Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A random illusion: The Devil Is Near…Can You See him?

Can you see the devil hiding behind the cloud? I definitely can! In fact, now I can’t stop seeing him. Am I possessed? Sure hope not!

Another thing that I noticed: is that sun eclipse we are seeing that gives devil horns effect, or is it rather a Moon? In my opinion it couldn’t be so big and evil Moon. Or could it?

If you want to see some more devil appearances, be sure to check WTC Devil, as well as Aphex Twin’s Devil optical illusion.

This photo was originally taken by Peter Wienerroither, visit his page for more cool photos! Peter said: “It was an eclipse of the sun in May 2003, photographed near Vienna/Austria.

“And this glorious moment didn’t have anything devilish about it – quite the contrary was true.”

(source)

Help sought to solve Civil War mystery – Who were the two little girls?

AP Photo         Good Day Humboldt County!

I’ve always been a history buff, and in particular have been fascinated with the Civil War.

I have relatives that fought for both sides coming from Connecticut, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

I never tire of hearing new stories about those tumultuous times, and the people who lived in them.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber)

I recently read that The Museum of the Confederacy is publicly releasing eight images recovered on battlefields of unidentified persons. Curators are hoping that by some remote chance a descendant might recognize a facial resemblance or make a connection the battlefields where the photos were found.

The names of the two little girls are an enduring mystery, their images found among crumpled bodies on Civil War battlefields. Each is posed primly on chairs, ringlets cascading past the rouged cheeks of one, the other dressed in a frilly hoop dress. But no one knows the identities of the girls in the photographs, or the stories they might tell.

The photograph of one girl was found between the bodies of two soldiers - one Union, one Confederate, at Port Republic, Va., 150 years ago this June. The other was retrieved from a slain Union soldier's haversack in 1865 on a Virginia farm field days before a half-decade of blood-letting would end with a surrender signed not far away at Appomattox.

Though photography was in its infancy when the war broke out, its use was widespread. Many soldiers carried photographs of loved ones into battle and for the first time, photographic images of war were available - and the Museum of the Confederacy has its own vast collection of images today, many of them identified.

But now museum officials are releasing the unidentified images of the two girls, along with six other enigmatic photographs, on the admittedly remote chance someone might recognize a familial resemblance or make a connection to a battlefield where they were found. There is no writing on the backs of these photographs. No notes tucked inside their wallet-sized frames. For a museum that prides itself on knowing the provenance of its holdings, the photographs offer few clues.

"We don't know who they are and the people who picked them up did not know who they were," said Ann Drury Wellford, curator of 6,000 Civil War images at the Richmond museum that has the largest collection of artifacts of the Confederate states, civilian and military. "They evoke an utter and complete sentimentality."

Museum officials can only speculate on the children and adults, including soldiers, shown in the photographs. But whether they were sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, or siblings the prospect of identifying each grows dimmer with the passage of time.

Typically they were found by another soldier and handed down through generations. Ultimately an attic would be cleared or a trunk would be emptied and the photo would be given to the museum. Some have been in the museum's possession for 60 years or more.

Even in its infancy, photography was booming during the Civil War. Photographers were assigned to Northern divisions and traveling photographers were the early version of photo booths as they visited encamped troops between battles and photographed them.

Photography was evolving from daguerreotype to ambrotypes and other mediums in which images were produced through a wet emulsion on glass and were more accessible to a wider audience.

"It had more versatility than it had ever had," according to Jeffrey Ruggles, a historian of photography. "It was the early blossoming of photography. The war just happened to hit at a time when people were very interested in seeing these pictures."

Bob Zeller, president of The Center for Civil War Photography, said soldiers carrying photographs of wives, children and other loved ones off to battle was common. Finding a photo on the battlefield without a clear connection to a dead soldier was uncommon and highly evocative.

"Much of it is the unknown factor that the image carries," he said. "It's something that everyone cherishes, a photograph of their loved ones, but there it is out on this battlefield with these seemingly nameless, faceless corpses."

Zeller, the author of several books on Civil War photography, including "The Blue and Gray in Black and White: A History of Civil War Photography," described such photos as the link for many Civil War combatants to "a reality that, for many of them, had just disappeared."

