss. He married Vina May Clark and they had three daughters. Two of the daughters claim they had been told about the creatures by their father. Lucile's original letter essentially tells the story as her father told it to her when she was a teenager. Unfortunately, Lucile said that she was too young to really pay much attention to what her father told her but Allene the mother of Eloise, the co-author of this story was told the same story as her sister. Both sisters assured us that they remember the stories independently. Reverend Holt described the entities in the glass jars as "creatures, a term common for his day.." He never referred to them as "aliens" or "extraterrestrials." He never said where they came from.

Lucile stated that his experience happened in the "late 1930s," probably 1939. The material that was nearby the less than four feet tall creatures was described as "silver metallic." She also remembers him referring to the material as being a "vehicle" that appeared to have been taken apart and was "in pieces." He said the color of this material wasn't a color that he had seen before, but for the lack of a better word he used "silver." Reverend Holt was not the sort of person to make up such a wild story and, the sisters feel that by telling the story they are following their father's wishes.

Barbara A. Wolamin, "the curator U.S. Capitol building," chuckled a bit after being told the story. She said, "She had never heard about these creatures being stored at the Capitol, but she did confirm there was a sub-basement that was divided into storage rooms back then. She said that the building had been significantly changed over the years, so in a small way, part of Reverend Holt's story checked out. After Cordell Hull left government service he wrote his memoirs in a two-volume book set.

No reference, to this story appeared in these pages, in his papers in the Library of Congress. Numerous experts and libraries were contacted and there has been no confirmation for the story. If four alien bodies and other world technology were retrieved in1939, what would that do to our interpretation of the U.S.

Government's involvement in UFO research? One would assume prior knowledge would have made the government ready for an event like Roswell and that the Roswell retrieval was more efficient because of that. This is a story that truly deserves further investigation. full story

If you like doing laps in the swimming pool, you might want to stock up on the energy drinks before diving in to this one.

It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, had a 115ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water.

Yesterday the Guinness Book of Records named the vast pool beside the sea in Chile as the biggest in the world. full story

A few pictures from today:


Pond and Tavern


It used to be against the law to push your snow across the road. The guy about fell off his ATV when he saw me pointing my camera at him. Although, my camera does look a little like a gun! Ha ha!


My sister's driveway before I cleared it out. Note how her car dragged all the way. See that little dot way up ahead? That's her barn. Shows how long her driveway is, and I was partway when I took the picture. Just one of the driveways I plow (blow) every time.


A short and highly compressed video of typical winter driving (for my viewers that are not familiar with snow).

Goddamn snow! Another 10 inches yesterday/last night. I can't do anything else lately because I'm always fucking around with snow. Fortunately, I made sure that I had a reliable way to move it this year. The old Sportsman would have been blown up for sure by now, not to mention the plow falling to pieces with the many many many hours on them both. And the blower is a lot quicker and easier to load/unload and haul to the next place. Saves a lot of time right there. Stumpjumper was telling me about how out west they use snowblowers instead of plows because the snowbanks are too high for the plow. I can see that now!

So here I go again-----------------------

Snow! Snow! Snow! About 8 inches here so far and still coming down hard. It's really light though, barely even feel it when you're walking through it. Of course, it's just as much plowing as any other kind of snow. Maybe more because it will blow all over the place. We'll see.

I hauled a couple bags of kindling and a truckload of charity firewood over to Brooks today. They ran out in this cold weather and were wishing they had some.

I haven't heard anything more about my oldest brother. He was supposed to go in for more tests and stuff today.

My second oldest brother is coming up the end of this week to help me haul more stuff from Mom's house. I haven't been able to haul much since the other day, been busy with plowing and hauling wood etc., and now tomorrow will be more plowing. Jeez.

"Discoveries are at hand!" That's what members of the MESSENGER science team are saying after their spacecraft flew past Mercury on Jan. 14th at a distance of only 124 miles. The historic flyby netted 500 megabytes of data (now safely downloaded to Earth) and more than 1200 photos covering nearly six million square miles of previously unseen terrain. full story

Today's temp graph. A heat wave!

I just found out my oldest brother had a stroke. Wow! He's always been in better shape than the rest of us. He says it was a small one, and he's out of the hospital already.

The team then made what was called "the most incredible discovery of all." Half buried in the dirt floor of each cave they found unusual disks, originally referred to as "odd stone disks" and described as "obviously fashioned by the hand of an intelligent creature." These disks were approximately nine inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch thick. In the exact center was a perfectly round 3/4 inch hole, and etched into its face was a fine groove spiraling out from the center to the rim, making the disk look like some kind of "primitive phonograph record."

One of the best preserved disks was dated to between 10,000 and 12,000 years BC old, older by far than even the oldest estimates of the age of the great pyramids of Egypt. This was incredible news, but what was to come would be even more remarkable. A final total of 716 such plates were found, and each held its own mystery. The grooves, upon closer inspection, were not grooves at all, but a continuous line of an unknown writing! full story

Yay! I made it! An even -20 below zero this morning, right on the nuts.

Tried to take a couple pictures of the Moon and Mars last night, but I couldn't hold the camera still enough and it was too damn cold to get the tripod out and set it up. Oh well, got some cool squiggly pictures of them. Of course, you don't need a very slow shutter speed for the moon, but to get Mars to show up good you do. Someday I will buy a camera that I can take better star and comet pictures with. A Canon Rebel would be nice.