Sometimes, the story behind an unidentified photo is eventually told. Zeller relates the story of a Union soldier who died at Gettysburg, clutching a photograph of his family. Widespread efforts in the North to identify the family ultimately proved successful in tracing his family to upstate New York.

As for the girl's photos, there is no hint of who these subjects are and the connection to the combatants who once cherished them is lost.

Unlike modern soldiers, few Civil War troops had the modern-day version of dog tags and few carried identification. The Civil War also did not have the kinds of mortuary units that now strive to collect all the possessions of the war dead and return them to their families.

Each photograph is in a hinged case with a leather or composite exterior. The cases protected the fragile images, which include early photographic processes such as tintypes and daguerreotypes.

"We're very fortunate that we know where they came from and how they were found, and many people who donated them were hopeful a family member would see them and identify them," Wellford explained. But the museum official said it would be too costly and time-consuming, she said, for curators to do their own detective work.

Pvt. Thomas W. Timberlake of the 2nd Virginia Infantry found the portrait of the girl with the ringlets and hand-colored pink cheeks on the battlefield of Port Republic between the bodies of the two dead soldiers.

Fought in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's forces turned back Northern troops led by Brig. Gen. James Shields, who lost 67 men. The Union troops hailed from Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The other girl, who had short hair parted down the middle, was found by Pvt. Heartwell Kincaid Adams of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry in the haversack he found on a Union soldier's body at the battle of High Bridge in Virginia, only days before the war ended at Appomattox in 1865.

"I think they're utterly compelling, especially the little girls," Wellford said. "You can see that they're dressed well and they're posed in elaborate studios. There was a lot of thought and effort that went into taking those pictures."

The other photographs released by the museum offer scant information on their origin. Many lack the dates they were found and locations, but Wellford hopes the public at large could help.

Wellford said the photographs show there was more to the war than combat and death. "You have these guys out their killing each other and all sorts of bloodshed and he's carrying a picture of a little girl," Welllford said. "It shows the humanity."

Museum officials said, even 150 years later, it remains important to return the photos to families who had a link to the Civil War. The two girls, they said, still evoke powerful emotions. "You think about these little girls at home and their daddies never return and they don't know what happened to them," said Sam Craghead, a spokesman for the museum. "It's just a really, really human story." (source)

Time for me to walk on down the road….

Monday, June 11, 2012

Religious Hypocrites: When Holy Men Go Bad All Hell Can Break Loose

                       GOOD DAY HUMBOLDT COUNTY!

  Bad preachers/pastors are the biggest hypocrites in our society. When exposed, their crimes can range from losing their temper and committing violent acts short of killing (Creflo Dolar); preaching that homosexuality is a sin yet engaging in it themselves (Ted Haggard), to being mass murderers (James Jones).

  It wasn’t that long ago here in Humboldt County when Pastor Dino Cardelli (left)of Cavalry Chapel Church, was sentenced to prison for having sex with an adopted daughter. He seduced her with Bible verses. His wife committed suicide rather than live with the knowledge. 

You have pastors like Terry Jones (right) of Gainesville, Florida who is trying to start a holy war against all Muslims worldwide and who gets his kicks out of burning Korans. Even extreme conservatives avoid being associated with his brand of senseless hatred in the name of Christianity.

Cases like the Baptist Youth Pastor -  Randy Lee Morrow Right) - who got 135 years for having sex with young parishioners. It seem like when these holy men go bad they do it with a vengeance. Picture of an Offender or Predator

I could go on all day, but I believe I’ve made my point about preachers and pastors can be the biggest hypocrites in our society. They are passionate men with twisted outlooks on life and religion. They seek to lead people with their purported closeness to God. Their fall from grace is usually a shock to everyone.

    Time for me to walk on down the road…

Sunday, June 10, 2012

AS IT STANDS: Why I’m nice to people who serve me food

                                                                       By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
  Why isn’t there a national holiday for food servers?
(If there is please don’t share it with me and ruin this column!)
   There should be. They don’t get paid anywhere near what politicians and others do for serving the public. Yet, what would we do without them? Stand in a line at restaurants and place our order with an overworked cook?
  Waiters and waitresses lead challenging lives. Anyone who has ever tried serving food knows this to be true. No surveys need to be taken. There are a lot of mean jerks out there! Some folks feel so entitled they treat the waiter/waitress like donkey dung. They criticize their server’s every move and do petty things like sending steaks back because they “don‘t look right.”