The temp graph from today.

MOON & MARS: When the sun sets tonight, go straight outside and look east. The Moon and Mars are having a beautiful close encounter, less than two degrees apart. The silver Moon beside campfire-red Mars is a sight you won't want to miss.

BLUE MOON ALERT: Columbia's Galeras volcano is spewing ash miles high into the atmosphere, and this could set the stage for a beautiful "Blue Moon."

Fine volcanic ash floating in the air has been known to act as a color-filter, transforming ordinary moonlight from silver to blue. It is often said that Blue Moons are mythical or absurd, but they are real, and one may appear over your part of the world this weekend.

The state of Texas has always been called the "big state." This expression applies to many things, but is especially true regarding "tall tales." Sometimes it is difficult to separate truth from fiction. Such is the case with one story that comes from the small town of Aurora.

The town's history book labels the community as "the town that almost wasn't," and that expression is probably applicable to the legend of a spaceship crashing into a windmill, and the burial of a small alien creature found in the aftermath. This event has become the most important news story to ever come out of this Texas city. Aurora was designated a "historical site" by the State of Texas.

The year was 1897, and this was the year of the "great airships" reports in the United States. As the story goes, it was on April 19, 1897, that a slow moving space ship crashed into a windmill, bursting into pieces. As the debris was searched through, supposedly the body of a small alien was discovered. Originally the alien pilot was dubbed the "Martian pilot." Some of the debris also revealed material sketched with a type of hieroglyphic. The town folk gave the poor little creature a proper burial in the local cemetery. This incident, whether true or not, has had just enough publicity to stay afloat for over 100 years. It was made into a movie, "The Aurora Encounter" in 1986, starring Jack Elam. The news of the crash spread quickly, even for that time period. A newspaper article of the event still exists, written by S. E. Haydon, reporter for the Dallas Morning News. Below is the original article:

"About 6 o'clock this morning the early risers of Aurora were astonished at the sudden appearance of the airship which has been sailing around the country. It was traveling due north and much nearer the earth than before. Evidently some of the machinery was out of order, for it was making a speed of only ten or twelve miles an hour, and gradually settling toward the earth. It sailed over the public square and when it reached the north part of town it collided with the tower of Judge Proctor's windmill and went into pieces with a terrific explosion, scattering debris over several acres of ground, wrecking the windmill and water tank and destroying the judge's flower garden. The pilot of the ship is supposed to have been the only one aboard and, while his remains were badly disfigured, enough of the original has been picked up to show that he was not an inhabitant of this world."

The story never gained a lot of exposure at the time, but held on until it was commented on by UPI on May 24, 1973:

"Aurora, Tex. -- (UPI) -- A grave in a small north Texas cemetery contains the body of an 1897 astronaut who was 'not an inhabitant of this world,' according to the International UFO Bureau. The group, which investigates unidentified flying objects, has already initiated legal proceedings to exhume the body and will go to court if necessary to open the grave, director Hayden Hewes said Wednesday."

"After checking the grave with metal detectors and gathering facts for three months, we are certain as we can be at this point [that] he was the pilot of a UFO which reportedly exploded atop a well on Judge J.S. Proctor's place, April 19, 1897," Hewes said." "He was not an inhabitant of this world."

The legend was back in the news! Only a couple of days later, UPI followed up the first report with another from Aurora. They had located a living witness to the event. A ninety-one-year-old who had been a girl of fifteen in Aurora at the time of the reported incident was quoted. "I had all but forgotten the incident until it appeared in the newspapers recently." She said her parents had actually been to the crash sight, but had not allowed her to accompany them for fear of what might be in the debris. She recalled that the remains of the pilot, "a small man," had been buried in the Aurora cemetery, validating the other legends.

The Associated Press now joined the chase for the sensational story. From the city of Denton, Texas came this account: "A North Texas State University professor had found some metal fragments near the Oates gas station (former Proctor farm). One fragment was said to be 'most intriguing' because it consisted primarily of iron which did not seem to exhibit magnetic properties." The professor also said he was puzzled because the fragment was "shiny and malleable instead of dull and brittle like iron."

For reasons unknown, the Aurora Cemetery Association fought the attempts to exhume the alleged alien body. They were successful, and the dead alien's remains stayed a mystery. The town of Aurora still shows traces of Military intervention today, and the question must be asked, "Why would the U. S. Military be in the town of Aurora?" Anyone familiar with the Roswell crash of 1947 will remember that debris from Mac Brazel's field was flown to Ft. Worth, which is only a short hop's distance from Aurora. Is this why the Military was in Aurora? Could the Government have the alien body?

Today Aurora, like other cities, is modernized, and yet a few hints of the past still remain. Although the headstone of the alien was stolen, there remain pictures of it today. A copy of this photo now adorns the grave site. There has been, at times, a lobby to exhume the remains of the little pilot and give it a proper burial, with a new headstone. So far, this has not happened. Should the little grave be dug up, or should we just leave it and the legend of the Aurora UFO alone?

Brrrr! -15 below zero right now and still dropping. Old Smokey isn't making much creosote today. I still don't mind the cold as much as the snow, but I would like to go riding again soon! And ride my bike someday before July!

Mr. and Mrs. JR were over last night. We watched the old classic National Lampoon's European Vacation. Our panel of independent reviewers voted this the best scene of the movie:

BOOBIES!

-RQ

Updated 1/17/08

(Jackson County) ATV TRAILS WILL OPEN TODAY AT NOON. PLEASE STAY OFF TRAILS WHEN TEMPERATURES ARE ABOVE FREEZING.

Hello there. Broken record here. Shoveled my roof off and got my Grand Marsh, Brooks, and Easton driveways all plowed. Funny how the snow depth varied so greatly this time. Here I had 8, Brooks had 6, and Easton only had 4. None everywhere would have been better. And now what, more snow again Sunday night/Monday?

I can't complain about the blower though. So far it has been well worth the $700 that I paid for it. I paid almost half that for the little one 17 years ago! ($300) Don't get me wrong, that little one is a real powerhouse too, for it's size, but it takes a lot longer. It doesn't get used much anymore. Maybe once or twice a year when the girls play with it. It's more their size anyway. Makes a good spare though, since I don't have a plow anymore. Well, actually I still have the plow but it isn't on anything and it's laying in the scrap pile out back!

While I was at Easton, I remembered I had an old pump house heater there with the plug melted off. I'm going to cut off what's left of the plug and wire it into my extra wood stove thermostat. That way when my new pump house heater acts up again (I turned it up this morning and it will be ok now until tomorrow again), I'll replace it with my homemade version!

-RQ

8 inches of snow here. It's -2 below zero right now, but the temp is going up. Not after this morning though. -15 below zero tonight and -20 below zero tomorrow night. Looks like below zero every night next week too. Oh well. Can't last forever.

The heater in my pump house conked out last week and I bought a new one. The old one was really old, and it was used when I got it. I used it in my pump house for 16 years. That's a long time for those little utility heaters to live. 16 years ago I set the thermostat on it to the temp I wanted and never touched it again, aside from unplugging it in the spring and plugging it back in come fall. This new one so far is strange though. I've had to set the thermostat up every other day. I'll set it where I want it, then it will hold that temp for a day, then tomorrow it will be colder than I want it in there. I'll turn it up a little more, then it will be ok for a day again, then the next day I'll have to turn it up again. I'm almost to the end of the thermostat. Guess I'll have to buy another new one from somewhere out of town.

-RQ

Between 1561 and 1566 residents of Nuremberg, Germany and Basel, Switzerland witnessed spectacular displays of spheres, disks and tubes zooming about the sky and engaging in an aerial ballet.

As a result of religious interpretation, medieval artists interpreted fuselages and wings as crosses, and rockets became tubes full of balls.

At dawn of April 4, in the sky of Nuremberg (Germany), a lot of men and women saw a very alarming spectacle where various objects were involved, including balls "approximately 3 in the length, from time to time, four in a square, much remained insulated, and between these balls, one saw a number of crosses with the color of blood.

Then one saw two large pipes, in which small and large pipes, were 3 balls, also four or more. All these elements started to fight one against the other." (Gazette of the town of Nuremberg).

The events lasted one hour and had such repercussions that an artist, Hans Glaser, drew a woodcut of it at the time. It describes two immense black cylinders launching many blue and black spheres, blood red crosses, and flying discs.

They seem to fight a battle in the sky, it also seems that some of these spheres and objects have crashed outside the city.

Yep, it's snowing. Already got about 4 inches and it's only 8:00 am. Supposed to snow all day. It's been snowing pretty steady, and sometimes quite hard. Wait until the temp drops and the wind starts blowing. Then it'll be good wood stove weather!

Everybody that voted in my last poll owns or has owned an ATV and the second highest score was bicycle. Which kind of surprised me because I figured everybody had a bicycle at one time in their life. I thought that would be the highest, or at least equal to ATV. One person has an airplane. I wish I had one of those little ultralights. Probably crash and kill myself though.

-RQ

Got some more stuff moved from Mom's to my sister's today. My brother-in-law's motorcycle was pretty hard to load on the trailer, but I did it.

Don't think I'll be moving anything tomorrow. Weather Service says 7 inches of snow in Friendship. I think I'll just work on my taxes in between doing loads of laundry. Then Friday I will be plowing again. Yuck.

-RQ

I wasn't the one that voted "I Hate Snow" in my snow poll, but I think I wish I had! Whoever it was that checked that option, I'm with you brother! Getting kind of sick of this white shit.

Hey, this is kind of fun. For the first time in 12 years of working on web sites, I haven't been doing one for some organization! Now I can type what I want, post whatever pictures I want, and all around don't have to be so careful how or what I do to portray the proper "image". I can just say fuck it. Hee hee.

-RQ

WILL STAY WITH THE GFS/SREF AXIS FOR NOW. IN
THIS CASE...THIS WOULD PLACE THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS GENERALLY ALONG AND
SOUTH/EAST OF A SPARTA WI TO NEW HAMPTON IA LINE. AS MENTIONED...IT
LOOKS LIKE A HIGH TOTAL/LOW QPF EVENT...AND 6 OR MORE INCHES
CERTAINLY LOOKS REASONABLE FOR MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA...WITH
HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE AFOREMENTIONED EAST AND SOUTH...........