   This is not a wise thing to do. You can only humiliate and antagonize someone for so long before expecting retaliation. Think about what they can do to that steak with vicious delight? It’s not a pretty picture.
  I’d like to think most people have enough sense not to mess with waiters and waitresses. After all, they handle your food. This somewhat intimate exchange comes with expectations that your food hasn’t been tampered with, and your server’s wash their hands after going to the bathroom.
 It’s a two-way street. Be nice to them, and they’ll be nice to you. So why would anyone risk revenge? I’d write a book if I had the answer, but the short story is there are an incredible number of rude people in this world who do not think before engaging their mouths. It’s true, and I’m sure you’ve seen examples of same.

  In making my argument for a national holiday, I would like to include various types of food servers, such as those in fast food restaurants staffed with pimpled teenagers and seniors who are unable to retire. They get treated to drive-by rude encounters in addition to counter customers complaining there wasn’t enough salt in the French fries.
  Perhaps you’ve seen a movie about how fast food servers strike back at the public for perceived mistreatment. Maybe you’ve read a story or two about “luggie burgers” and much worse. That happens and a lot more. I’ve heard of hamburgers batted around on the floor like a hockey pucks and then served to unwitting customers.
 I’ve seen firsthand what can happen to food if you torment your waiter or waitress. You should also be aware they have many devious ways of getting back at you if you treat them badly. It isn’t always your food they mess with, sometimes it’s your head.

 Here’s one first hand example: my wife and I were treated to dinner by an old high school buddy, Larry, at an Italian restaurant in downtown Eureka a number of years ago. Larry, was messing with the waiter. He had fun bugging the waiter who tried to smile, but obviously had a hard time maintaining his grin.
  I sensed something was up when Larry handed him his credit card to pay the bill. The waiter came back smiling and said it was no good!
You should have seen Larry. He sent that waiter back twice with the same results and  grew more mortified each moment. I finally stepped in and paid the bill. After we left, Larry practically frothed at the mouth (luckily I was driving) and asked me to pull over to a local bank with ATMs out front.
  He stormed over to the ATM and for a tense moment it looked like his card wouldn’t work again, but then it started spitting money out. He slowly walked back to the car, coming to the painful  conclusion the waiter had messed with him big time. His embarrassment was complete. The moral of the story is simple; don’t screw with someone serving your food. They have many ways to return the favor.
  Personally, I have nothing but respect (even if it is born from the abject fear of my food being tampered with) for waiters and fast food servers. I always smile and say “Thank you,” even if I get the wrong order! I always leave tips.

 Food servers are not paid enough for what they have to endure. I was once almost a food server while in high school. I worked at an all-you-can eat smorgasbord after school, busing tables. I recall the psycho cook doing unspeakable thing to the salads and gravies.

 Needless to say I never ate anything there. After a while, I couldn’t stand it any longer and moved on to another menial job that didn’t involve working with the public.
 What’s that? How about rude food servers? Not right now my friend, that’s the stuff of another column.
As It Stands, we need to show our appreciate for waiters, waitresses, and fast food servers somehow. If not a national holiday, then how about how we treat them well every day? 

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Mining Lore: A quick take from today, and a short history on the Yreka Mine

Yreka Mine, 1860

For a brief period of time, from 1992-94, I had the gold fever and was searching in the Siskiyou’s with a couple of buddies.

We spent a lot of time at the BLM office pouring over old records of mines. Some were still active, but most had reverted back to the state.

Long story short…never found enough to make our efforts worthwhile. I recall one day when the three of us went to the Siskiyou County Court House and saw a fabulous display of gold nuggets in the lobby behind a glass case.

We all wondered about how secure they were there. There was no apparent way to stop someone from doing a smash and grab. One in particular caught my eye – it looked like a big fat dog bone! We decided no one would be stupid enough to rob this display in such a public place. There were cops wandering around the halls a lot. (graphic - Yreka Mine, 1860)

On February 1, 2012, the LA Times reported:

“Thieves in Yreka, Calif., made off with $3 million in gold nuggets Wednesday after breaking into the Siskiyou County Courthouse and smashing a glass case that contained a display on the area's mining history, officials said.”