...................BOTH THE GFS AND NAM INDICATE A TIGHTENING PRESSURE
GRADIENT ON THE BACKSIDE OF THIS SYSTEM...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR
WINDY/GUSTY CONDITIONS FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. CONSIDERABLE
BLOWING/BLOWING SNOW COULD RESULT...AS THE EXPECTED SEVERAL INCHES
OF FLUFFY SNOW SHOULD BE EASY TO LIFT AND MOVE AROUND. IN
ADDITION...COLD AIR WILL BE SINKING ACROSS THE REGION BY THIS
TIME...WITH FRI NIGHT LOWS BELOW ZERO. WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW
COULD RESULT FOR FRI NIGHT/SAT MORNING...AND A WIND CHILL ADV MAY BE
NEEDED AS A RESULT...OR POTENTIAL A WINTER WEATHER ADV TO COVER BOTH
THE BLOWING/DRIFTING THREAT AND WIND CHILL. BLIZZARD WARNINGS CAN/T
BE RULED OUT EITHER...

"HAUNTED TV - Toshiba TW40 40" HDTV television

I am selling my 5 year old Toshiba HDTV because I am a college student who is unable to transport it to another school. It is rather large because its a projection and weighs about 100 pounds. It works fine, has a nice glossy screen and is in good condition.

There is one caveat that I must bring to the buyer's attention: This TV is almost certainly haunted by the spirit of a 1970's-era baptist pastor named Klent Kloom. He is harmless, but the buyer should be comfortable with cries of "HALLELUJIA"" (sic) at unearthly hours of night. I am unfamiliar with exorcism and cannot find a good reference on the internet.........

.........."Those old Toshibas are pretty big," he wrote. "Maybe a preacher is really inside the darn thing. He needs to open the back and check. If it is indeed haunted by a Baptist preacher, I'd donate it to a Baptist Church and take the tax deduction." full story

"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. "It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts." full story

It's that day again - haul wood up to the house for the month and clean the chimney. I want to get it done today, before the temp falls below zero.

"It has to do with an openness in the mind that says, 'Yes, it is here. Yes, I can see it,"' he adds. "There's nothing strange about seeing more UFOs after you've seen one — and likewise dinosaur tracks." full story

Had extra keys made, took my filled out contract and the planning and zoning letter to my realtor this morning. Now just waiting for the other four to get their copies to her. My sister says she has things that she wants to get out of the house yet. I told her to let me know when and I'd help her haul them. No better time than right now.

When I started the Cherokee this morning, it sounded like JR's Toyota! Made a hell of a growling noise like a dry bearing. The water pump is fairly new, so doubt if it's that. Not the alternator or AC, they're on the other side. It's either the power steering pump or the idler pulley just below it. I used JR's grandpa's old trick - hold a stick against the various parts while listening to the other end with your ear. It's definitely the power steering pump or that pulley, according to that method. The reason I couldn't tell exactly is because the pulley is mounted just below the power steering on the same bracket. Makes them both noisy. I suppose I could loosen the belt and see which one feels rough. Or I could wait until it falls off then I'll know for sure!

Got my plowing all done today. It was too warm. When it's not 15 degrees or below, then the snow melts on your coat and pants. Then you get wet. Yuck.

One time when I was getting back into my truck, I thumped my boots on the rocker panel below the door like I always do. This time my boot went THROUGH the rocker panel! Oops! Ha ha! Must be the sheet metal is getting a little soft on the old truck. I bought it brand-new, right off the showroom floor. That was awhile ago.

I was looking through some more old pictures just now. This is my old Kawasaki 500 Triple. It needs to be rebuilt. I'm probably letting it go with Mom's house, so if anybody is interested let me know now! I have the title for it. Price? Free!


Me tearing up the track at Dyracuse about 1985ish and 200 pounds ago:


My oldest brother and I, I'm on the left:


Me again:

JR was over the other night and he was telling me about Blogger's new slideshow feature. I hadn't looked at it yet and didn't even know about it until he said something. This morning I've been playing with it to see what it can do. It seems like it loads a little too slow, but I have a VERY SLOW connection so it might not be as bad as it seems to me. It also does not work right in Internet Explorer, or at least the version I tested it with. But it works great in the real browsers so I think I will leave it on there for now and test it awhile. If it pisses me off, I'll remove it later.

I guess I will be plowing my driveways as soon as the sun comes up, seeing as we got another 4 inches on top of the 5 that I didn't plow the other day. I guess I really mean BLOW my driveway, but that sounds kind of gay.

Paperwork. The contract with the realtor is like 13 pages long. Fortunately there isn't something to fill out or sign on every page. Our case is a little different than most anyway, because there is five owners. Right now there are four other copies of the contract bouncing around the world via the Internet, for my brothers and sister to sign.

I didn't plow any snow yesterday. The ground was so soft that I didn't want to run all that sand through my $700 blower if I didn't have to. If we had gotten 10 inches, then I would have had no choice. As it is, it was warm enough that most of it melted away. Except where there was ice then the snow stuck to it, which was ok too. Makes the ice less slippery.

I did make it out into the woods yesterday and took a bunch of pictures. Haven't looked at them yet. It's still actually kind of pretty out today.

Wish I had time to go riding tomorrow, but doesn't look like it. Soon.

Here's a map of my last 50 visitors this morning. I thought it was kind of interesting. Makes the World-Wide-Web seem more world-wide!

It's still dark, but it looks like it's going to be a good day to take a few pictures. The snow is clinging to everything. It also looks like I might have to plow today. I'll be able to decide that in a few minutes when I head down to the barn. It really snowed hard here at times, about 5 inches from this storm.