So much for someone being stupid enough to rob it. How about some local history about Yreka to wrap this post up with”

It was March, 1851 and gold had recently been discovered about 30 miles south of here on the Scott River.

A group of six men... while striking camp the next morning, Thompson observed something extraordinary. Because of heavy rains the ground was soaked, and the bunch grass, serving as breakfast for the pack mules, was being pulled out of the ground, exposing the roots. And on those roots, Thompson noticed, were flecks of gold. He and his men decided to stay.

Unbeknownst to Thompson, he had just spent the night on what would soon become known as “the richest square mile on earth.” As well, his accidental discovery set in motion the creation of a new town.

With so many gold-seekers already in California due to the ’49 gold rush, it wasn’t long before word got out, and within six weeks of Thompson’s discovery there were 2000 miners on Yreka flats. In those early days it was known simply as Thompson’s Dry Diggings, and was basically a huge camp full of transient gold miners. By August of that year, as the miners discovered that this area was the “second mother lode,” the population swelled to 5,000. At that time, the town, now called Shasta Butte City, moved to its present location, in order to be closer to the nearest water supply (Yreka Creek).

Slowly but surely, the new town was taking shape, and the first real structures were going up on Main Street (today’s Miner Street). In early 1852, with the population continuing to grow, the State Legislature created Siskiyou County. At that time, because there was another town called Shasta in the region, Shasta Butte City changed names again, this time choosing the local Indian word for Mt. Shasta—Yreka.

from "The Boomtown That Didn't Go Bust--A History of Early Yreka"

Richard Barter, also known as Rattlesnake Dick ...[d]uring California’s Gold Rush days, [settled] in at Rattlesnake Bar, a small mining camp in Placer County.....

However, Barter was unsuccessful in his quest for gold and soon decided to turn to a life of crime. ... In 1856, Barter learned from a drunken mining engineer that large gold shipments were being sent down Trinity Mountain from the Yreka and Klamath River Mines.

Barter sent George Skinner and three others to intercept the gold shipment, which was packed on mules. George and the other bandits stopped the mule train outside of Nevada City, California holding guns on the muleskinners. Meekly the men turned over $80,600 in gold bullion to Skinner and his men, without a shot being fired.

The bandits then made off with the shipment to keep a rendezvous at Folsom with Barter and Cy Skinner. However, George Skinner found it next to impossible to take the heavy gold shipment down the mountain passes without fresh mules. Soon, he split up the gold shipment burying half of it in the mountains.

Making their way to Auburn, the outlaws were soon intercepted by a Wells Fargo posse and gunfight ensued. In the melee, George Skinner was killed and his confederates fled. The lawmen recovered $40,600 of the stolen loot and though they searched diligently, they failed to find the remaining $40,000. ...

The treasure has never been recovered and is said to be somewhere on the slope of Trinity Mountain, said to have been buried about 12 miles south of the hold up point.

-- from Legends of America

America’s National Parks under siege: environmental threats, invasive species and climate change to blame

         Good Day Humboldt County!

  The reasons why our national parks face such challenges today can be attributed to several things.

  I recall working as an editor of a small town newspaper (The Desert Trail) during the 1980s, and going to Joshua Tree National Park numerous times; both recreational and on the job when a hiker would get lost or something along those lines. Today, Joshua Tree National Park is suffering from air pollution, among other things.

Joshua trees face peril from air pollution and climate change, which could leave Joshua Tree National Park with just 10 percent or less of the trees by 2100

“Disappearing glaciers, decreasing air quality and foundation species pushed to the brink of survival. America’s national parks are facing environmental threats that range from tiny invasive species to the planet-spanning impacts of climate change. In some cases, the situation is dire; in others, progress is being made. In aggregate, the issues point to how important — and how fragile — these special places are.

“Each unit in the system has its own unique challenges,” said Al Nash, spokesman for Yellowstone National Park, “but they all reflect a component of who we are and where we’re going. They’re about our shared experience as Americans.” (source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Friday, June 8, 2012

As It Stands Unique People: Part one – meet Derek Amato muscial genius

Amato’s life-changing head-injury happened in 2006 when he was horsing around with some friends.

I’m launching a new feature for this blog today – As It Stand’s Unique People. I love reading about people who do unique things and lead unique lives.

My definition of a unique life is one lived off the beaten path. People are often in awe of what another person does and either considers them a genius or a crazy person.

      My first candidate is Derek Amato: 

“When Derek Amato crashed headfirst into the hard bottom of a pool, he was scared about what he might have done to his brain. But amazingly the fallout from that accident wasn’t all bad.

Along with the headaches and other post-concussion symptoms, the accident brought Amato an unexpected gift: it turned him into a musical savant.” (Continue reading the story here)

RECORD BREAKING WEATHER: 2012 is the Warmest U.S. Spring on record

              Good Day Humboldt County!

  Scientist are calling this year a carbon dioxide milestone. Every kind of weather record imaginable was broken thus far and we have six more months to go. But whatever you do, don’t say “global warming” or you’ll rile up the crazy disbelievers! You know what group I’m talking about – they still think the earth is flat.

  I find it interesting how people can ignore facts and the changing world around them, and rely instead on misinformed rhetoric from the extreme right. There’s no fixing stupid, so clueless conservative partisans will continue to ignore the science even when their wearing shorts in the dead of winter in Alaska!

“So far, 2012 has been the warmest year the United States has ever seen, with the warmest spring and the second-warmest May since record-keeping began in 1895, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Thursday.

Temperatures for the past 12 months and the year-to-date have been the warmest on record for the contiguous United States, NOAA said. Record warmth and near-record warmth blanketed the eastern two-thirds of the country from this spring, with 31 states reporting record warmth for the season and 11 more with spring temperatures among their 10 warmest.

"The Midwest and the upper Midwest were the epicenters for this vast warmth," Deke Arndt of NOAA's Climatic Data Center said in an online video. That meant farming started earlier in the year, and so did pests and weeds, bringing higher costs earlier in the growing season, Arndt said.

"This warmth is an example of what we would expect to see more often in a warming world," Arndt said. More long-lasting heat waves, record-high daytime temperatures and record-high overnight low temperatures are to be expected in a warming world, said Jake Crouch of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.” (Continue reading here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Election Madness 2012: White supremacist wins county GOP seat

How could a self-avowed skinhead have won a seat on a Republican committee? This surprising article not only explains how, but also exposes a flaw in the system. The GOP committee’s current bylaws don’t include a provision that would allow a member to be expelled for his/hers beliefs so they’re stuck with Steven Smith.

“Leaders of the Republican Committee of Luzerne County, Pa., are trying to figure out whether they can oust a reputed white supremacist who was elected to the committee with one vote – his own.

Steven Smith, co-founder of a racist group called the Keystone State Skinheads, was elected to one of two committee seats for his district, Pittston City's Ward 4, during Pennsylvania’s April 24 primary election.

The county GOP chief said that as much as other committee members want to distance themselves from Smith, their hands are tied for now by committee bylaws.” (Continue reading the story here)

In the name of art: dead flying feline causes global outrage and curiousity

CATCOPTER5N_1_WEB

                   Good Day Humboldt County!

I’ve heard it said that art is in the eye of the beholder. Artists are constantly exploring new avenues of expression using materials from the world around us.

I’ve seen some pretty crazy things done in the name of art, but a remote-controlled dead cat takes the honor of being the most bizarre piece of art I’ve ever witnessed.

  “A Dutch artist, upset over losing his beloved pet, Orville, had the animal stuffed and transformed its body into a remote-controlled helicopter, according to a Sky News report

A video posted to YouTube shows the flying feline slowly hover several feet in the air in a park, its body permanently spread eagle with propellers on its front paws. Artist Bart Jansen teamed up with radio control helicopter expert Arjen Beltman (photo above) after having a taxidermist preserve the pussy cat, Reuters reported.

The bizarre creation was then unveiled at the Kunstrai art festival in Amsterdam. The Orvillecopter doesn’t fly quite right, however, a glitch Jansen hopes to fix. “He will receive more powerful engines and larger props for his birthday,” Jansen said, adding that he hoped the upgrades will allow for a more “steady flight.”

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...