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I was able to convince the planning and zoning guy that Mom's place is definitely not in the flood plain and that it's on a different map than he was looking at (the flood plain is down below the high bank, where no house in the town has ever been built). As a matter of fact, I was over there today taking pictures of it and the neighbors'. Mom's place is one of the few that even has a backyard because it's away from the creek more than the rest and has more land above the high bank than the others. The lot is buildable/rebuildable and I got the letter, in my hand, that I needed to prove it. It's been quite a month of crazy bureaucracy, but now we're finally able to proceed. It should sell quickly and easily now that we have proof that it is worth something, and at the reasonable price we will be asking for it.

I'm just glad that we can finally give somebody else a chance to live in it. Sure, we'd all like to keep it for sentimental reasons, but the more I thought about it (and it's been on my mind a lot, especially the last two sleepless nights), I'm positive we're doing the right thing. The way I see it, if the people that owned it before Mom and Dad had kept it forever, we would have never had it for our home either. Why be selfish and keep it for ourselves, empty and un-lived-in? I don't think I could bare to see that - nothing but the ghosts of our past roaming around in it. Give someone else the chance to care for it and raise their family in it too - kids laughing and writing on the walls - filled with life. The little town is mostly a retirement community nowadays, so it may not turn out that way, but at least we are trying to carry on the tradition of it being a "home".

If a person is in a situation such as a school or mall shooting, there is a period of time (at least four minutes) before help can arrive-- and they are their own first line of defense. Many crimes are de-escalated by armed citizens, without a gun even having to be fired.

In a gravely dangerous situation, if you don't intervene, the results can be irrevocable. Two million people have permits for concealed weapons in the U.S., and everyone should have the freedom to choose this option in order to defend themselves if necessary.

State laws related to concealed carry differ. The ones that allow it typically require passing a background check, being fingerprinted, completing training and demonstrating proficiency. In the states that don't allow the right to carry, criminals know that a higher percentage of people are unarmed. The "anti-violence movement" teaches people to not fight back when confronted, even though statistics show that those who offer resistance fare better. Good For The Country, Inc.

DUE TO LOSS OF SNOWPACK AND WARMER THAN AVERAGE TEMPS, ALL TRAILS IN JACKSON COUNTY ARE CLOSED EFFECTIVE 01/07/08 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Steve Chesley, Paul Chodas and Don Yeomans
NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office
January 9, 2008

Since our last update, we have received numerous tracking measurements of asteroid 2007 WD5 from four different observatories. These new data have led to a significant reduction in the position uncertainties during the asteroid's close approach to Mars on Jan. 30, 2008. As a result, the impact probability has dropped dramatically, to approximately 0.01% or 1 in 10,000 odds, effectively ruling out the possible collision with Mars.

Ewww!

As time passes, the remains of the departed coagulate to form "a hard, durable substance." When knocked with a spade, the wax-like bodies sound hollow.

This "grave wax" buildup has disturbed the natural cycle of decay -- and created a horror scenario for burial authorities. When bodies don't decompose, their graves can't be reused -- a common practice in Germany. Contrary to many other countries, where final resting places are traditionally maintained in perpetuity, Germany recycles cemetery plots after a period of 15 to 25 years. Experience has shown that the earthly remains of the deceased rot away almost entirely in this amount of time, but only under favorable soil conditions. full story

AURORA WATCH: Sky watchers, be alert for auroras. A solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field and causing high-latitude geomagnetic storms.

He's reading the wrong map. I'm sure of it. I went directly to FEMA and got copies of the maps myself. One federal map ends between Mom's house and the neighbor's and another map starts. He's looking at the neighbor's property. I know this because there is a landmark clearly distinguished on the map with Mom's property (the correct map). Mom's place is east of the landmark and is clearly not in the flood plain. The neighbor's place is west of it and is clearly in the flood plain (although I find that debatable too, but I'm fighting my own battle first). He didn't know anything about the landmark being shown on the map. It's not on the map with the neighbor's property (wrong map). That's why he didn't see it on the map he's looking at. He asked me to send him a copy of the map I was looking at. I make much less money than he does.

You aren't going to believe this shit. [head guy at planning and zoning] just called me back. He said the reason he hasn't sent anything out is that he discovered after I talked to him last that according to the federal (FEMA) flood insurance maps that the whole property is in a flood plain! Never mind that the property is many tens of feet above the level of the creek, has never ever in history flooded to the level of the buildings, and is the same level or higher than the whole rest of the town which has also never flooded. He said he will research it more to be sure and then he will have it in writing for me this week.

He also said that the only way to fight it is to hire surveyors to do an elevation study of the property. I'm not.

I'm giving up on this very soon. We will get it in writing (or I will get my 50 bucks back), then they win.

Just got off the phone with planning and zoning again. I wanted to know if [head guy] mailed the letter I need, or if I have to come in and get it, since I haven't received it yet. He told me right after Christmas that I would have something in writing as of last week. Now today they don't know what I'm talking about. There's only two ladies that work in the office and I have talked to both of them many many times in the last month. [head guy] isn't in, of course. She said if [head guy]comes in later today she will question him about it and call me back.

Oh my god.

Wow, some weird weather, eh? Yesterday we had severe hail in the morning, the size of marbles and so much of it that it piled up on the road like snow. Thunder and lightning most of the day, and many close strikes. Fog so thick again last night that I couldn't see both ends of the house while standing in front of it! Not to mention the 1.25 inch of off and on heavy rain.

At least it's something a little different for a change, as long as you drive carefully and no tornadoes come your way. It's too warm though, makes too much creosote. I'm sure the wind will start blowing again soon, it almost always does here nowadays, and that helps remove the creosote.

Never did make it out into the woods on the Hawkeye yesterday. Too much lightning. Maybe today, if I get the laundry and whatnot done. Although, Goldie and Snoopy didn't get their walk yesterday so have to do that today too.

Fog fog fog. Quite an accident on the interstate. The way some people drive, or lack thereof, it's no wonder. We didn't see any accidents last night, but saw some people that were on the edge. In the dark and fog on the way home, there were four or five of us cars in a row and some nut case passed all of us at once on our county road! It wouldn't be quite so bad if they just killed themselves (the Darwin Theory at work), but the trouble is they take all the rest of us out with them.

If I get time later, and it's not raining too hard, I think I'll take the Hawkeye for a little ride in the woods and make some tracks in the slush.

Just got home from Reedsburg. Had Christmas with the in laws and played some cards. We like euchre. It was very foggy, but no blizzard this time.

On the way down there, stopped in Lake Delton at Wal-mart to get an optical mouse. I'll never go back to a mouse with that stupid little ball in it. I was having trouble with the one on this computer. I have the new spare that I wasn't able to use on the laptop, but for 10 bucks I figured I'd get a new optical one. I'll use the new spare on something else someday, since this is my main computer.

While in the computer aisle, I always look at the new computers. I had told JR the other night that Wal-mart had computers for $398. Well, the lady there said those computers are gone now, but instead they have them for $298! Holy cow, that's a good deal, with a DVD burner and all, but no monitor. I might have to buy one someday just to have around for a spare.

Meldrum, an expert on primate morphology, says the hoax stories don't hold up under scrutiny.

"If you watch the film as a student of anatomy, primates and locomotion, you can see the movement of the shoulder blade under the skin," he said. "I can see the calf muscles contract at the appropriate moments. When anyone tries to replicate it in any way, it doesn't look like a primate."

His theory?

"You can never be 100 percent sure of anything, but beyond a reasonable doubt I am convinced it portrays a real animal," he said. "My working hypothesis is they [Bigfoot] are a species of great ape restricted to the ground but having an arboreal legacy. They would most likely be related to the orangutans." full story

There goes the snow. Sounds like it will be gone by the middle of the week. Doesn't bother me one bit. The cold weather is ok, but snow is too much work anymore for what I get out of it. No matter what way I look at it, snow costs time and money, then when it melts there's nothing left to show for it. At least with the snow gone, I can go cut firewood again!

I've been looking over old ATVing pictures while making DVDs and slideshows. Makes me want to go riding again! I'd go now, but I've already got a list for today. Maybe next weekend.

Still haven't gotten anything from planning and zoning in writing yet. I thought the deal was finally sealed with them. The head guy told me I would have it last week, after New Year's Day. Nothing in the mail yet as of yesterday. I'll be calling them again this week.

Some people around here say I have a "right now" attitude. They say I expect everything to be done "right now" - as if it's a bad thing. I can understand why they think it's strange. My attitude is so rare here, like having only ten individual toes instead of twelve webbed ones. They do as little as possible or nothing at all and hope somebody else will do it for them, or that their problem will go away all on it's own. Most of them don't even know what real problems are. Many times I've been in, or am still in, situations that make other people cry. The best way to handle any problem that arises - take charge of it myself and take care of it "RIGHT NOW". Only then will it go away so I can move on to the next obstacle. If I didn't have a "right now" attitude, I'd never get any results. And that would be no fun at all.

The Nintendo Wii might seem like a great way to get the family together and have some fun.

But one local doctor says it can be downright dangerous, Cincinnati television station WLWT reported

Complaints of muscle soreness and injuries from playing the game are piling up.

So fast, there are Web sites out there showing injuries gamers have gotten -- a black eye, a bloody hand, a knot on the knee and arms in slings.

"Those type of injuries you wouldn't expect from indoor play with a video game," Dr. Bret Bruder said. "The popularity of it, the explosion of this has been unexpected and amazing."

Bruder, an emergency department doctor, said injuries are adding up as more people get the game.

Unlike previous game systems, the Wii often demands considerable physical motion to play effectively.

And the sheer popularity and fun of the game system doesn't help matters.

"You get caught up and you don't want to quit and take a break," Matt Vieth said

"Young children through middle-age people (are) being over exuberant, coming in after hours and hours with their arms, shoulders and joints aching," Bruder said.

Zach Martin had problems with his arms after boxing a few rounds on the Wii.

"It kind of stresses out sometimes," he said.

Bruder said a little common sense goes a long way.

"A little bit of stretching if you're going to be doing some of the more vigorous activities like the golf and tennis," he said. "Don't play for hours and hours on end. Try to spread it out. We know it's fun, it's addictive, but keep it to a limit."

A video of what appears to be an object trailing a dark spiralling plume behind it and plummeting toward Prince Edward Island's Northumberland Strait is the focus of intense speculation.

A P.E.I. couple captured the strange event on video on Dec. 26, but witnesses and experts alike aren't certain what they're observing.

"We were kind of dumbfounded," said Tony Quigley, the P.E.I. farmer who videotaped the apparent unidentified flying object with his wife, Marie Ford-Quigley.

The couple was out walking late in the afternoon near North Tryon on the island's west end when Mr. Quigley spotted the mysterious object. "I said to Marie, 'Look, there's a plane in trouble there.' It looked like smoke coming from it."

The couple taped the strange scene for nearly six minutes. Mr. Quigley estimates the object they saw was more than three kilometres high and is convinced that the UFO must have crashed in the strait or in New Brunswick.

They watched the spectacle for close to 30 minutes and received calls from neighbours who also witnessed it.

"I really didn't want to be looking forward to hearing that there was a plane crashing around the area and people losing their lives on Boxing Day," Mr. Quigley said.

But calls the next day to the area's airport, Summerside RCMP and the federal Transportation Safety Board came up with no reports of plane crashes.

Ms. Ford-Quigley speculates it might have been a fighter jet dumping fuel and in trouble. One thing's for sure: her husband isn't buying any stories about crashing flying saucers.

"This is definitely unidentified," Mr. Quigley said. "But if you're talking Martians or anything like that, I haven't seen any to date, so I can't say I really believe in them."

That's not the case with Gertrude Campbell. The Quigleys' neighbour also saw the UFO, along with four other people. Ms. Campbell, 65, firmly believes in UFOs.

"I swear when I come (home) at night time and I look at some of those stars and they're pretty big, I'd say that's what's looking over us," she said. But if the P.E.I. object was a saucer, then according to Ms. Campbell: "It broke up coming down."

Don Ledger, a UFO researcher and author who lives in Bridgewater, N.S., believes the object was space junk. He cites the launch in mid-December of a NASA Atlas rocket carrying a satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that co-ordinates spy satellites south of the border.

"Supposedly the booster came down around southwestern Nova Scotia," said Mr. Ledger, who co-wrote with Chris Styles, Dark Object, a book about a purported UFO crash at Shag Harbour, N.S., in 1967.

"That (NASA booster) didn't make orbit the way it was supposed to, but I can't prove it.

"After a certain point in its launch, everything goes what they call dark at NASA and it turns over to the spooks down there in the U.S. who handle the satellites. So if indeed it did come down, you're not going to hear about it."

The Quigleys are sending their video to Ufology Research of Manitoba in Winnipeg, in hopes that the private, non-profit group can help solve the mystery.

BRITAIN is turning into an alien nation according to Sun readers who have flooded us with reports of UFO sightings.

Following our story of a UFO seen off Cornwall on December 29 we were inundated by calls from people who had similar things all over the country.

Some claimed they had seen alien spacecraft off the same bay in Cornwall where our original UFO was snapped.

A man who asked just to be called Edward snapped a strange shaped object which appeared to be 'buzzing' a Navy ship.

He said: "I was taking photos of the ship when a helicopter from it took off, flew west then landed back on board just a few minutes later.

"It was only when I blew up the photos on my computer that I realised what the helicopter had gone off to take a look at.

"It was in the exact same bay as the one featured in The Sun earlier this week." American holidaymaker Ian Mulford also believes he snapped a UFO at virtually the same spot as Edward.

Ian said:"I was taking photographs and did not see anything unusual at the time, but after reviewing the pictures I found something very unusual in the background of a picture of one of the family.

Partygoer Rodga Harvey claims he snapped a UFO as he made his way home from a party on New Years eve.

Rodga, from St.Ives, said:"It was only when I looked at the photo later that I realised there was this weird flying object in the sky.

"It didn't look like any normal aircraft so I am sure it is a UFO."

Mum of one Rachel Clarke, 25, is totally convinced that she filmed two UFOs flying above the skies above Borehamwood on New Year's Day.

Rachel said: "I was standing on the balcony of a neighbour's house celebrating.

"We suddenly saw a bright light appear in the sky, then another one joined it.

"They both started darting about really fast. They weren't flying around like normal planes, or helicopters.

"Everyone who saw them, and there were about 15 of us, were amazed. I didn't see any green men flying them, but I am sure they were UFOs.

Grandmother Mary Booth, 57, says she saw what she believes was a UFO in Bristol on New Year's Eve.

Mary was standing in her front garden with three other people when they noticed a bright orange, ball shaped object in the sky.

She said: "We live near Bristol airport so I often see planes and helicopters in the sky and this was totally different to them.

"It was standing still in the sky then it moved off above our roof and then took off upwards, getting smaller and smaller.

"I have never believed in UFOs before but after seeing that I think there might be something in them.

"There was no way this was an airplane or something like that. It was really weird and we all saw it."

Art Bell spoke with practicing internist Dr. Gary Ridenour about why he believes that avian flu represents the greatest health threat to mankind in the history of the world.

The current strain of avian flu kills about 60% of the people who contract it in as little as eight hours, Ridenour said. In order for it to become a pandemic, he explained, the virus must mutate down to a less lethal but far more infectious form that can be spread from one person to another. Ridenour estimates a one in three chance of an avian flu pandemic in the near future.

Though seemingly counterintuitive, Ridenour said the death rate will be highest among 20 to 40 year olds because they have the best immune systems. This is because the avian flu harnesses the immune system to attack and dissolve the tissue in the lungs. According to health experts, this "cytokine storm" is one of the main reasons so many young and healthy people died during the 1918 flu pandemic -- an outbreak that killed an estimated 50 to 100 million people, Ridenour noted.

Ridenour estimates this time up to one billion people could perish during the pandemic, but not solely from the virus' lethal effects. Instead, he believes many will not survive because of a disastrous infrastructure meltdown caused by the pandemic.

Ridenour noted that Tamiflu and other flu treatment drugs will likely not be an effective defense against the virus. If people can stay secluded indoors for the first 8-10 days of the outbreak, there is a good chance they will survive the first wave, he suggested.

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Scientists at biotech firm Acambis are working to perfect a vaccine designed to give lifelong protection against all strains of influenza A - the cause of pandemics. Many experts believe a pandemic of the human form of avian flu is approaching and will kill tens of millions of people worldwide when it arrives. Unlike traditional flu vaccines, supplies of the new vaccine could be built up prior to such an outbreak. Dr Michael Watson of Acambis said: "It can be manufactured at any time of the year, and could be stockpiled in advance of a pandemic or potentially used routinely to ensure population protection against future pandemics."

I see a lot of people have been searching my blog for information about the Quads Meteor Shower. Well, I didn't post any info about the Quadrantids because I didn't think they would amount to much here. The peak was supposed to be during the daylight hours. But, this morning I did see half a dozen really bright ones in just a few minutes. One thing neat about these that is different than most, is they went all the way down almost to the horizon before burning out. The time I was looking was 5:30 am Central Time, south and west sky.

It's a bit cool this morning. -10 below zero. It could be a lot worse for January, plus it's going to warm up over the weekend. The furnace ran a couple times this morning, just while I got the wood stove stoked up again, but that's ok. When it's this cold I like the furnace to run a couple times because the water pipes are all under the house where the furnace hot air duct is.

The coldest I've ever seen it was -45 below zero. It got that cold two weekends in a row! I don't remember the exact date, but it was in the early 1990s. I didn't have the wood stove installed yet. The furnace ran without stopping, and we had frost on the INSIDE of the walls in some spots. Now that was cold.

I've been making PC and DVD slide shows from some of my pictures. Yesterday I did all of my Castle Rock Family ATV Club pictures. It took awhile. The PC slide show not so long, about an hour, but when I made the DVD slide show it took almost 2 hours to convert the individual images to a video file (there's 700 pictures from just the CRFAC events) then another 3 hours to encode the video and burn it on the DVD. Fortunately, now that I have master copies of the discs it's only a matter of burning copies when I need to and that only takes a minute or less.

This stunning photo of a UFO over Cornwall was last night hailed by experts as one of the best ever taken in Britain. The photographer thought he was just taking a sea view — but when he loaded the digital camera card on to his computer, the round metallic “craft” was in the center of the shot, about two miles away. Nick Pope, one of Britain’s foremost UFO experts, said the photo was one of the best he had seen. Nick, formerly the official Ministry of Defence UFO analyst, said: “If I was still there I’d be looking at this very closely. The object looks structured, symmetrical and metallic. This man has caught something very interesting indeed.”

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Please bear with me, I've been testing Blogger's new poll feature, so the question has changed a few times today! In the meantime, vote as many times as it will let you. It's a good test for it.

I could clearly see Comet Tuttle tonight on the walk home from the barn. It's straight overhead. It's really a cool green, but not much tail. Looks almost like the other comet.

NEW YEARS COMET: Tonight, after sunset, take your binoculars outside and scan the sky right above your head. You may find a little emerald fuzzball--Comet 8P/Tuttle. The comet is making its closest approach to Earth (24 million miles) on Jan. 1st and 2nd. Shining like a ~6th magnitude star, it is barely visible to the unaided eye, but a fine target for binoculars and backyard telescopes.

I took down my Christmas lights today. After all, today is the end of the holiday season. There sure is a lot of ice under the snow. I had to take the sledgehammer and break it up in order to get some of my cords picked up and put away. All done until next year (or the end of this year now I guess).

Mmmmm, pickled herring. I love the stuff. Dad got me started on that tradition for New Year's Eve when I was a kid. He always had to have grasshoppers too, but since I don't drink anymore I pass on those. He ate oysters on Christmas Eve, but I can't stand those. Yuck! None for me.

Was playing with the poll feature again. Wanted to see if I could make a new poll after closing the old poll, while still leaving the results of the closed poll on the blog. Yes! It worked. Until I tested it with Internet Explorer. IE will show the results of the old poll, but won't load the new poll unless I remove the old one altogether. Surprise surprise.

Well, another year shot to hell. At least I got my bonus. Ha ha! I tried to make a funny there. Have never even been offered a pay raise. It'd be nice just to make minimum wage or close to it. Good thing I walk to work, as I'd never be able to afford to drive there.

Anyway, looking ahead, I really don't have too many plans for 2008. Lose a little weight, ride my bicycle more. Put a new roof on this crappy shack and try to take the sagging out of it. And Mrs. Rev wants me to take vacation time with her or she says she'll find someone that will. It's just so hard to leave the cows when you come back to such a mess afterwards. As much as I like the cows, I think it's getting almost time to give that up too.

Yesterday morning was really foggy. I went for a little ride in the woods and took a couple pictures:


It was frosty too:

Much more snow and my trail will be impassable again. You can see here that the bottom of my Hawkeye drags all the way now. Fortunately, they're calling for warm weather and rain this weekend so maybe that will take all the snow away. Christmas was plenty white and now that it's gone it can take the snow with it. Wouldn't bother me any: