The Lookout

Save the Peopleless

2008-02-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

We’re all familiar with the homeless problem that continues to grow in our country. Now there is a new phenomenon: Peopleless homes!

Here’s a quote from a typical article you can find all over the web

“For Washoe County, there were 69 bank foreclosures for the entire year 2006, 100 for December 2007 and 204 for January 2008”

OK, that’s a lot of new peopleless houses in just Reno alone.

What can we do to help all those peopleless houses? The banks have their hands full.

They’re not really equipped to handle the issue… they need our help.

Unlike the homeless issue the peopleless issue affects those people that are not homeless and those homes that are not peopleless.

We have decaying neighborhoods and falling home values.

You would think the two issues would cancel each other out. I guess you could put together a stat sheet of some kind that would show our net issue = zero.

However, simple logic would tell us we have double the problem.

So I was thinking…

If we put the homeless people into the peopleless houses both issues would be resolved.

That would be wrong of course. It would violate the very foundation our society is built on. The bedrock would fail if we followed logic.

Financial Freedom: In the Home of the Free

2008-02-08T20:51:00.000-08:00

Boy what a mess our economy is in these days. Isn’t it great that were going to get some checks in the mail this spring?

I was thoroughly impressed to see how fast our representatives in Congress got the job done.

Just the way it’s supposed to work in the land of the free.

It's good to see the government is doing something to help out the little guy at the end of the corporate food chain.

It got me thinking though…

What with all the sub prime mortgage problems, and all the homes going in foreclosure these days, there seems to be no way out of this mess.

But then I kept thinking…mmm…

The government doesn’t have any money, at least we’re told that we spend as much as $400 billion dollars more than we have each year.

So I guess the government just prints up the new money for all the rebate checks they’ll be cutting this spring.

Well the government doesn’t actually print money, it’s the Federal Reserve that prints up money.

The government will go borrow the money for the checks and then pay it back some day in the future with real money plus interest.

That’s a great deal for the Federal Reserve.

They make up money out of thin air.

Then the American tax payers pay them back with real money.

Plus, they pay them interest for the privilege of paying them real money for the fake money they made up out of thin air!

It’s a great racket, and it’s completely legal too.

So anyway, back to my thinking...

If the government can just make up as much money as they want, why don’t we just all get rebate checks for a million dollars!?

Just think...

They're making up the money out of thin air, so why not make more?

If everyone got a million dollars we could all pay off our houses so the sub-prime mortgage problem would be completely wiped out.

I mean really, how much ink would it cost them to stick a couple of few extra zeros on each check?

Not only that, most people would have so much money left over that we would be spending up a storm. Consuming everything we could get our hands on.

Wal-Mart sales would go through the roof!

So that’s it, problem solved.

They hate us for our freedom

2007-08-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

They hate us for our freedom. That is what it is coming down to; our freedom to raise our families in peace and enjoy the fellowship and comfort of our friends and loved ones. Freedom to accept our fellow man as a partner on the journey of life.

Who is trying to take this freedom from us? Is it the greedy bankers and brokers that have wrecked our economy? Is it the war criminals that profit from the death and destruction of people in foreign lands? Is it the liars we call our elected officials? Who are these people that hate us for our freedom and are trying desperately to rob us of our birthright?

Why have we given them such power over us that they threaten to destroy any hope of freedom for our children and grandchildren?

A Painful Truth

2007-05-03T05:15:00.000-07:00

I tried to do the math on what percentage of the infinite universe we are able to perceive with our five senses but it keeps coming up to a number that’s closer to zero than anything else. That’s hard to believe when you stop and look at the richness of our environment. But do the math yourself, it’s practically zero.

If you dig down deep enough we all have a question that is at the core of our being, in fact, I’m inclined to think our existence is a question, who am I and what is this world I find myself in?

Going back to my math question one might conclude we have little at our disposal to address such a question, but we shouldn’t conclude that it is futile to examine it.

There is really very little thought or discussion given to this question in daily life, yet it is the question that should be driving our existence. It’s easy to bury the query and ignore it. Life goes on and the years seem to tick away going unnoticed until we find life has moved on while we’ve done nothing to truly understand who we are.

This is why I have a gripe with religion. Its sole purpose seems to be to stifle such questions, because the answer is supposedly in religion, whatever flavor we chose. If you are in a religion don’t question it, don’t ask the hard questions or you might be considered a heretic or expressing blasphemous views. Just accept the grace offered, and you will be saved. Saved exactly from what? And if I am saved what the heck does that mean in the scheme of reality??

Don’t misunderstand me; clearly there exists a Creative force that permeates the universe. Likewise there is a truly evil force that also plays a part, but do we ever really examine these issues with the full force of our intellect?

We seem to huddle in a little corner of our awareness, afraid to open our eyes and truly see the world around us. We need to open them to the light of day so we can see the darkness that is currently surrounding us.

It’s a scary thought, darkness is not a welcome condition, and yet we seem to live in it daily.

However if we have the courage to open our eyes and look we can begin to shed some light and see the shackles that keep us chained to our fears. We should be examining these shackles and searching for the key to unlock them.

There is an intelligent force that tries to keep us captive, but we have the free will to see it if we chose to look at it objectively. Each day can bring more knowledge about how this force works, if we ignore it, its like ignoring our house is on fire and we need to get out.

There are a lot of faces to this force and the harder you look the more you will see. If we can’t see the dangers around us how can we hope to avoid its consequences?

The multi-national corporations of the world are our modern day dictators. We are taught to believe that corporations are faceless entities, which they are, but make no mistake, behind the faceless façade are actual people that seek to control and dominate.

They are the masters that use religion or patriotism to deceive us into taking up arms against people we don’t even know, often in a foreign land far away from our homes. They try to convince us that they are our enemies, when in fact; it is those people that control and deceive us who are our real enemies.

War is a very profitable business, but don’t be deceived, one of its chief aspects is to draw our attention away from the real cause of our blight. It keeps the population under control while having the added feature of killing us off. The pain and strife caused by war only works to keep our attention further from the truth.

So I say, don’t let your life pass away without addressing that burning question that is the core of your being. Don’t take the easy way offered by religions, it’s a trap.

"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth…. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not..? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know it now." ... Patrick Henry, 1775.

What State are you living in?

2006-09-04T16:20:00.001-07:00

Is it just me, but it seems like there have been a lot of biggest ever pot busts in my neighborhood lately. Do a search on Google and you’ll get plenty of hits.

Are they clamping down harder, or are more out of work people growing an indigenous plant which someone arbitrarily condemned as illegal? I mean really, just think about it for a second… can man really declare that a plant given to us by the Creator is some how illegal? What kind of logic is that?

It is a pretty plant.

How about this: Are people being turned in by their ‘neighbors? I know we are suppose to keep a lookout for terrorist in our midst, so maybe this is just some overflow enthusiasm?

Here are some guys that fought back:

“Disclosure of the theft came as details of the extensive marijuana operation - the largest ever detected in the county - were revealed by officials. Weapons, camps and sophisticated growing systems were found.”

‘The largest ever’ I’m seeing a lot of that in the recent busts being reported in the news.

"It was overnight on Tuesday when the plants were taken," said Paul Helliker, general manager of the Marin Municipal Water District. "Apparently some of the growers returned."

And now they can’t find the guys. Are the growers too sophisticated for the local law enforcement? Or was it that someone else new there was a cash crop available for the daring? Makes you wonder what is going on there.

Even supposed legal pot clubs in California are getting
harrased.
"They're denying patients their medicine," said Ken Estes, who owns Holistic Solutions on Hilltop Mall Road and the marijuana that was in the truck."

Everyone has their own preference in whether or not they want to smoke pot, but doesn’t it bother you that these news stories sound exactly like a police state?

What state do you live in?

Now We're In For It!

2006-06-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

“The criminals infesting the governments and banks are so morally corrupted that an honest man cannot begin to comprehend what they are capable of or what they have in store for us.”
Fred Nupel, June 2006

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning...
Henry Ford

I’m afraid we’re in for it now, the screws are being tightened. Bankers from around the world are meeting to plan the final stages of the take down.

How many people understand the true evil of fractional reserve banking? Imagine this fantasy, suppose you have the only legal authority to print and create money. Its not really a fantasy, as a citizen of the USA, we the people have invested in our government the right to create money for our economy.

So what has our government done with this authority? Quite simply they gave it to the bankers. Well the bankers have always been trying to get a hold of the US ever since it was first created. They have long term vision so their 200 plus year plan for the US is nearing fruitarian.

Our government, influenced by lobbyists and swayed by the company of powerful and rich people, gave the authority to print legal tender to a privately held corporation: The Federal Reserve.

When our government needs money it goes to the Federal Reserve and borrows the money using a government bond as collateral. This obligates us (we the people) to pay back this loan along with interest. The money is created simply by the legal authority of the Federal Reserve to put electronic funds into an account.

Wow, so instead of us creating our own money that doesn’t need to be paid back, instead we have to pay the bankers back for money they created out of thin air, plus the added bonus of paying them interest on the loan! Great deal if you can get it.

Now that you have an understanding of exactly how we are being totally ripped off you can turn around and bend over... grab your ankles... now go watch your favorite reality TV show in peace.

In Memory of Kelly Cline

2006-05-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day an old high school friend of mine, Kelly Cline passed away. I feel a need to write some words in his memory, though in truth I didn’t see him more than once a year in his older age where he lived in Pacific Beach.

I first meet Kelly on the cross-country team at Cleveland High School in Seattle. I was a senior and he was a junior. People who knew him in his later years would probably be surprised to think of Kelly as a long distance runner. The years took a heavy toll on his body and he didn’t take very good care of it.

He was a good companion for me back in the early 70’s. In the spring of that year he and I rode the freight trains from Seattle down to San Francisco to run in the first annual Golden Gate Marathon. You can read about that trip here.

He wasn’t able to finish that race as he had stabbed his right calf with a scissors the day before while cutting off his jeans to make a pair of cutoffs.

I would team up with him again in the spring of 1972 when we got an apartment together in Palo Alto. He worked at a gas station in Milpitas while I worked the night shift at the Jack-in-the-Box in Redwood City. He worked the graveyard shift and spent most of his time playing his guitar.

We were trying to save up money for a hitchhiking tour of Europe, but when the money didn’t accumulate we moved to Gila Bend, Arizona to work in his father’s hay cutting business. Often in the evening we would make a trip to Phoenix to visit some girls he had meet in his one semester of college at Arizona State.

During the day after work we would hang out in our van recording music and dreaming of sending it to his brother in Spokane who was a DJ there.

After a couple of months in Gila Bend we made a cross country trip that took us back through Seattle and eventually to Boston. You can follow the details of that trip here.

That trip ended in desperation on the shores of Carson Beach in Boston where we decided to return home to Seattle.

The next year in 1973 Kelly married his first wife Cheryl, and lived in the southern suburbs of Seattle where he worked sometimes as a salesman. That marriage lasted for about 2 years.

He met his second wife, Tracy, at a bar in Ballard. She was the daughter of a mortician and he lived in the upstairs apartment of the mortuary. His first son died of SIDS around that time. I lost track of Kelly when I moved to California in 1979, but this marriage only lasted a short time.

He got a job withUPS where he met his third wife Tammy. He eventually suffered a back injury at work and began living off of disability. His third and final marriage also came to an end and he soured on the idea of family life.

He became addicted to the welfare state collecting disability for his back injury and I don’t believe he held a steady job since that time.

I know he spent time living in his van in Los Angles, where he wrote a screen play that he hoped would bring him the fame and recognition he longed for.

He came back to Seattle and lived with my brother’s family taking up residence in his basement. He drifted around but finally ended up at Pacific Beach in 1999 after my brother moved his family there.

This was probably the high point of his life as he had a deal working for Linux magazine doing shipping and work on their web page. Linux magazine financed the purchase of his Trucking Express building and he made a good life for himself.

Here you can see him working as a DJ at the pirate radio station, KPB, that was begun by my brother at the Wacky Warehouse.
He got the radio bug then and when the pirate radio was shut down he focused all his energy on getting a legal radio license which eventually came to be KXPB radio, Pacific Beach.

It was really quite an accomplishment and he became more and more attached to the success of the radio station. Unfortunately it feed his ego which began to grow and blinded him to the misuse and abuse he inflicted on his life long friends.

Events turned on him and he lost his connection to Linux magazine and eventually forced him to sell the Trucking Express building which cut off his source of income forcing him to rely totally on funds raised by the radio station.

Unable to put food on his table he relied on his friends to help financially support himself and his health suffered.

He became well known at Pacific Beach for the work he did on their web page and the local events that he would MC and DJ for. He reached his pinnacle this past Memorial Day as the DJ for the local celebration raising funds for the operation of the food bank and the radio station.

He was found sitting at his desk with the stacks of cash and checks he had raised, no doubt planning the future of his radio station which he had managed to take full control of.

I will remember him as a friend willing to take on adventures that few others would have dared.

Kelly Cline 1953-2006

Omnicide: the murder of all life on the planet.

2006-03-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

"If you believe in God, now is the time to ask for forgiveness."
so says Kurt Nimmo in his recent blog entry. Take a minute to read it, and you will be deeply sadden if you actually contemplate the deadly lethal pollution that has been released into our atmosphere.

Depleted uranium along with the billions of radioactive particles released into our atmosphere by the early nuclear testing has created a death sentence for life on planet earth.

Clearly it needs to stop today. The release of such deadly and heinous particles into the air we breath is inexcusable. To me this is like sleeping in your own shit, how could we be so stupid?

Forget about politics, forget about terrorists, forget about Muslims and Christians, just for a minute but all that to the side. Lets first think of the human race and try to preserve the planet we live on so we will have the time to think about all the things we need to set aside today. There is really no time to lose.

Back in 1972 scientist learned that low-level exposure over a period of time is more harmful to body cells than the same exposure given at a high rate for a brief time. Of course that won’t be publicized. Cancer is not a sudden disease like catching a cold, it can take years before you find out that cancer is infecting you. Why do you suppose the incidence of cancer has increased so dramatically since World War II?

Stop the war now. Stop using depleted uranium now. Stop fooling with nuclear technology that creates waste that remains lethal for billions of years.

Of course I’m dreaming, criminals run the world and apparently they aren’t smart enough to see the future they are creating for the planet. Or maybe they think they have some place to go that is not the deadly void the surface of our planet is becoming. Either way as long as we believe their lies and do what they say we are sealing our own fate.

The real war is not fought on the battle field, its not between the West and the terrorists. If we ever want to see peace on the planet we need to stop the people that preach war as peace and make profit by supplying the planet with weapons of death. Those people need to be prevented and removed from positions of power.

These type of people need to be identified at the earliest age possible and taught the respect for life that comes to most people naturally. These people need special guidance so that they can one day also learn the respect that life deserves.

Sadly, this day may never come as the fuse has been lit and the future of our planet is all but sealed: a desolate nuclear wasteland.

Here is what is in store for us as the radioactive particles are carried around the world and land in a spot near you.
Depleted Uranium Home

Evil Empire

2006-02-16T12:24:00.004-08:00

OK, the word is in from the rest of the world: UN Equates Gitmo to Torture. It’s pretty clear to the rest of the world, and its pretty clear to me and any other US citizen that cares to put some thought into it:

The US has become a monster that has no qualms about torturing people.

Very sad, and very scary.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "These are dangerous terrorists that we're talking about that are there,"

Listen Mr. McClellan what we are talking about here is TORTURE!!! There is no justification for torture, dangerous criminals can be safely detained without torture, we do it all the time. Get that straight, or are you just a pawn of the White House torturers?

Do I need to remind you of the leaders in the past that condoned and used torture? You can't hide the fact that we are talking about torture.

Torture!

Wise up Mr. McClellan. Do you really want to be associated with a gang of criminals? We are not the country that we have been brainwashed to believe we are.

History always takes it toll on those that practice evil atrocities.

So it Goes...

2006-02-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well folks being on lookout duty can be really dismal sometimes, but somebody has to do it or we might miss the freight train heading down on us at 100 mph.

OK, lets take stock. We have a war in Iraq that doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to any kind of victory. Since democracy is defined as rule by the people, the fact that the current governmental system was imposed on the Iraqi people, it means by definition, that it is not a democracy. So it goes...

Bush declared mission accomplished just after Baghdad was taken. Many people think it was a bit premature, but take Bush at his word on this. He and his cronies in the oil business have a vested interest in keeping that piece of paper we call the dollar afloat. Trust me, that is all they are interested in, securing their wealth and power. When Baghdad fell, so did the Saddam’s plan to sell his oil in Euros.
So it goes...

Once counties can buy their oil with Euros they won’t need to accumulate dollars and the dollar will no longer be the world currency. That takes a lot of power away from Bush & Co. So their mission was accomplished long ago, anything else has been gravy, and their has been a lot of gravy, especially if you are on the gravy train. So it goes...

Now that Iran is planning to sell oil for Euros starting at the end of March can anybody guess what will happen? So it goes...

Recently we have the reports of obscene oil company profits. The land of the free is the only country on the plant where the oil resources are privately owned, everywhere else they are the property of the people. So it goes...

If you take the profits reported by Royal Dutch Shell of $22.94 billion for 2005 and the profits from Exxon Mobil of 36.1 billion, it totals up to over 59 billion dollars in profit. Of course that is peanuts compared to what the US government spends, it only takes them 3 weeks to spend 59 billion dollars. So it goes...

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

A billion minutes ago was the time of Christ.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A billion days ago no one walked on earth.

A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government spends it.

So it goes...

Grasping at Straws… I’m not buying it.

2006-01-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

The administration is really grasping at straws now, hoping that most of the people will be fooled. I personally doubt they are fooling anyone, but alas, I fear most people don’t really care or pay proper attention. Our government has been taken over by a gang of criminals!

Here’s what Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in an AP article:
" a 15-day grace period allowing warrantless eavesdropping under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act demonstrates that Congress knew such surveillance would be essential in wartime."

Hello Mr. Gonzales?! What it demonstrates quite clearly to anyone who cares to notice, is that the President was given all the authority and tools he needed without having to resort to illegal warrantless eavesdropping.

There is only one reason for warrantless eavesdropping, that is for spying on political and personal enemies. This is completely against the law and against what our fore fathers had specified in the constitution. This is the kind of behaviour you would expect from a dictator, not the ruler of a free country.

Shame on you Mr. Gonzales. Our chief law enforcement officer supports law breaking by our top executive.

Shame on you Mr. Bush. Beware of wishful thinking. If you think the American people are buying your doublespeak, best to think again. We are not afraid of terrorists, the only terrorist we have our eye on are the ones illegally eavesdropping on us... is that you?

The Truth Lies Here

2006-01-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

That’s the latest tag line for the History channel, but it sums up how I feel about the gang of criminals that run our government.

“SAN ANTONIO - President Bush strongly defended his domestic spying program on Sunday, calling it legal as well as vital to thwarting terrorist attacks, and contended the leak making it public had caused "great harm to the nation."

What a line of BS! It is clear now that Bush has done a great harm to the nation by violating our constitutional rights.

"This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America and, I repeat, limited," Bush told reporters

If you believe that, or anything that man has to say, then I have some swamp land I’d like to sell you. How can we believe anything he or his government has to say?

Let’s see, he was reluctant to have an official investigation into 911, the only video evidence of what hit the Pentagon was confiscated by the FBI and won’t be released. Why not? If it supports the official conspiracy theory about what happened, let’s see it. If not, then what are we suppose to assume??

We now start preemptive wars on people that have no ability to harm us.

Unending reports of torture, mistreatment of prisoners and maintaining secret prisons are standard.

Now, when illegal activity by the government is uncovered the procedure is to find out who leaked it instead of dealing with the law breakers.

It’s getting to be too much.

I am concerned, because what seems to be happening is we are all getting side tracked debating the particulars. Everyone has their idea’s and beliefs about certain events, but the fact is, the facts about these events are obscured and hidden, making meaningful debate an exercise in futility.

Since the government is keeping much of the information secret how can we reach any valid conclusion? The only conclusion we can make is that something fishy is going on. So what should concern us is what kind of people are running our government?

What happened to our country?

2005-12-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

Bush said it was "a shameful act" for someone to have leaked details to the media about his authorization to spy on US citizens. Is he kidding?? Who does he think he is talking too? Does he really think everyone is that stupid? Personally, he hasn’t been able to impress me as an intelligent man.

Let's set the record straight here, what is a most
SHAMEFUL ACT
is that Bush decided it was OK for him to spy on US citizens. And what is even more shameful is that our government is nothing more than an organized crime syndicate so no one will be prosecuted for violating our rights, and they will continue to spy on anyone that disagrees with their policies.

What happened to our country?

Iraqi Woman Confesses on Jordan TV

2005-11-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is really rich, but the sad thing about it is most people eat it up, hook line and sinker without even thinking.
These false flag operations are getting to be too much. They are really starting to expose their hand with what they try to pull off these days.

OK, let’s just think it about real simple. Imagine the Chinese had invaded the US in order to free us from our criminal president. Well we wouldn’t like them hanging around our cities and conducting middle of the night raids and hauling people off to who knows where.

So let’s think, what should we do?? Hmmm, then this guy gets an incredible idea. Up in Canada he knows of some big wedding hoopla going on at a hotel there. It’s going to be a Catholic wedding, and this guy doesn’t really like Catholics. So even though the people there are the same race, and fellow North American’s who really don’t like the Chinese in the US either, he figures this would be a great way to disrupt the Chinese.

What?!! What kind of sense does that make? Yet we are expected to believe the supposed al-Qaida did this bombing thing in Jordan?

OK, maybe we are suppose to think that people over there are just incredibly stupid, but I don’t buy it. Nobody is that dumb.

Oh and by the way, the explosion also took out some high level Palestinians. I think the Palestinians share a similar plight to the Iraqis. Double dumb move blowing up that place in Jordan. If it really was al-Qaida (wink wink).

I guess if you think hard enough you can figure who benefits from it, but if you don’t think about it you’ll just believe what is spoon fed to you in the mainline media (beware of poison).

Boiling Point

2005-10-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

I can’t say I’ve ever done it, but I believe it’s true. They say if you drop a frog in boiling water he’ll jump out quicker than snot, but if you put him in a pot of water and slowly bring it to boil, he’ll boil to death.

Those slow incremental changes can be fatal!

Sometimes I try and imagine my life in 1975 and how it would have affected me if I had been able to jump from 1975 into 2005. Would I want to jump back out of shock?

It doesn’t seem so bad here. Does it?

Actually that probably depends on how much effort you put in to determine exactly what is happening these days.

Here’s a good place to start: The Center for an Informed America. Actually, that link will take you to his #74 newsletter. It’s a pretty long read in 2 parts, so it might be more effort than most people are willing to put out to get an understanding about what might be happening in their reality. I found it very informative and makes you think.

I suppose a lot of people don’t have the memories to jump back 30 years. As a result most probably can’t really gauge exactly how hot the water we are in is. Let me offer my perspective, from what my research tells me, its HOT!

Don't wait until the boiling point.

Hour of Desperation?

2005-10-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

I’m not sure its time to press the panic button yet, but I have my hand on the ready. It’s really inevitable; things have become so desperate now that the only possible future is going to be one of panic.

Here’s an example. It’s a long list of career government employees who have become Casualties of the Bush administration. The list includes Republicans so it is not an issue of political viewpoints, it became an issue of conscious.

With all those fine career people leaving the government it makes you wonder who is left running things? I guess a bunch of yes men and cronies.

I certainly don’t agree with Bush’s politics, but opinion and politics aside it has now become an issue of survival. The corruption and dismantling that has occurred in the US government is alarming.

I found the The All New Devil’s Dictionary here. It has some very appropriate definitions, check these out:

Elections. Controlled means of persuading the powerless to stand in line and prove their gullibility.

Or this:
Democratic Party. Archaic English. Defunct influence group. Now less powerful than PETA but featuring neutered males and spayed females nonetheless.

Ha, ha! I have no love for Democrats or Republicans, or any politician that is a tool of big money interests. Here’s my entry for the Devil’s Dictionary:

Politician. Money grubbing, power hungry individual that thinks if they lick the boots of the money/power brokers they’ll get a piece of the pie too.

Well maybe God or something can save us? Some people are banking on that, but probably not going to happen. Just another lie we've been fed so we won't find out what the real truth is about this reality. Don't be concerned, go back to sleep.

Christianity. Noun. 2,000 year-old religion originally based on gentle non-violence. Now a worldwide cult transformed by conquest, persecution, money-making and cronyism. See Zionism.

OK, Christians probably don’t like that one, but sadly it reflects the current state of Christianity.

Yep, these are desperate times, it’s gone way beyond quiet desperation. Pretty soon more people will be waking up to it and wondering what the hell happened.

Well, it will be too late then. They can push the panic button, but they’ll soon find that that agency is no longer functioning.

Got knowledge?

Out of Control

2005-10-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

I’m going to relate a story from childhood, as it seems as if it is an allegory of the future times we are living now.

I grew up in the Nuuanu Valley in Honolulu, Hawaii. We lived on Henry Street on the side of a steep mountain which offered lots of mountain climbing and exploring in the woods. I had 3 brothers and our best friend Craig-ee who lived next door.

I believe it was one summer day when I was about 10 and my brother was 7 and Craig-ee was 8. We had a radio flyer red wagon, it was well worn, but still an excellent mode of transportation. So we were looking for the perfect place ride it. We had two hills on our street, but they weren’t that steep, and we had long become bored by them. We needed new excitement.

There was a really long steep hill just a block away on Klebahn Pl, but that was way to fast and long to ride the wagon on. But I knew of a hill, that could be the perfect place, but it was a long way from our house.

I would see it everyday on the bus ride home from school. Thanks to Yahoo! Maps I have been able to find the street. It is Akamu Pl and you get it right off the Pali Highway. According to Yahoo! it was eight tenths of a mile from our house, but to little kids it was a major trek, and I doubt we told our mother where we were off to.

This street was fairly steep, and as was the custom in Hawaii for steep hills, it was paved in concrete and heavily textured to provide maximum traction in pouring rain. Had the hill been any longer it would have been too difficult to navigate in a wagon, it was just the right length for getting up to a thrilling speed.

The trick was the ending. At the bottom of the hill the street ended in a T, with two short dead ends, one right and one left. After surveying the hill, we decided that turning right provided the safest path as the street was clear of parked cars and you could take the turn wide enough to avoid tipping the wagon over. Turning to the left was not possible, the required turn was too sharp for the speed the wagon was traveling.

Craig-ee and I took turns piloting the wagon and my younger brother would often ride shotgun behind the driver. We were rather enjoying the thrilling ride down and didn’t seem to tire from having to haul the wagon back up the hill each time.

Craig-ee was holding on to the wagon, I had my hand on the wagon handle, and my brother was sitting behind me. Just as Craig-ee let us go for our next thrill ride, a car came around the corner from the dead end on the right. It stopped when it saw us coming down the hill, but it was blocking my way to the right.

I could try and maneuver between it and curb, but the passage was to too tight and didn’t allow for a gentle turn any way. My only choice was the dreaded left turn. I took a bead on it as best I could, in hopes that I could safely navigate the turn.

By now we were going full speed and I knew how unstable the wagon was at high speeds while trying to turn. I’d like to say I safely piloted the wagon around the turn, but it was not to be. My brother and I spilled out onto the rough concrete and finished the ride sliding on the street. We were bodying surfing on the roughed up concrete, while acquiring painful and major skin abrasions on our arms and legs

Needless to say that ended our thrill riding for the day. We had a long way to walk back home and I think we spent most of it crying in pain. Craig-ee hauled the wagon back and my brother and I ran as much as we could with our arms held out away from our body to avoid any unnecessary painful movement.

It was very painful sleeping the next couple of nights, but eventually it all healed with very little scaring. I guess we could be considered lucky, considering what could have happened.

Sorry this got a little long, but now to get back to my original point for telling the story. It sometimes feels like to me that the world is careening down a steep hill with no means to stop or slow down. Just up ahead an obstacle prevents us from making what might be considered a better choice, but alas it appears we are destined to crash and burn. Is anyone paying attention?

Next Stop: The Twilight Zone

2005-10-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

I’m sure there are some people out there that remember the familiar phrase:
"That’s the signpost up ahead. Next stop the Twilight Zone"

Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I think major events in the timeline of humanity can cast a shadow into the past. For some reason I have the sense that we recently crossed over the line and are standing in a future cast shadow. Kind like we are right on the lip of some large black hole and just about to rush over the edge into the darkness.

But then I guess I’ve always had this doom and gloom mentality, so maybe you can’t trust me. I can remember memories from back when I was 4 and 5. Back then I didn’t think I would live to be very old.

Actually, back then being 15 seemed like an eternity away. So I’ve gotten way past 15, and now that I’m 53 I practically feel like an adult.

Its not that I ever thought that I was going to die, I just envisioned that life as we know it on the planet would not exactly be continuing on in the usually expected format.

So let's take a poll. If you want leave your comment maybe I can find out if other people are sensing something or if I need to check myself into some sort rehab outfit.

Is that the Twilight Zone up ahead?

Criminals Running the World

2005-10-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Has the country, or for that matter, the world, been taken over by organized crime?

I’m not talking about Chicago mafia figures, or Russian or Italian mafia’s. I’m talking about the real power people. I’m talking about the families and descendents of the likes of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan and don’t lets forget the Rothschild’s. I’m probably not just talking about their descendents but their ancestors as well.

Of course we are taught that these men aren’t traditionally thought of as criminals. However, if one studies their actions, you will find crimes against humanity. And don’t kid yourself, these guys all travel in the same circles and attend the same gatherings. They are not stupid, and in fact are probably rather brilliant.

So I wonder what they talk about over cocktails? I bet it’s not who’s going to win this season’s Survival TV show. Probably not about the sale down at Target either. Maybe it’s hard for us ‘regular’ people to imagine what they might talk about, but I can imagine.

My point is they do talk, and when smart people in a position of power get together, I imagine one of the most important things on their mind is how to maintain the status quo so that they and their heirs will continue to be on top of the heap.

Turns out there is data available that documents exactly what they have been up to in regards to a achieving this goal. Apparently, the people on top of the heap have this belief that if they can dumb down the masses, and keep them from learning how to think critically, they’ll have an easier time staying on the top and keeping the masses under control.

There is a lot more to this and you may feel cheated when you look into it, that is if there is still a modicum of curiosity left in you after your educational experience. You may find it difficult to actually view something in a independent critical manner.

The conniving criminals copied and improved on a model that was first tried out in Prussia back around 1820.

It’s been very successful, check out these stats.

Here’s a stat that stands out: “About 3.5 percent of the 26,000-member sample demonstrated literacy skills adequate to do traditional college study, a level 30 percent of all U.S. high school students reached in 1940”

Oops! How could that be?? I thought the idea was to improve education? Turns out, that’s not the purpose after all, we’ve been fooled again.

So where does this leave us? They seem to be holding all the cards. I guess the only thing an individual can do is to take responsibility for ones own education and acquire the ability to think critically. If we all did that they would lose their power since everyone would see through their evil intentions. Of course that won’t happen, but it could happen for you as an individual. It's really your choice and up to you to put out the effort and maybe change your lot in life.

A World of Lies

2005-07-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

It’s a sad state of affairs, but here we find ourselves in 2005 completely addicted and dependent on imported oil.

How did this happen?

It appears to be a deliberate plan of the major global corporations. Over the years many ideas and patents have been created that would have improved or totally done away with the internal combustion engine. Sadly none of them were allowed to grow or be fully implemented.

Why did this happen?

Those in power need methods to control the masses. What better way than to create an addiction to something they can manipulate? Would we be in a war in the Middle East right now if alternatives to the internal combustion engine had been allowed to flourish?

Apparently those in power use war as one of their major controlling devices. It has several advantages, mostly it takes the focus off the real perpetrators (the people and corporations in power) and focuses it elsewhere. War production creates huge profits for those corporations that are in that business. The added bonus is it also decreases the surplus population.

So now that we are addicted to oil consumption, with no alternative in sight it appears our only choice is war.

Does it take a rocket scientist to figure out the solution to this dilemma? I don’t think so, and the fact that this simple solution and understanding has not been pursued to me indicates there is an agenda to make it so.

Welcome to the world of LIES. Our leaders lie to us. The big corporations lie to us. The only real question is how long must we continue to believe their lies and give them power over us?

Check out this recent musical production: You Lied

Oil Wars

2005-06-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

I see Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was forced to admit yesterday that the fighting could go on for years, adding: "We are not going to win against the insurgency, the Iraqi people will win against the insurgency".

I don’t know if I’m just dense or maybe I got it wrong, but isn’t the insurgency the Iraqi people? If the occupying force just went away wouldn’t the insurgency disappear?

OK, I guess they are getting help from their neighbors, but I’d hope if anyone ever occupied the USA, that we could get help from our neighbors in pushing them out.

At this point in time are their really any US soldiers over there that feel they are protecting our freedom here in the US?? Does anyone in this country feel threatened by Iraq? I’m sure I don’t.

I might feel threatened that our insistence in occupying their country may create people who, given the chance, would like to see all Americans dead. Of course we can alleviate that problem by getting the hell out of their country. DOH?!

I don’t care what kind of government they want to chose, or who they want to run it. Let’s leave them alone to do that themselves, it’s the big Corporations that insist we need a puppet government over there.

I know we need Iraq oil, if corporations weren’t so engulfed by greed it would be easy to set up business arrangements that would insure our supply of oil. Making deals with friends and helping each other out can be a very effective way of conducting business instead of going in there with strong arm tactics. Big corporations don’t believe in the concept of cooperation however, it doesn’t fit their agenda of me first greed, plus wars have the added benefit of decreasing the surplus population.

Since the big Corporations of our free country don’t allow any invention or idea that could reduce our need for oil to prosper, they have forced us to rely on imported oil. So much for a free country, yep the big corporations are free to force their will on us, some freedom!

The true enemies of the people are the ones running the corporations that are consumed by greed. Unless people wake up to that fact and stop acquiescing to their lies and propaganda, the rest of us that see what is being perpetrated on people of this planet can only shake our heads and say what else can you expect?

Shelter In Place

2005-05-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well this is a new twist. Today we are scheduled to have a ‘Shelter In Place’ drill. In all my 50+ years I have never had a SIP drill. There have been plenty of fire drills where you leave the building, but I've never practiced staying in place.

Makes you wonder what this is all about. Here is how the email described it:
"Shelter in place is an emergency procedure that we need to be prepared to use during hazardous events that occur outside of the building requiring people to stay inside."

I’m not sure why I need practicing staying at my desk; that is pretty much what I do all day anyway. I wonder what sort of hazardous events they are imagining?? Is this practice for when they declare Marshall law and we won’t be allowed outside?

The email did say: “Emergency Coordinators should respond to the alarm by reporting to the meeting area upstairs above the main entrance lobby.” It must be practice for the EC’s. I guess some genius came up with this idea after 911 to help us feel more secure.

I feel so much more secure now that Home Land security is watching over us and dreaming up all sorts of asinine things for us sheeple to practice. Be afraid, be very afraid!

A Generation Later

2005-05-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

It’s been 35 years, a generation since the Kent state shooting.

If you aren’t aware of this incident it was when the National Guard opened fire with live ammunition on students protesting the Viet Nam war. They shot to kill and got four young students who are not with us today.

These days, a generation later, you don’t see students doing much of any protesting, though by my reasoning there is so much more to be protesting about these days. I was a senior in High School when this incident took place. It had a way of driving home the point of exactly who and what we the people were up against.

Now look a generation later. The programming of the young has proved to be most successful. The next generation is much more under control; there are no big sit-ins or protests. I believe it was Hitler that said: "Give me the children, I will give you a nation."

Look at some of the things going on today, and not hardly a peep from anyone.

The 2004 election was stolen

Fraud

Spyring busted

The gagging of dissent

There is so much more, I feel like I have not even touched the tip of the iceberg. Here’s one more story that our free press in America will not report on or investigate… makes you wonder.

Secret British Memo

Don't be afraid?

2005-04-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

I sure am behind in keeping up my blog. Its been a busy week I guess, or maybe inspiration has passed me by this week. Anyway, I’m just going to post this link which I think sums up the current situation right now.

John Kaminski is one my favorite authors and his latest piece "Deer In the Headlights" is an excellent piece I wish everyone had a chance to read.

911

2005-04-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

I haven’t made any comments on the 911 story, and I recently ran across some interesting posts on blogs pointing out the intrigue going on regarding the various theories surrounding the events.

I personally don’t know anyone that actually believes everything about the official conspiracy theory that is put forth. Its more than most people can believe that a small group of Arabs hiding out in a cave somewhere could have pulled off this rather sophisticated and complex operation.

Anyway, I’m not going to get into the various theories, I’ll let the reader sort through the evidence themselves, what is interesting to me is all the stuff going on between the various players that are espousing their views and research.

Here’s a guy with a blog talking about his take on the events. He has a link to the famous 911 Strike flash presentation. Chances are you have already seen this presentation.

Anyway, turns out he gets an email out of the blue from some guy trying to tell him the 911 Flash video has been debunked. Obviously the connection is the link on his blog that this guy is trying to get off the internet. Hmmm… Methinks thou doest protest too loudly!

Have you heard about the Pentagon plans for a propaganda war?

Here’s another blogger I found that also finds this turn of events most interesting.

The story of 911 keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. Read this article and see that most of the passengers on the fatal flights don’t show up as dead in the social security database!! A lot of questions and no clear answers, business as usual in modern America.

Got Morals?

2005-04-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

OK, if you read my last post you can clearly see how 1% of the people have a strangle hold on the wealth in the US; which equates to power. With that kind of wealth the only real limit to the power is an individual’s morals. There is an over abundance of evidence that those in power have little or no morals.

It gets kind of scary when you start digging into some the darker things that go on behind the scenes. Here is one such example that demonstrates the kind of morals the 1% group have:

“Late last year, Congress heard sworn testimony from Florida programmer Clint Curtis, who created vote-rigging software in 2000 at the request of Tom Feeny, a Bush Family factotum. Feeny wanted Curtis (a fellow Republican) and his employer, Yang Enterprises, to produce untraceable programs that could "control the vote" as needed, investigator Brad Friedman reported.”

“In 2002, Raymond Lemme, a Florida state government inspector, took up Curtis' charges, which included other corruption allegations involving Feeny, Yang Enterprises and a Yang employee charged with peddling military technology to the Chinese. In June 2003, Lemme told Curtis he had "tracked the corruption all the way to the top" and that "the story would break in a few weeks." On July 1, 2003, Lemme was found dead in a Georgia hotel room, just across the Florida border.”

That’s pretty much business as usual for those that can control what gets reported in the media, or what gets attention in the Congress. Pretty high morals ehh?

I fear this example is only the tip of the iceberg, and that the big picture is even darker than this story indicates. If you read the entire of the link I provided you’ll know that we are behind the eight ball by now. If we don’t get more people to wake up and look around at what has happened to our country, like real soon, we’re in trouble. It’s probably too late already, but I never give up hope.

Here’s another great essay that tries to bring these pressing issues to people’s awareness.

The Alarm Bells are going off!

2005-04-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well I’m getting a little bored with my story so far, I should have condensed it more, but I felt the need to give some background before getting to the part where I went and lived on the communal ranch/vineyard.

So I’ll still get to that but I’m going to take a break right now. There is too much going on right now. I am seeing the warning signs growing louder and stronger each day and I’m concerned because nobody seems to notice. Let me bring some things to your attention in case you are one of those people who is not seeing and hearing the alarm bells.

There are so many alarms going off its hard to know where to start and how to finish. Financial matters have always been an interest of mine so I’ll start there.

Did you know that when Reagan took office 1% of the population owned 37% of the Nations wealth? Of course that 1% is 75% Republican. When the Bush-Quayle term ended 12 years later that 1% owned 57% of the nations wealth. I guess we can thank trickle down economics for that.

It gets worse, by this January 2005, the percentage has mushroomed to 70%. You can read about this here.

Can you sit back for a minute and imagine what kind of power and control that gives to just 1% of the people? Do you even think for a second that our government isn’t controlled by this 1%? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

Did you know the Patriot Act is being used to used to implement currency controls? They are not satisfied with their 70%, they want to make sure no one is going move any of their wealth outside of the country.

Check this out: Patriot Act Being Used To Implement Currency Controls

For you Bible types:
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [Revelation 13:16, 17]

School Work

2005-04-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

My first year in the Fourth Way school consisted of attending weekly meetings at the same home my introductory meeting took place. There would be a small group of people there, between 10 or 15 and we would all sit in the chairs setup for the purpose. The meeting was lead by the ‘center director’ who sat at the front of the group along with 3 or 4 ‘older’ students.

‘Older’ students weren’t old in years, the designation meant that they had been in the school for awhile, and thus supposedly had more knowledge and experience to share. There was never any set topic for the meeting, it started by fielding questions from the audience.

During the course of the week students were expected to read from the works of Gurdjieff or Ouspensky and make observations about oneself. This process was suppose to generate questions or topics to discuss at the meetings.

As the newest member I would be expected to have the most questions. It took a little while for me to feel comfortable with group, but I soon figured out how to formulate questions during the course of the week.

Often the group would sit in silence as the leader of the meeting waited for questions. I soon became known as the guy with the questions, as my goal was to always have at least one question or topic to discuss. After awhile I wasn’t allowed to ask my question until everyone else had a chance first, which still meant I often asked the first question.

Take the Plunge

2005-04-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

So it was in the Fall of 1977 that I once again made an appointment to attend a ‘new student’ meeting for the Fourth Way school. I was given the address of a home in the eastern suburbs of Seattle. This time I was the only ‘new student’ to attend. If memory serves me there were 3 ‘students’ that presented the ideas to me, once again the deck of cards was used.

After about an hour the meeting ended and light refreshments were served. I was told that I had to attend two more meetings before I could join the Fourth Way school. I was given a time for the next meeting and was told that I had to confirm my intention to come by phoning a day in advance.

Being determined to become part of a Fourth Way school I did complete the next two meetings. At these meetings the idea of payment was mentioned as a requirement to be a student. It was at the last meeting that I was told the beginning students were required to pay $100 a month.

This may not sound like much, but back in 77 it was a fair amount, and I was one that lived pretty minimally. I earned a living by driving taxi cabs, so I only worked when I wanted to, which was pretty much just when I needed to. An extra 100 bucks a month meant I would have to work 3 or 4 more days than I already was.

Anyway I decided to give it a try and see what would happen.

Fourth Way School

2005-04-11T05:50:00.000-07:00

After getting through about half of “The Theory of Celestial Influence” I was intrigued. It was slow reading with a lot to think about. I decided to check out the Fourth Way group that was advertised on the bookmark.

I was a little apprehensive but I made the phone call and they set up a time for me to come to a meeting. I don’t remember a lot about the meeting. It was at a very nice home and there was another person, like myself, that was there to find out more about the Fourth Way school.

There were maybe 3 other people there to explain the Fourth Way. They used the picture cards from a deck of cards to explain what they said were the 4 brains in a human: Intellectual, Emotional, Moving and Instinctive.

I found it interesting, but I didn’t feel a need to pursue the matter any further at that time. However, they did introduce to me the works of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. So I went to the library and checked out a copy of "Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson ".

It was a rather thick book and the author loves to write sentences that are a page long, but I very much enjoyed his sense of humor. The story he told was fascinating, like an ancient history of our planet.

I spent the next year finishing the first book and reading Beelzebub’s Tales, when I finally decided that I wanted to be part of a Fourth Way School.

The Theory of Celestial Influence

2005-04-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

So to continue my story here, I found astrology fascinating, but what I was really looking for was some scientific study on the phenomenon. When I thought about our solar system it reminded me of an atom with electrons spinning around it.

Scientist say the space between the electron and nucleus is really quite vast, yet the particles exert force on each other. So why wouldn’t the same be true of the planets? I know there are gravitational effects, but what is gravity anyway? And might there be other effects? Could there be forces that affected our minds and bodies as well?

I was cruising the book titles at my book store and ran across one: "The Theory of Celestial Influence" by Rodney Collin. This seemed like what I was looking for.

I took the book home and began reading it. It wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, but it introduced me to the work of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. I also found inside the book a bookmark inviting me join a Fourth Way School.

I soon took up the invitation to discover what exactly a Fourth Way School was. This was 1976, I was in the middle of building the Pentagon Shack. Over the next six years I studied this in more depth, and I want to share my experiences there.

Finding a Way

2005-04-04T06:10:00.000-07:00

As a young man in my early twenties I had a lot of questions about life. I had abandoned Christianity by that time, as it only seemed to stifle answers. All I had to do was believe and I’d be saved.

That answer wasn’t good enough for me. It’s obviously enough for a lot of people, and they are welcome to it, but I wanted to understand more about how things worked. I wasn’t going to accept pat answers or faith. I felt sure there was more to learn and understand.

Really my search began much earlier than that. I explored the ‘gifts of the spirit’ in my days as a Christian. I looked for more esoteric teachings and understandings of the Bible, but they didn’t satisfy me. I knew there was more and that I was missing something.

I was always fascinated with the infinite vastness of space. I had a curiosity about Horoscopes and Astrology. I’d read the Horoscope in the daily paper and thought how ridiculous it seemed. Making predictions based on planets was outlandish and smacked of Dark Age superstitions.

I did like most people, and brushed it off as unbelievable. It was entertaining but ridiculous. One day it occurred to me I really new very little about the subject. It seemed ignorant to me to reach a conclusion about a subject without knowing anything about it.

So I took to visiting the local occult book store to find some books on the subject. My research showed me that there was a lot more to the subject then I had first realized. It was after all a very ancient teaching, and getting deeper into it I discovered there seemed to be a science about it.

I got all the reference books and began to teach myself how to cast a chart and place all the planets in it. Of course interpreting the chart was another matter all together. But I began to see that astrology wasn’t so much about predicting future events, as it was a tool to learn more about oneself.

It also showed me that there was knowledge out there that wasn’t in the mainstream. Though not exactly hidden, one had to make an effort to find it. This was a start for me.

Survivor: Reality TV

2005-04-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

I haven’t posted in a while, I just didn’t feel like I had anything worthwhile to report. Today it’s Friday, which means donut day at work.

I sit out of sight in my cubical while listening to the idle conversations of my fellow co-workers. Today the hot topic of concern seems to be who will get voted off on the latest Survivor show. I find it hard to believe how serious and concerned they are about this issue.

I’m looking at a rigged economy that is on the verge of total collapse, an illegal war that kills innocent families and tortures people in the most inhuman manner, a public execution by starvation. And the list doesn't stop there. What the heck is going on?!! Shouldn’t we be concerned about our future and the future of our children?

They really have us snookered. Oh well, I wonder who will get voted off the Survivor show. I hear the Pope is on death's door. What about the Michael Jackson trial? So many important issues to be concerned about as Rome burns down around us.

Become Like Little Children

2005-03-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Some people liken this to being born again, and though I might agree with this, I have a different take on it.

When a child is born it is like an empty canvas waiting for a picture to be painted on it. A child is a blank slate; it has no beliefs or prejudice. The world is a vast place to be discovered and experienced.

As a child grows its parents and society program it, teaching it beliefs and giving the child its view of the world.

To me, to become like little children means to return to the state of a blank slate. We need to let go of all the beliefs and sacred cows that we hold dear. Then as an adult we can use the gifts God gave us to study our reality and develop beliefs and understandings that are our own, not something that was given to us by our parents and society. The key is to see the world objectively and accept the reality that surrounds us.

Dropping one’s beliefs and sacred cows is not an easy task, and can be very frightening as it appears to remove the underpinnings of one’s life. But this I believe is what Jesus was referring to when he said in John 3:3, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

It has nothing to do with letting some entity come into your life; it has to do with building an understanding based on reality. This is what will show a man the kingdom of heaven.

God in Our Image

2005-03-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

The Bible says man was made in God’s image, however I think it is a big mistake to reverse that statement, you cannot have a God in man’s image. What I mean by this is that people assume God is like some sort of person. They’ll refer to him with some pronoun (like I just did) or give him some sort of human type attributes. They think that God thinks like a man, what a mistake!

Let me use an analogy to explain what I am thinking. Imagine our relationship to the world of ants. If the ants could have some sort of comprehension of a human, we would certainly appear as some sort of all powerful God.

Imagine the ants trying to put some sort of ant traits on human beings. They would assume humans are like ants only all powerful. Think about how ridiculous that would actually be. But how could the ants think anything else? Ants are all they know. They have absolutely no concept on what it is like to be a human, zero, nadda, zilch!!

Look at it from the other angle. As humans how can we communicate with ants? Maybe on some very rudimentary level, but really we have no idea if they actually got our message. Now try to imagine explaining to a group of ants the concept of political power or some other abstract idea. It’s clearly not going to happen. From the ants point of view they wouldn’t be able to understand our problem, after all in their minds we are all powerful ‘ants’, we can do anything, why can’t we talk to them?

The gulf between ants and man is virtually impassable and yet I believe the gulf between God and human kind is probably even greater. Perhaps we are wiser than ants and can learn something from this analogy. We can learn that we must change our way of thinking and perceiving of what we call God. We need to reach upwards to refine our awareness where it might have a higher possibility of understanding some small concept that might filter down from higher.

Its clearly foolishness to think that God is talking to someone and telling them to wage war. This is the act of impressing human traits on God. The model doesn’t work in that direction. God can impress his image on us, we should study that image and strive for higher, more refined perceptions to understand what the image of God is. God may be all powerful, just as we are all powerful in comparison to the ant, but until the ant can learn and understand human concepts we will never be able to communicate with them.

life and consciousness

2005-03-22T05:53:00.000-08:00

Well I see I did get a few comments on my Born again post. Some seem to think the exposé is bunk, but the only proof given is that it is silly to think that there is some secret hidden agenda from Christians. Of course the people described in the article could hardly be called Christians.

I didn’t really post that link to disparage Christians; I was hoping it might shine a light on what we are dealing with in this reality. Ignoring it will not make it go away or stop it from existing.

Others don’t doubt their faith, but hold it as a hedge, if its wrong there is nothing to lose they feel, if it turns out to be right then they will find themselves in heaven.

My feeling is we are already in heaven, so we need to deal with it and accept the conditions we find here. We shouldn’t be like the servant that buried the talents waiting for his master to return. We need to do something with what we are given.

Expecting something for free is not logical, there is no free lunch. All takes work and effort. We constantly need to question and investigate. We need to learn from what we can discover about life and consciousness.

Born Again

2005-03-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

I got to say something about this. This whole idea of ‘letting Jesus’ into your heart and suddenly being born again doesn’t sit right with me. Something seems fishy about it.

I mean it’s like saying you can get something for nothing. You don’t have to do anything, just allow some outside entity to come in and take over your life it will answer all your problems, and make you feel good to!

I don’t buy it, there’s something wrong about it. My understanding of Jesus’ teaching was that he emphasized the fact that he was a man, a human being like all the rest of us. Of course if that is true, what is he suppose to do? Let himself into his heart?

Actually, I could go with that. That sounds more like taking responsibility for yourself, instead of counting on some outside entity to save you.

Besides, I don’t want anything that’s not me coming inside of me. It’s just not safe, I don’t care who it is, or how benevolent he’s suppose to be. If there’s work I need to do, then I need to do it, there isn’t any magic that’s going to get that done.

I don’t really expect any born again Christian to accept my thoughts, but I have to at least try to show them the light.

I know many of them are sincere lost souls that have been lead astray. However, many of them are not lost at all and know exactly what they are doing, and its not a pretty picture.

I dare anyone to read this exposé . It’s rather long, but well researched and quite revealing. It’s not a pretty picture but I’m afraid it’s the truth of our reality. Can you handle the truth?

Not a Pretty Picture

2005-03-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

So what should we be concerned about these days? Should we be fretting about the use of steroids in baseball? Apparently Congress thinks that’s important enough to spend their time and our tax money on.

Personally, I’m more concerned about being able to trust my government. I don’t know any body that really does. Most people don’t believe the official JFK assassination story.

What does it take to get elected to a federal office? Honesty and integrity won’t get you there. You certainly need money and the support of those that have a lot of money. What does that tell you?

It’s not a pretty picture. A close look at what goes in the halls of government reveals a very shady quagmire.

What about the news media? Journalists can’t just write about anything. Well, they don’t get put in jail for writing about taboo topics, but they won’t keep their jobs if they do, and the editors won’t allow it to print.

At least under a dictator most people know what they see in the media is propaganda. A smart dictator will hide the fact and try to get people to believe they are living in the land of the free.

So what do we have here? What a great place America is, and there are a lot of wonderful people living here. Too bad it seems like all the bad guys are running the show.

A Hypothetical Man

2005-03-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

Here’s a brief description of a hypothetical man, is he a Christian?

Hypothetically there could be a man on the planet and he could be responsible for the death of over 100,000 people in the course of a year.

Some of the people were ‘bad’ and perhaps deserved death, though that is of course a subjective determination.

Some of the people were soldiers, so you could argue they knew what they signed up for, death was always a possibility. After all when you play with fire you might get burned.

But by far, the majority of the people that were killed were just regular family people at a wedding or in their homes, or driving on the street. Many parents grieve for their lost children, and many sad children are left orphans.

Besides the massive death and sorrow caused by this hypothetical man, the land in which these people lived and in which the survivors try to carry on, has been violently destroyed. The buildings and the basic infrastructure to supply human daily needs are gone.

The survivors live in constant fear, knowing that they may be the next to die. A quiet peaceful life is not a possibility for them, because of the actions of this hypothetical man.

If that were not enough, the weapons used to destroy the countryside are of the most diabolical nature. Because they are radioactive the land has been permanently polluted. Well maybe in a million years humans might be able to exist there without worrying about the effects of radioactivity.

Even more telling, this hypothetical man has placed his army, the men that do his killing, in the midst of this slow acting poison. So besides dying and being maimed for this hypothetical man, they are also exposing their bodies to deadly radiation.

Our hypothetical man speaks words of Jesus and Love. He claims a direct connection with God. He claims God is on his side.

Now after considering this hypothetical man I have to ask the Christians, particularly those considered the religious right, is this hypothetical man a Christian? How do we know a man’s character? Is it by his words or his actions?

Be on the lookout for this hypothetical man, though I describe a hypothetical situation, it could be real… happening on a planet near you.

Back on the Home Front

2005-03-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

Well I’m back. The wedding was memorable, Lake Tahoe is truly a beautiful place. Now I’m married to the most wonderful girl in world. We took a honeymoon trip across the pond to celebrate.

While I was there one of the Watchers was sent on assignment to maintain Watch over the Scientist on a trip to a distant city. That all went well.

There were a few minor, unexplained cyber attacks on the Writers web pages while we were there. Coincidental glitches in cyber space or a intentional attack? Some people don’t believe in coincident. The Watchers keep an open mind.

Now I’m back home catching on all the things that were left undone in my absence, blogging, being one of them. I’ll try to get back in full swing tomorrow.

The Day After Today

2005-02-25T05:30:00.000-08:00

Well the day after today is tomorrow, and that’s a big day in my life. I’m going to be married to the most wonderful girl in the world. Sorry guys, she’s taken but you can read her blog here. She’s the one that makes sure I keep on the lookout.

We’re going to be married on top of a mountain overlooking Lake Tahoe

Then we are off for a trip across the pond for our honeymoon. While there we’ll be having a visit with the Watchers and the Writer. I’ll try to post something while we’re gone if I get a chance.

The Greatest Show On Earth

2005-02-23T18:37:00.000-08:00

It’s come to my attention that many people still are not seeing what is really going on here on planet earth. Here is a very good article by Richard Dolan.

You should all take a look at it. It’s important that we all be aware of what is going on behind our backs. It seems the people in power have learned from history.

If you are familiar with how we were goaded into the Second World War, then you can see how the script this time is new and improved. They are correcting mistakes made last time. That means us regular people need to be on our toes or their diabolical plan will succeed this time.

We need to learn from history, and time is running out.

I’ve been trying to get acquainted with making a Flash presentation; here is my first attempt at it regarding this subject.

Pentagon Shack Construction

2005-02-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

I’m sorry some of these pictures are a bit blurry, but if you have ever used one of those 110 camera’s, they were rather small which made it difficult to hold it steady sometimes.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the early construction.

You can see one of the walls have some cedar shacks on it already.

We had one those big 2 man saws that we used for cutting up cedar logs. There were a couple of large dead cedar trees that had fallen down not too far from the site. Here is a picture of the shaking site.

After cutting up the log we used a shake splitter to break off the shakes. There were probably more unusable shakes than good ones.

Here you can see how we constructed the walls using the small trees that were at the site of the cabin.

Here are a few pictures showing the progress on the walls and roof.

That’s me on the roof with Rotten Ron.

Here you can see the shack with 3 of the walls completed and our little plastic shelter for sleeping during the construction.

This is a view looking up at the cabin from the downhill side. We temporarily covered up a window opening on the right.

Here it is starting to take shape. This is a view of the front door. We covered the roof with tarps so that we could stay there while working on it.

Another view of the cabin taking shape. You can see some of the windows we installed. It was a lot fun hiking those up there in the middle of the night!

Another view of the cabin taking shape.

This is a view looking at the front entrance. Off to the right is the door we were building.

This is me and my friend P. as we installed the front door.

We built the roof so it spiraled up as it went around the shack. This gave us an upper story on one half of the cabin which allowed us to build a sleeping loft.

This me hanging out on the top.

This is a blurry picture but it shows one side of the shack completed with the roof on. We brought up some black building paper which we used underneath the shakes on the walls and roof.

Finally here a couple of shots of the sleeping loft.

The Pentagon Shack was completed in 1978 with the installation of a small lightweight wood burning stove.

I spent Christmas there that year with my younger brother and my friend S. There was an advantage to going up there in the winter time. The river was very low at that time of the year and it was possible to ford it, cutting off 4 or 5 miles of hiking.

We used to keep a stash of old shoes hidden under a tree. When we got there we would take a our boots and pants off and put on the old shoes, which were frozen solid. Then you had to find a good walking stick.

The river still had a strong current and the bottom was covered with slippery stones. The deepest part at this time of year only came up to your crouch, but with a backpack on it was a treacherous crossing. A slip and fall could be fatal as the water was very cold!

Christmas of 78 was white in the mountains and after a couple of days myself and S. went down but my brother wanted to stay on for a few more days. He claims he was being stalked by a mountain lion, so ended up coming down a couple of days later.

It would be nice if the Pentagon Shack still survived. I doubt the boys at the real Pentagon saw us as any threat. One day during the construction phase we arrived at the cabin and found a hand written note: “This is great but what would the Rangers think?”

We were uneasy about having been discovered, but we hoped it had been written by somebody we had known. Whatever the case, the next time my brother went up for a visit in 1979 the shack was gone. All that was left were the ashes from a fire. They also found our stash of tools and removed them.

We can’t really complain I guess, it was technically illegal, but it was sad to see a beautiful cabin which took several years to complete destroyed like that.

The Pentagon Shack

2005-02-22T05:43:00.000-08:00

Back in the 70’s my brothers and I along with some friends got this idea about building a cabin out in the deep forest of a nearby National Park.

It first began when we first started hiking there. The area use to be worked by farmers back in the early 1900’s. There remain ruins of their cabins and the cleared out areas where they grew hay.

We were especially attracted to Anderson’s Ranch which lay across the river. There were no trails to the place, and you had to hike 3 miles up stream to use the bridge to get across.

We made several attempts to find our way downstream on the other side, but the going was arduous. There were several large creeks to cross and the tangle of dead trees from a recent landslide made going difficult.

We eventually made our way there, and in the summer of 75 we hiked in with the intent of an extended stay of a couple of weeks. We brought with us a large roll of plastic which we used to build the Plastic Shack

We framed up a structure underneath a large tree that overlooked the fields of Anderson Ranch. Then we covered it with plastic and called it home. It was a nice time, but that is when we got the idea of building a more permanent structure.

We wanted to find a location that we thought no one would find. Following the elk trails up a steep mountain slop we reached the top of the ridge. There was a small semi flat area that was mostly old growth cedar trees with a dense growth of smaller trees growing under them.

For the next three years we went up there whenever we could to work on our cabin. It was named the Pentagon Shack because we made it with 5 walls. We cut down a larger tree to act as the center support post.

Then we got 5 more logs to use as the corner wall posts. Then 5 roof beams were connected from the corner posts to the center support. We accomplished this during our 2 week camping adventure, often during the rain that is common there.

Over the next few years we continued to visit the place and mostly used the small under growth trees to lay the floor and build the walls.

I have a few pictures taken of the construction project with one of those 110 cameras. I’ll post some with my next entry. Unfortunately we didn’t get any after it was completed.

Of course we had to hike up all the tools and supplies required for the construction. Often we would hike up in the middle of the night so that no one could see what we were bringing up.

The Truth About the Bible

2005-02-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

I notice a lot of blogs like to quote the Bible freely. But I wonder how many people really know how the Bible was put together. I was raised on the Bible being the son of a Lutheran minister, so I learned all the Bible stories at an early age.

I never thought about how it was put together as I was taught that it was divine inspiration directly from God. As a child that was easy to accept.

I was lead to believe that our church worshiped the one true God. So I became confused when I learnt that within the Lutheran church there were divisions. One division claimed to have a better and more correct understanding than the other.

As a child I couldn’t understand this. Especially when I thought about the other Christian religions, Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and many other churches. Then there were the other religions which also claimed the worship the one true God.

How could this be, I thought? How was it that I was so lucky to have been born into the most correct religion, in the most correct division of that religion as a Lutheran, and the most correct division of Lutherans? What were the chances of that happening I wondered?

I asked my father about that, and he tried to explain that all people that worship God are saved. Well not according to them. Some how I doubted the Catholics would think that or any of the many Protestants would think that.

Most people who don’t study theology at a college level don’t ever realize how the Bible came to be. A close study of this information and an in depth look at how the Christian religion was shaped and formed in the early centuries sure paints a different picture to me. It seems clear religion and the Bible was designed specifically as a controlling device. Something those in power could use to keep the masses subservient and to induce people to take up arms against their fellow man.

To me, most people around the world just want to live in peace and watch their children grow up and enjoy their grandchildren. Why would anyone in their right mind want to leave family and home to take up arms and go off to a strange land to kill other people?

I know this sounds heretical and probably most religious people reading this might take offense, but it clearly seems to be the truth to me. Its not that I don’t believe in the Creative Force but I can’t accept the way this concept has been twisted to suit the needs of those that wish to lord it over the rest of us.

It can be debilitating to drop ones beliefs that have been entrenched in one since childhood, but if a belief is based on a lie it is something that must be done.

Blog Manipulation

2005-02-20T07:10:00.000-08:00

I’ve probably been watching too many X-Files recently. We’ve been renting them starting with season 1 and working our way through. Probably seen most of them already, but I still like them.

Anyway, I’ve been doing a bit of blog surfing today and checking out the various offerings. It seems blogging is really getting a lot of attention these days. I’ll know when it has really hit the big time when Microsoft includes blog in its spell checker.

It seems the news agencies are really concerned about the eroding effect blogs are having on their influence. They probably hate when that happens, but we could sure use some influence that isn’t dictated by corporate moguls who don’t have the regular guy’s best interests at heart.

After all it is a free country right? Why should we be dictated to by people with questionable intentions?

So back to my X-File theme, I was just imagining a government office somewhere with the entire floor filled with cubicles and at each cubicle is a professional blogger. Why not? I mean those Karl Rove types are pretty smart, why wouldn’t they try to capitalize on the blog explosion?

When you see some of the very professionally looking blogs in support of Bush you know there is some money there. You can also spot the flaming comments they like to leave on blogs with an opinion contrary to the government line.

They spent a lot of money paying professional journalists to push the government line in the media, by comparison a room full of bloggers is probably a pretty good and safer investment. Actually if they are not doing that, then I am wondering why not? Surely they are savvy enough to see a good thing when it’s out there.

Too bad I can’t prove it, but it’s not that hard to spot. This probably wouldn’t have made a good X-File episode anyway.

The Truth Is Out There

2005-02-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

Well while I was busy recalling my adventures on the freight train for everyone here I continued to be on the lookout, since that’s my job.

It seems there has been plenty going on in the world, and from my vantage point we seem to be heading one step at a time closer towards a black hole, one we won’t be able to get out of.

It’s hard to notice when it’s just slow incremental steps, but does anyone else see where we are heading? Looks like to me, we are not far off from a full scale world war.

As I surf the blogs I see people are getting caught up on one side of the political fence or the other. It’s the old divide and conquer trick. Everyone feels they are right and have all the facts on their side. To me it looks like no one is paying attention.

We don’t need to take sides, how can anyone expect to see the big picture if they are stuck on one side of the fence? I’m not talking about fence sitting either. I don’t see why we need to feel right to make someone else wrong. Is there some way we can set our differences aside and work together at determining what exactly is going on here?

Those people with power and money throughout history have always worked together to keep the population under their control, should it be any different today?

I doubt it. The difference today is they are more sophisticated and have more technology at their command. They are experts at manipulating the human psyche. They control us with invisible strings. If we don’t see that, then what hope is there?

We all have beliefs that cloud our view of the world. The truth is out there, but beliefs will keep us from seeing it. There is comfort in beliefs but I challenge anyone to temporarily set their beliefs aside and take a clearer look at what is out there.

DO NOT HUMP

2005-02-18T06:01:00.000-08:00

I survived the marathon over the Golden Gate Bridge in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Not a great time, but I reached my goal, which was to finish the race. After a day of rest it was time for the trip home.

We hitchhiked over to Oakland and picked up a train heading north. Not much happened as we were beginning to feel pretty confident with our freight train riding abilities.

As the train rolled into Eugene Oregon, we were feeling so confident that we stood in the open door of the boxcar and waved to the cars stopped at the train crossings. We decided to stay in the boxcar as it went through the yard, so we wouldn’t have to hike so far.

They were in the process of breaking up the train and re-aligning the cars. I need to tell you about some signs we use to see posted on the cars. All the cars usually had a little wooded bulletin board on the outside where they would post things about the contents or whatever. Often we would see a sign in big bold letters that said: DO NOT HUMP.

We didn’t know what that meant, but thought it was pretty funny. Now we were going to learn what it meant. The yard engine took our car and pushed up a little hill in the middle of the train yard. It then went down the other side of the hump and a controller in a tall tower would operate the switches so the car would line up on the desired track.

It came down the 'hump' probably traveling at 10 to 15 mph and then crashed into the line of cars it was being attached to. The car we were in had a broken door that was stuck in the wide open position.

When we crashed into the line cars we instantly found ourselves lying our back and the door slammed shut! We jumped up and tried our best to pry it open, but it wasn’t going to budge.

You can imagine the thoughts that were going through our head about being trapped inside a boxcar. There were a few pieces of 2x4 wood lying around so I tried to use that to pry open the door. Just as I was applying pressure there was a loud bang and I found myself on my back again.

We had just been 'humped' by another boxcar slamming into us. The good news was that it caused the door to open slightly. I immediately stuck the 2x4 in the newly opened crack to prevent the door from closing again.

We decided it was best to just stay sitting until the 'humping' was done. We sat there never knowing when the next hit would come. We continued to be hit by more cars being lined up on the train. With each hit the door opened a little more. The hits became less violent as the train grew in length.

Finally the door was open wide enough for us to get out. We started hiking down the train yard to find a train that would take us north. Just up ahead we saw a man in a suit walking towards us. In train language, he was known as a bull, a train yard cop.

Apparently when we were waving at the stopped cars the police had seen us and radioed to the train yard to be on the lookout for us. We were taken down to the police station for questioning.

I had the foresight to carry with me a notarized note from my father giving his permission for me to travel. Not bad for a Dad who was a Lutheran minister. My friend K. did not have such a document so the police phoned his mother at work.

I don’t know what he had told his mother he was up to, but she was not happy. The police finally told us we needed to get out of town and suggested a bus. At this point we were quite tired of life on the train and so we ended our trip by taking the Greyhound bus back to Seattle.

A Second Night on the Train

2005-02-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

Now back to my story on train hopping. That night in the boxcar we settled in away from the door and the draft so that my friend K. was able to stay warm with just his blanket. This leg of the journey took us up through steep mountain passes.

At one point in the night we came to a stop as we waited for a train coming from the other direction. Apparently they have extra engines that help pull the trains through the mountains.

I remember hearing the train approaching thinking I had never heard anything so loud before. But still it got louder until it reached a deafening thundering roar as it passed by our boxcar.

Later that night we found ourselves stopped in the middle of a long dark tunnel. Putting your hand in front of your face revealed that we were in total darkness. We wondered why were stopped. We did have a flashlight so we could move around and look outside.

Soon we heard footsteps walking through the tunnel. Looking out the door we saw the conductor walking down the train with a lantern. We thought he was mighty brave, especially since he had no way of knowing who might be in the empty cars.

We eventually moved on and daylight appeared. The mountainous region caused the tracks to curve in many places offering us a view of the rest of the train. It was amazing to see how long the train was. We also noticed fellow travelers in other cars.

The most beautiful site was when we went over a tall curving train trussel over Lake Shasta. The trussels have no railings and it is a wide open view from the boxcar door.

The final stop for the train was Roseville. We stopped a few miles outside the freight yard in the hot early afternoon sun. We were out of water and dying of thirst. We could see a gas station not far away and I volunteered to run over and buy some drinks from the soda machine.

It was a bold move as we had no idea when the train would start moving again. Of course back in those days you wouldn’t find bottled water for sale so I had to settle for 4 bottles of ice cold Pepsi. Not my drink of choice, but it helped stave off our thirst.

Once we made it to the freight yard in Roseville we had to hike through it to find a train to Oakland. At the train yard building there was a sign about not talking to the workers and under it was a bench. There we saw other travelers waiting for a train to Reno. None of the people we saw on our journey were young kids like ourselves; they all looked like your typical hobo’s. We never talked with them much; everyone seemed to keep to themselves.

We found an open flat car for our trip into Oakland and spent the time standing up and enjoying the view. It was comparatively short trip with no incidences. In Oakland we disembarked and completed the trip to my Uncle’s house in Redwood city by hitchhiking.

When we arrived we were quiet a mess. We hadn’t been out of our clothes for almost 3 days and I developed my first case of athlete’s foot because of it. Our faces had a dark gray pall to them from all the train soot, and though we had gloves we didn’t always wear them and our hands were black.

Train Wreck

2005-02-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

Don’t let my title mislead you, before I continue with my freight train story, I have to take moment to comment on current events, since part of my job here is to be on the lookout.

I keep an eye on what’s going on over in the mid east since it has serious repercussions for everyone on the planet. I know someone over there is itching to push the button on the nuclear bomb. Recent events there seem to have taken us one step closer.

I’m talking about the very sophisticated attack on Mr. Hariri in Lebanon. This was not your run of the mill homemade bomb put together by crazed militants in a cave. To quote from the article from The Economist Global Agenda :

“The blast was big enough to leave a huge crater and shatter windows hundreds of metres away. Moreover, it was sophisticated enough to defeat jamming mechanisms, which the billionaire Mr Hariri’s convoy always used while traveling, to forestall such remotely triggered attacks. Mr Hariri, who made his fortune in construction in Saudi Arabia, knew he had many enemies and took what countermeasures he could.”

Not your everyday roadside bomb eh? Why does it seem like every time some new sophisticated attack occurs there is also some new terrorist group to claim responsibility? Where did the ‘Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria’ come from??

Are we supposed to believe there are all sorts of people out there organizing and with easy access to such weapons that nobody knows about it? Is our war on terror so inept that explosives of that nature are easy to come by for every new Tom Dick and Harry group that comes along? That’s too much for me to believe.

I know the intelligence services of the US or Israel are very sophisticated, I don’t believe things like that happen without someone having advance knowledge. Come on, really! This is the age of high tech, and high tech industries are very carefully monitored. You can’t just go out and get a bomb like that without it raising red flags… right? Someone knows about it, you can’t fool me.

I always assume if a sophisticated terror attack occurs anywhere, it was done by a sophisticated organization, and you don’t just start up an organization and suddenly be all sophisticated and everything. It takes years of experience and building of networks that don’t happen over night.

So you can use your own brains to connect the dots, or you can be spoon feed what to think. I think a lot of people can see what is going on, though it’s not always safe or wise to say it out loud these days.

The First Night on the Train

2005-02-15T05:44:00.000-08:00

Once the train got out of the yard it started rolling pretty fast, probably 50 or 60 mph, which made for a very chilling breeze. I got out my down sleeping bag and crawled in. When you are riding the freights you sleep in your clothes, boots and all.

My friend K. wrapped himself in his blankets and settled down next to me. Within a short time he was freezing and asking me if we could trade. I was reluctant to do so, but could see if I didn’t he wasn’t gong to make it.

I used his blankets for about 2 minutes and quickly came to the conclusion that they were useless, and unless we both got in the sleeping bag together we wouldn’t survive. It was a mummy bag and very confining for just one person, but somehow we managed to fit the both of us in it.

I really don’t know how we managed to fall asleep, but we woke to a sunny morning and the train was at a dead stop in the middle of a forest. There was nothing else around so all we could do was sit and wait, hoping the train would eventually get moving again.

It finally did and crawled slowly until we found ourselves in the Portland train yard. We exited the train there and headed for Interstate 5 where we took up hitch-hiking since it was legal in Oregon.

It took all day for us to make it to Grants Pass in southern Oregon where we decided we had had enough hitch-hiking so we headed to the local freight yard to pickup another train.

This time we were able to find the train they were lining up before it took off. There is always an ample supply of open empty boxcars on a freight train, so we found a comfortable looking one and moved in.

Heading Out

2005-02-14T05:31:00.000-08:00

Before I continue I should explain a little bit about the freight yards. Usually the big yards are divided up into three sections. On one end trains enter and leave. It is a maze of switches that allow them to separate the cars and line them up on separate tracks. Cars are pulled out of the front section into a middle section where they can be loaded an unloaded. Then in a third section on the other end, they recombine for the trip out. So a big freight yard could be a mile or two long.

That’s how it was arranged in Seattle as trains traveled north and south there. They came in and left from both ends of the freight yard. In some places, like Roseville, California, trains enter and leave from three different directions, making the freight yard even more complex.

So that night, K. and I entered at the south end of the yard around 9 o’clock thinking we had plenty of time to find an empty box car to ride in. Apparently freight trains don’t keep as strict a schedule as passenger trains. As we got deeper into the yard we saw a slow moving train heading out and we knew this was the one we wanted.

It’s impossible to jump into an open boxcar when it’s moving; at least it is too dangerous to try. So we started running along side an open flat car and grabbed onto the ladder leading up to the open top. It was little tricky running with a backpack on, but the train was still moving very slow.

Once we got up to the top we discovered it was filled with steel re-bar, long bundles of iron rods. Not exactly a comfortable place to make a bed for the night ride, but that was our only choice.

More About Freight Trains

2005-02-13T06:58:00.000-08:00

I guess before I continue talking about hopping freights I should make a disclaimer: freight train hopping is illegal and could be dangerous. If you want to learn about other people’s views and adventures you could check out this guys link.

He talks about quick one hour rides, during the 90’s, doing it just for the thrill of it. My story is a little different since it was about 2 to 3 day journey back in the 70's.

The background to my freight train adventure was to get to San Francisco for the first running of the Golden Gate Marathon. I don’t know if they still do the marathon anymore, but back then K. and I were on the high school cross-country team, so we thought a marathon across the Golden Gate Bridge would be a feather in our cap.

To be honest, it wasn’t my first freight train adventure. I did a training run earlier that year with another friend. We rode a freight train from Seattle to Portland to visit our brothers that were attending college there.

Hitch-hiking was illegal in Washington State at the time, so that was the excuse used for riding the train. It was that experience that inspired me to attempt a longer trip to San Francisco.

A few days before our planned departure we went down to the freight yards behind the old Sears building in Seattle to check it out. In most freight yards they have signs posted telling you not to ask the people about the trains because they weren’t allowed to tell anyone. That didn’t really seem to matter, if you asked one of the workers something they would tell you.

So we found out that each night at 9:30 a train would head south for Portland. That was all we needed to know. When the time came our friend dropped us off at the edge of the train yard. We each had a backpack with clothes, some food and water.

Riding Freight Trains

2005-02-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

I suspect freight train hopping is a dying art. I don’t know for sure since it’s been 35 years since I did it. I’m betting anyone reading this has never hopped a freight before. If you have, please leave a comment. If you haven’t, then maybe you would be curious to hear what it is like.

This could get a little long, and I know I don’t like reading long blog posts, though I have been guilty of creating long posts myself, I will attempt to rectify that now. So all I will say this time is that it was the year 1970, I was 17 and I was with the same friend, K., I wrote about in my previous entries. We rode the freight trains from Seattle to San Francisco and back again.

Of course I always like to interject some philosophy into my stories, all I can say about freight train riding is you have to have a certain attitude and be open to adventure. That’s part of the beauty of it, you are at the mercy of circumstances and you have to be able to react to them.

Free Falling Into Darkness

2005-02-11T08:24:00.000-08:00

Have you ever experienced a free fall? I’m not talking about sky diving, I’m talking about dropping down in total darkness where you can’t see the bottom. Sometimes I think life is like that, if we don’t make the effort to see, we don’t know where were going.

Like I mentioned in my post: If you heard the Truth, would you believe it? How much can you really see of your world if you exist in an infinite universe and you only have five senses that really aren’t even tuned that well?

Back about 33 years ago when I was 19 I went for a visit to Yosemite park with a couple of friends and two of my cousins. We decided the thing to do was to try and score some wine, and then find a pretty spot to drink it. None of us were of legal drinking age, thus we needed a buyer to help us out. Our luck was good that day. The third person to pass us by was a young longhaired man and his female companion. The perfect mark, I thought, and I wasn’t disappointed. I handed him our money and asked him to get us a gallon of Gallo Blush.

We drove into the park with the underlying joy of anticipating what was to come. The view in the valley added to the sense of adventure and expectation. The towering vista of Half-dome drew us like a magnet and we parked in the lot that offered access to the falls. We decided to take a blanket and hike part way up the trail and find a good spot for our party. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, passing the jug around, each partaking to their fill, some taking more then others. We had a lunch of Italian sausage and French bread along with some cheese and crackers. It was a wonderful afternoon party.

The problem with fall is that the days are very short. Somehow, in the stupor that was starting to take over me, I sensed a chill developing in the air. I realized darkness would soon be on us. We had no flashlight, and I didn’t think we were prepared to spend the night.

My friend S. was in no condition to stand up, let alone navigate the trail back to the parking lot. It was decided that I would go back to the parking lot with my female cousin and the other two guys would stay with S. until he sobered up enough to get back down.

Once back at the parking lot I decided I would take a flashlight up to the guys as it was getting increasingly darker. When I got there I found S. singing ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall. He was laying on his back and the other two guys were attempting to slide him down the trail while he sang his song. It looked like they had the situation under control so I handed them the flashlight and I headed back down.

By this time the darkness had fully descended. At first I didn’t notice, it must have been the wine I drank, it took away my power to pay attention to critical details. I cautiously moved forward a few more yards down the trail. Towering trees and thick under brush surrounded me. It was totally dark, I mean really dark. I put my hand up in front of my face, nothing! I couldn’t even see my fingers.

I should have panicked, but the alcohol impaired my judgment. I thought about going back to the guys with the flashlight, but I inched along somewhat cautiously. The darkness was so complete that I did not have a trail to follow. I could still hear the drunken revelry up behind me. It wasn’t much further to go, and I was sure to be there momentarily.

I moved forward like a blind man, feeling my way for obstacles. I knew the direction the parking lot was in, so I let my radar guide me. Unfortunately my radar took me right to a large rock out cropping. I moved towards the right, more rocks. I tried moving to the left, the same thing. My way seemed to be blocked by a wall of rocks. I must have gotten off the trail. That fact didn’t change anything. My eyes were becoming accustomed to the darkness, but still I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I had no idea where the trail was, or where I had veered off of it.

I took stock of the situation and determined the rocks in front of me were just a small pile of boulders I could crawl over. Not a problem.

I got on top of the boulder in front of me and slowly started going down the other side. I had my feet first, and hoped to find something solid to rest them on. Nothing at first, so I edged a little further down. Not being able to see turned out to be a real handicap

I had to edge a little further, still nothing to plant my feet on. Okay, maybe just a little more, how far can it be? Now I had a problem. I had my body so far down the side of the rock there was no way I could pull myself back up. I pictured in my mind that my feet were just two inches off the ground. I couldn’t see the ground, but I was sure I would laugh if I could see how close I was to touching it.

I went ahead and extended my body fully, hanging only by my fingertips. I completely expected that my feet would surely touch the ground then. They didn’t. Now what was I going to do? I seemed to have only two choices. Hang there by my fingers until it was light and then let go, or let go now. Since I couldn’t feasibly hang there all night, I did the only thing any drunken person would have done, I let go.

I had honestly expected to drop just an inch or two. I think I must have entered a different dimension for those few moments that I was falling in complete darkness. My heart jumped up into my throat and for an instant the darkness was all I knew, and all I could feel. That sobered me up quick.

I landed in a heap among an uneven bed of small rocks. I lay there for a minute trying to grasp the magnitude of what I had just done. Was I crazy? That had to be the most stupid thing I had ever done. I did a mental body check. Everything seemed to be in one piece. My left ankle, which took the brunt of the fall, was a little sore, but nothing serious.

I got up on all fours and crawled along for a little bit. I told myself I would never do that again. I had been lucky that time. I just wanted to get back to the parking lot. I couldn’t hear the sound of the drunken party any more, but I knew I was very close to the parking lot; I had to be.

I got back up on my two feet and once again assumed the blind man’s position. I knew now that the trail had eluded me. If I wanted to get back I would have to rely completely on my sense of direction. I sensed the parking lot was near at hand as I carefully moved forward. I forgot about the close call I had with the boulders and felt assured I’d be back at the parking lot in just a few more steps.

Well maybe more then just a few. I kept moving forward slowly, but still no clear sign of the parking lot. How could that be? I’d been walking for a lot more than five minutes, and it took less than that to deliver the flashlight. I must really be going the long way.

Suddenly my blind man stance warned me that I was confronting another large boulder. I would have gone around it, but blocking me was another boulder. I tried going around it from the other side but once again I was surround by boulders. This time I couldn’t go back. Even if I could find the way back, I would be faced with that boulder wall I had been forced to climb/fall down.

I didn’t seem to have a choice, so I climbed up on the boulder. It turned out to be bigger then the last one. It was probably four or five feet tall. When I got to the top I felt around all sides of it, looking for another rock or something I could climb down on to. There was nothing there, so I started to lower myself once again down the backside of the boulder.

Once again I found myself stretching my body out trying to find a footing in the darkness. Didn’t I just swear I’d never do this again? I was hanging by my fingertips once again; completely unable to pull myself back up.

I hung there for a while to wallow in my stupidity. My fingers were waiting for the command to let go; what other choice did I have? I took a deep breath and relaxed the grip my fingers had on the rock.

Free falling into darkness.

I heard the wind rush by my ears, but all around me was darkness and I had no idea when I would reach solid ground. It seemed like an eternity; there was no way to brace myself for what was to come.

I hit the hard ground with a hard thud, a tangled mass of legs and arms. I groaned as I lay there, my left ankle throbbed in pain. The contemplation of what I had just done brought shear terror to the core of my being. Why was I still alive? I somehow felt that I stood at the edge of deaths door and stopped short of walking in. Not that my injuries were life threatening, but what I had just done could have easily taken me beyond the threshold of life.

I took stock of my condition and determined my ankle was the only serious injury. I doubt I could stand on it, but that didn’t matter. I didn’t want to stand up. The rest of the journey would be made on all fours. There weren’t going to be any more chances taken, and for certain sure, no more rocks were going to be climbed.

I had to struggle to keep the tears from falling as I crawled along the forest floor. All I wanted to do was be back at the parking lot.

That night I learned how dangerous it can be to try to navigate when I am not fully aware of my surroundings.

Reality Check

2005-02-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

I’m trying to take a look at the situation we find ourselves in today in regards to the war in Iraq and how that compares to the war we had in Vietnam forty some years ago.

In my mind I am thinking about how I can explain what I see to my young adult daughters. I remember when I was a young adult and faced the Vietnam War. Of course back then it was worse in some ways because we had the draft, and if you weren’t in college you were most likely going to war. If the war didn’t kill or maim you, the psychological damage of being in a war zone would take its toll.

Still, back then the war was an issue, something you could have a peace march about or a sit-in or some kind of protest. It seemed like if just a few misguided politicians could be turned around the whole thing would end and we could go back to being the land of the free and get on with things. It’s not like there was any real evil intentions there.

In fact, that seemed to be what eventually happened. Enough people didn’t like the war going on and the politicians had to get us out of there.

Today, from my Lookout post it seems so much different. The Iraq war doesn’t seem like an issue. The young people are not up in arms about it staging protests. Of course there is no draft right now. That makes it easy for the younger generation to ignore it as an issue that doesn’t affect them directly.

There is another thing different I notice about today. I can’t be sure if I have a clearer sight born from years of being on the lookout, or if there is really something more now then there was 40 years ago.

The fact is the people in the upper levels of the government seem more transparent in their evil core. They seem more sinister and bolder about their selfish agenda and lack of respect for creation. At least in the 60’s and 70’s the politicians had to give lip service, they had to make a pretense towards showing a respect for creation. Not now, not anymore, now it seems like a true dark evil is in control of things.

How do I explain to my daughters so they can see this for themselves? The training our education system gives them seems to blind people, they can’t see the dark blackness that is leading us to oblivion. Mostly they don’t even see any reason nor have any interest in how things are run. It doesn’t have any direct affect on their lives, so it’s hard to get interested in it.

That’s how the dark evil can get away with a lot of stuff, if it doesn’t have a direct affect on someone’s life, it’s easy to ignore it and pretend its not there. But it’s like the frog in the slowly heated pot of water. The slight rise in temperature doesn’t affect him directly; he doesn’t notice that anything is going on. He gets boiled alive before he ever figures out what is going on.

Nobody wants to believe a person can be evil, and sadly most people really don’t see the depth of the darkness. I don’t know if it’s because they can’t, or because they don’t want to. To really see how bad it is can be terrifying if you aren’t braced for it.

The New Age crowd shun this idea by pushing the ‘you create your own reality’ concept. I might agree with this if they said you create your own subjective reality. But I’m talking about objective reality, what good is subjective reality if it doesn’t encompass everything? It’s a formula for disaster; people that create their own subjective reality won’t see what hit them. And I do believe there is something coming our way.

People seem to equate the idea of seeing objective reality with hopelessness. If I try to explain how bad the view looks from here, they think I am depressing or see no hope in the world. But that’s not true; the clarity of sight allows one to see the challenge we are facing. The trick is to learn to take the challenges that seem impossible and face them without flinching. Really, do we have anything better to do under the circumstances?

Things to Lookout for

2005-02-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

I’ve been on the lookout sometime for some indications for a clue on the current state of affairs here on our planet. One thing that has come to my attention is things that happen, but are not reported in the media and news outlets. To me this indicates something that deserves special attention.

Why is that you ask? Well to me it is an indication that there is something going on that the powers that be (PTB) don’t want me to notice or know about. There are number of subjects that fit this scenario, such as HAARP or UFO’s.

Probably everyone is familiarly with those subjects to degree. Though I bet no one really has a clue about what HAARP is about, and UFO’s of course don’t exist. It seems the PTB have been very successful in their attempts to keep these topics off the front burner, where I feel they belong.

There are so many reports of UFO’s by credible people, that a thinking person just cannot dismiss them out of hand. It seems this subject will get a new treatment by Peter Jennings. The UFO Phenomenon -- Seeing Is Believing Two-Hour Primetime Special Airs Thursday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.

That should be interesting to watch. Some people think that the presence of extra terrestrials are here to save us from ourselves. There is a recent article on rense.com by Henry Markow in which he discusses this angle.

Personally, I think there is enough evidence, if you search for it, to indicate that our planet has always been watched over by beings higher up on the food chain than humans. I know how we manage those beings that are below us on the food chain.

HAARP is another thing we should be wondering about. It is a strange technology that has been developed with little or no fanfare. Makes me wonder what the heck is going on here?

So that’s my report today from my lookout station, it seems there is much to be on the lookout for.

Super Sunday

2005-02-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

Well here it is, Superbowl Sunday, and I have to be on the lookout. I know the Watchers and the Writer won’t be watching it so someone has to. Its all part of the bread and circus thing they got going on here behind the lines.

I know today no one will be thinking much about the real issues facing us today; it’s the perfect day to be on the lookout.

I remember Superbowl I, I was in Junior High and my brother and I had a paper route, it was 1967. We pooled our money and had bought an old used black and white TV for $15 so we could have TV in our room. It wasn’t a very good picture, but it was cool to watch it in our bedroom.

Now days you can usually find 3 or 4 TV’s in a house, and this year you can bet there will be a lot of big screen high definition TV’s tuned into the game.

January is always a big month for TV sales, the circus will be in full swing today, a good day to be on the lookout.

Signs of the Times

2005-02-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

That damn alert system that’s on the wall behind my desk went off again yesterday. Actually this time I wasn’t at my desk when it happened. I often like to spend my lunch hour outside running, so when I’m done the company has a bathroom with showers. Well I was just about to step in the shower when the alert started sounding.

Let me tell you a little about this alert system. It was installed last year and replaced the original fire alarm system, which was just a system alarm bells. It took the electrical contractor that was hired to do about a year to install.

I work in a large building that is a quarter mile long, its only two stories and only about half of actually has a second floor. Downstairs is the factory and inventory operations and upstairs us office and computer types work.

Anyway, the electrical contractor had a fairly large crew of guys working on running all the wires and installing the little white speakers complete with strobe light. I was one of the lucky employee’s that has one installed right over my head.

The damn things have a painful piercing sound they force at you as they announce their activation. This new system has the ability to broadcast a voice messages while the strobe light flashes. The point I am trying to make is the company spent big bucks to get this installed while preaching to the ‘associates’ (ever notice no one is an employee anymore these days?) how we need to conscious of cutting costs. I guess the new alert system was really important to helping the bottom line. Who knows, maybe homeland security forced them to install it.

Last summer we actually did have to evacuate the building and gather out in the parking lot under the beating sun in 100 degree temperatures. The sheriff and fire department had shown up and eventually we were all lead across the street like sheep to someone else’s parking lot.

Turns out someone phoned in a bomb threat. You can bet it wasn’t a terrorist though, it was a disgruntled former employee, excuse me, ‘associate’. Actually, I think when they do something bad like that you get to call them an employee.

Well the authorities must had all of a 30 or 40 minutes to search this huge building for a bomb, they never could find anything so they let us go back inside. I don’t think anyone really believed there was bomb in there.

So back to where I started with this thing, the alert goes off just as I’m getting ready to step in the shower. It announced that only emergency coordinators needed to report and everyone else was to remain at their stations until they heard the all clear signal.

That was yesterday, and we are still waiting to hear the all clear signal. Of course everyone went home last night and came back this morning. But I think the whole thing is pretty much a sign of the times . We’re always supposed to be on alert and they are never going to give us the all clear signal. At least I can’t imagine them ever doing that, can you?

The Final Chapter

2005-02-03T05:46:00.000-08:00

Life seems strange sometimes, the way events happen you have to suspect a director behind the scenes. Many people turn to religion to explain the twists and turns life takes. For me religion falls short of answering the deepest questions. It seems to be designed to stop questions rather than encourage investigation.

To continue on with my story, the $19 was an unexpected gift; it meant we didn’t have become ‘drug dealers’ in Lincoln Nebraska so we could continue our journey. I don’t remember much about the next day or two. We were very careful with our money and our optimistic projection was that we might have enough gas money to make it to Seattle.

Our route was going to take us through Yellowstone Park as that was a favorite haunt of mine from previous years. As we approached the park I suddenly remembered that it cost $3 to enter it. It was too late to find a different route and the $3 was going to cause us to run out of gas in Montana.

We headed for Old Faithful where they have a large lodge made out of logs. It has a wonderful lobby with 5 floors of balconies that are built around it. Only 3 levels are open to the public, but they have a lot of nice sitting areas with couches and high backed chairs.

Our plan now was to try and sell some of our stash there. I knew the place usually had a lot of ‘hippie’ types hanging around so I figured we had a good chance of success.

We arrived in the early evening and split up walking around the lobby propositioning likely looking people. For some reason we decided that we should present our commodity as mescaline instead of LSD, thinking it would be easier to sell. The hours passed and things looked bleak. At 9 o’clock the lobby was officially closed and we hadn’t had any luck.

Despondent and depressed I sat down in a chair in a dark corner of the upper level to contemplate our plight. After a little while a young ‘hippie’ looking individual sat down next to me and we started talking. I had given up the idea of selling our goods and I proceeded to tell him the story of our cross country saga.

He was quite taken by it, and when he heard that I had some mescaline to sell he was very interested. He said he needed to contact some friends in California first, but he wanted to make sure it wasn’t LSD. I assured him it wasn’t. If he could get a hold of his friends they would by the entire lot.

As it turned out he was unable to reach them. By this time it was getting to be one in the morning and we desperately wanted just enough money to make the trip home. We finally convinced him to buy $15 worth and we did the deal in the bathroom.

At last things started looking up. K. and I left the park that instant and found the first restaurant that was open so we could have a decent meal before continuing our drive. We drove the rest of the night and came to Spokane around lunch time.

K. had another brother living there and we were able to get ourselves another meal before hitting the road again. We made it back to Seattle that night with $1 to spare.

That ended our two month adventure.

Day Tripping

2005-02-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

I need to get finished with this story, as there is still more to tell. Events and conditions would continue to push me in certain directions. I want to make a disclaimer here, I am by no means encouraging the use of LSD, in fact I would advise against it. In my case I seemed to have no choice, and perhaps because of my disposition or whatever, my ‘trips’ were often a positive experience for me.

Anyway, I’m not sure where we spent the night that night after our day in the park. Memories from that long ago are a little vague. We continued our drive across the mid-west, and according to our calculations, we would run out of gas somewhere in Nebraska.

The lure of the drug was too much for us. We continued to take it as we drove. The curious thing about LSD is the body quickly develops a resistance to the drug, requiring larger doses to have any affect. By the third day we were taking 8 or 9 hits every few hours in a desperate attempt to recapture the magic we encountered on the first day.

Sadly it was not really possible. We found ourselves in some sort of burned out, spaced out state. Sitting next to each for three days, doing nothing but driving, only eating peanut butter and bread, taking non-stop LSD, all this is a sure recipe for disaster. On top of that we knew we didn’t have enough money to make it home and our only choice would be to become ‘drug dealers’. Not a very happy prospect.

It’s amazing we didn’t cut each others throat. I do have a memory of totally getting angry at K. for his wining and complaining, as if it was my fault or I had some control over events. That kept the car quiet as we speed at 90 mph across Nebraska.

Somehow in our dazed state K. remembered that he had an older step brother living in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was decided we would stop by for a visit. I don’t remember if we called with advanced warning, I like to think we did. We arrived in the evening in time for dinner, a real meal!

I’m sure we must have looked like some wild men, after 3 days of ‘tripping’ and sleeping in the front seat of the car, and no bath, we must have been a stinky mess. I don’t remember the conversation at dinner, but I think we sort of let on to our plight, without coming right out and asking for money.

After a good night’s sleep in a bed, a hot shower and a hot breakfast we were ready to hit the road again. Our plan was to head downtown and see if we could find a customer. As we were saying our good bye’s K.’s brother slipped a small wad of cash into his hand. K. put it in his pocket and we drove off, anxious to see how much it was.

Looks were deceiving, the wad looked substantial, but it turned out to be all one dollar bills. We had $19 more dollars. Maybe it was enough if we didn’t buy any food.

If you heard the Truth, would you believe it?

2005-01-29T06:17:00.000-08:00

I guess I need to continue my story and bring it to its conclusion. What has always impressed me about this story is how the chain of events were arranged to push me into a certain direction, which I would not have followed on my own. It made me feel that there are intelligent forces from outside our normal reality that can direct us.

So the next morning, when I woke up from a troubled sleep in the front seat of the 65 Mustang, I felt I had no choice but to do something I had vowed I would not. I had to try taking one of the yellow tabs to determine once and for all if we had been ripped off.

K. drove that morning and I rode shotgun as we traveled through West Virginia. It was a bright day, but there were clouds racing across the sky. About an hour after I began my experiment I found myself with my head out the window looking up at the clouds. I soon began to see cartoon figures acting out scenes in the sky. When I told K. there were cartoons in the clouds, he was elated, “That’s what’s suppose to happen!” he exclaimed.

We pulled off to the side of the road to consult our map to find a park somewhere we could spend the day and continue the experiment. I remember driving past hillbilly shacks on our way to the park with strange alien looking people watching us drive by, looking at us as if we were some sort of alien intruders.

We spent the day at the park playing guitars and investigating nature as if the world was a new and undiscovered place. The drug had a way of widening the perceptions I had and making me understand reality in a new way.

The story doesn’t end here, but I want to deviate just a little now to explain how that day was like the first step on a journey that has taken me to the place I am at today. My journey through life has been a slow revelation of what is truly going on here.

I ask the question: If you heard the Truth, would you believe it? If it hadn’t been for my experience that day, I’m not sure I would have been able to believe the truth of our reality.

I use the term hyper-dimensional to try and describe our reality that I have come to see. Have you ever stopped to think how much of our reality can we be aware of with just our 5 senses? I mean the Universe is infinite isn’t it? How much can 5 senses reveal to us?

For example are you aware of all the radio waves that are currently surrounding you as you read this? What other energy or influences might there be around us that we cannot possibly fathom or detect with our senses? What is to stop them from affecting us? Is our ignorance of them a shield that prevents them from manipulating our thoughts and actions?

My experience, and this story I am chronicling, tells me no. In fact, it is most likely that they do affect is in a powerful yet subtle ways. It is our awareness or lack of awareness that prevents us from seeing the true nature of the Universe.

Here is a quote I have found that sums it up for me:
Life is religion. Life experiences reflect how one interacts with God. Those who are asleep are those of little faith in terms of their interaction with the creation.

I would like to say that from this day on things on our trip started to look up, but in fact there were still deeper depths to plow as I continue the saga.

Indecision

2005-01-27T07:53:00.000-08:00

The next chapter of my story starts to reveal personal facts about me that have not been in the public domain, so I see myself having reservations about continuing. When I started my blog I wasn’t thinking about telling this story. It does make for an entertaining tale, though the true life experience of it was rather intense and uncomfortable to live through. Like most adventures the telling of it is much more entertaining than the experience of it.

So now I debate with myself about continuing. It’s not fair to those people who have been following my story to abruptly cut it off. I am basically anonymous here, but for some reason I have reservations, so bear with me while I contemplate my next move.

Desperation

2005-01-25T05:58:00.000-08:00

It’s funny how circumstances can push us into areas we would never go willingly. Desperation has a way of changing us overnight it seems. Perhaps it is in these times that our true nature comes out, it certainly tests your courage and your boldness to venture into the unknown.

The next morning we woke early and went out into the park keeping a lookout for our friend. We were glad when we saw him meandering through the park casually picking up litter with his grabbing tool. He saw us waiting for him. We waved him over and invited him to stop inside the van to discuss our business.

We filled him in our plight and told him we needed at least some cash so we could buy enough gas to get back to Seattle. He was prepared to offer us $30 cash and 900 hits of LSD for the van. Back then you could still by gas for 50 cents or less a gallon. We had to do the math in our heads as we sat around the van. Desperation besides forcing you to act can also hinder your clear thinking. We agreed to his deal. We were desperate and didn’t seem to have any other choice.

The plan was he would come back later that morning after he completed his shift and we would do the deal. We spent the morning going through our stuff in the van and loading up the Mustang. The trunk was very small but there was something of a back seat in it. We stuffed every nook and cranny leaving only room in the front for the two of us to sit.

True to his word our friend arrived later that morning. He came with two large beautiful white Alaskan Malamutes. He explained that he took his dogs with him whenever he did a drug deal as part of his protection.

So we were all inside the van and he took out a baggie filled with little yellow pills that had green speckles on them. We had no idea what LSD would look or smell like, so we had to take his word that it was what he said it was. He gave us the $30 cash and we signed the title over to him.

To celebrate he wanted us to go with him on a short test drive. He was at the wheel and we had to explain to him that he had to take it a little easy as the motor mounts were in bad shape and the engine had a tendency to lurch into the radiator. He didn’t mind as he explained he planned to take the van out to his country property and park it there as living quarters for when he would visit the place.

He was giving us a tour of the large Boston beach park area that was his work domain. We stopped at a spot called Pleasure Bay Park and he invited us on a walk. The park was filled with people enjoying the sunny morning. We strolled along the pathways and he lit up a joint and passed it between us. We couldn’t believe how bold he was being smoking in public view, but we figured he must know what he is doing.

We finally returned to our parked Mustang and then our van drove off never to be seen again, though I suspect it may still be parked on some rural property to this day.

Our first order of business after getting out of town was to get something to eat. We tried not to splurge but we were hungry and we needed a hamburger really bad. After lunch we continued to drive trying not to think too much about whether we had enough money to make it home or not. We purchased a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. That was to be our entire diet for the rest of the trip.

We soon began to worry if we had been ripped off. We had no way to know what was really in the baggie we had hidden under the carpet beneath the glove box. K. said we needed to try it to make sure. I told him there was no way I would ever take any of it, so he volunteered to be the guinea pig while I drove.

Afternoon wore on to evening and into night and K. was yet to feel any reaction to the small yellow tab he had ingested. I don’t remember the logic in the route we chose; I-90 would have been the most direct way. But by nightfall we were on a small highway in West Virginia. I pulled off the road onto a small gravel clearing alongside. The back seat was so full our bucket seats wouldn’t recline very far, so we had to sleep in an upright position that night.

We didn’t say it out loud, but we were both thinking it, we had been ripped off. It was also becoming clear that we would run out of money and gas before we reached Seattle. During the past month I had hit, on several occasions, what I felt was the lowest spot one could hit, only to be followed by another even lower spot.

A Dark Ray of Hope

2005-01-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom to make us take a look at our lives and decide to do something different. I turned 20 in Boston that year, no longer a teenager and not sure where I was heading. There was no big celebration, but I didn’t care, all I wanted to do was get out of there and go back home where I would start a new life.

I didn’t have a very long view of things. I knew my draft notice was likely to arrive that fall, but I was classified as a conscientious objector, so at least I wasn’t looking at a tour in Viet Nam. My plan was to go back to school and take some art classes, since that is what seemed to activate a spark in me. Just a plan for the next few months was all I could come up with.

But here it was the third day the ad for our van was running, and no calls. As if to brighten our outlook, that afternoon we got a call from a prospective buyer. I spoke with the man and tried to convince him to come look at it. He said he would the next day around 4 o'clock.

Our spirits were brightened and we began thinking about how we would move out of our living quarters into K’s 65 Mustang. Besides our clothes there were a lot of tools and other memorable, not to mention a couple of guitars. Obviously it wasn’t all going to fit in the car. We went to sleep that night feeling hopeful our sojourn in Boston would soon be over.

The next morning the sun was shinning brightly as we slept in. Before we got up there was a knock on our door. We had a For Sale sign on our van and this person was inquiring about purchasing the van. We let him in to see the interior and talk over the deal.

He was a young man a few years older than us. He had very long hair and we felt comfortable with him as he was very amiable and friendly. He worked for the Parks department, but as he explained to us, as long as he kept his boss supplied in the drugs of his choice he really didn’t have to do any work to receive his pay check.

It was then that he informed us that he wanted to trade us 1,000 hits of LSD for the van. Yikes!! That was not part of my paradigm. I had been known to enjoy partaking in marijuana, but drugs were not part of my way of life, and there was no way I would ever participate in anything more powerful than pot.

We explained to him that what we really needed was cash so we could finance our trip back to Seattle and drugs of that nature weren’t really our thing. We informed him that we already had a prospective buyer who was coming by that afternoon and we had already promised him the van. He left his offer on the table and said he would check back with us tomorrow.

What a long day that was, waiting for 4 o’clock to arrive. We waited patiently but by the time it was 6 o’clock we realized our buyer was not going to show up. That was a dark time. We were both very quiet and went to be alone while we contemplated our blight. I went for a run and K. played his guitar.

By that evening we were forced to accept that our newly found drug dealing friend was our only hope. We had no other choice. The food was gone, we only had enough gas to drive a few miles and we were hungry. We went to bed that night hoping our new friend would keep his word and return in the morning. Our plan was to see if we could get him to offer us enough cash as part of the deal in order to drive home. Once home we figured we would have some connections that could sell the LSD. There was no way I we were going to ever use the drugs.

In the end we didn’t care what we got for the van we just wanted to go home.

Prodigal Son

2005-01-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

It seems like you never know what is going to happen. Events continued to take a turn for the worse as I continue my story.

Having left the county from hell we headed towards Boston. My friend K. new a girl there that he had met a couple of years ago while attending the University of Arizona for a brief time. I don’t remember the exact details now, but we dropped off our two companions at the start of Interstate 90 as their goal was to hitchhike the entire Interstate to its terminus in Seattle. By the way the both made it back safely in just a few days.

Before heading over to K’s friend Debbie, we dropped our van off at the shop. It was suffering terribly from an electrical problem. We decided to also have them remove the broken bolt in the engine block so the oil leak would be fixed.

The only source of money we had was from K’s cousin. K had made a stop in Nebraska to visit his cousin going to school there. He managed to borrow $200 from him, which was lucky since neither of us had any money. We went over to Debbie’s and it was okay for the first night. We went out to a nightclub and did some partying. We couldn’t really leave until our van was fixed since we had no where to stay without it.

It turned out to be most unpleasant as we pretty much overstayed our welcome. K and Debbie were fighting as well. If we had left after the first night it would have been different, but as it turned out we had to stay for 3 nights while they housed and feed us. It was a relief to leave, its no fun being an unwelcome guest.

So we went to pick up the truck and when we got the bill it was $154. Whoa! The electrical problem was only $35 but there turned out to be a lot of labor involved with getting the broken bolt out. After paying the bill we only had a little over $10 left.

This was a very bad state of affairs. We suddenly lost any ambition about finding a job and saving money to go to Europe. We decided that our only option was to sell the van and then drive back to Seattle in K’s car.

To accomplish this we would have to spend our last $10 for ad in the paper. To place an ad we needed a phone number for people to call. Our usual mode of operation when entering a city is to find a park that we can stay at. Boston has a nice place called Carson Beach which is right on the water and close to downtown. We went over there to scope it out being very conscious of the fact that both vehicles were low on gasoline so we had to conserve. As luck would have it there was a beach house with a pay phone.

We placed the ad and asked people to call between 4 and 6 pm as we didn’t want to have to hang out at the phone all day. Within a day our ad was running, but before it hit the paper we discovered that the beach house closed at 5pm! So we only had a one hour window for calls to come in.

The whole thing was sort of a downer, as if we weren’t all ready pretty down. We didn’t have much food left in the van and we had no money to buy any more, so we were hungry a lot. The only consolation we had was we were at the beach and the weather was nice. Across the street from the beach was Columbus Park, which had a track. I had my running shoes with me, and as I often do when under stress, I would spend time running around the track.

I suppose I could have called home and my parents would have sent some money. However I was feeling like the prodigal son and the thought of asking for money was out of the question.

When is a choice not a choice?

2005-01-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in life you are given a choice that isn’t really a choice. As I continue my story you’ll see that I had no real choice as events unfolded.

After arriving at the police station Good Cop went off to a corner where his desk was, and only occasionally came by to see how things were progressing. Bad Cop was busy going over his evidence and taking our mug shots and finger prints. He kept asking us if we were planning to sell the small stash of seeds we had, I guess he was hoping he could get us for dealing.

I had to go to the bathroom so Bad Cop had to stand over and watch as I urinated. I guess he wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to flush some evidence down the toilet.

Around 6 am he phoned up the local District Attorney to ask his legal advice. Together they plotted what the charges against us would be. They desperately wanted to come up with a felony, but seemed hard pressed with the given evidence.

Around 6:30 am Sunday morning the District Attorney showed up at the station. Together with Bad Cop they typed up formal charges against us. The DA could not understand why young men of the age 18 and 19 were traveling frivolously around the country when they should be holding down regular jobs or going to school. He just couldn’t fathom it.

Finally we were given our choice. They had two charges against each of us. Although the seeds had not undergo any kind of scientific verification, we were being charged with possession of something like 21 grams of marijuana. The ‘hippie pipe’ generated a charge of possession of a narcotic implement, though it too had not undergone any sort of scientific verification. Bad Cop explained to us that we could get a public defender to represent us in court, but he didn’t think there was anyone in town that would do that, and if we wanted to go that route we would have to wait in jail until Monday. Or we could go over to the Judge’s house and do the trail right now.

What kind of choice is that?? It was clear what Bad Cop wanted us to do. So far, we had been hanging around the station and had not seen a jail cell, all we wanted to do was get out of there as fast as we could. So the three of us got into the back of the squad car and Bad Cop and DA got in the front seat. On the way over to the Judge they stopped and picked up coffee and donuts for everyone, so I guess he wasn’t all bad.

We arrived at the Judge’s house and took our seats on his screened in back porch. There was a little judge’s desk facing us. It looked like the room was setup for these little ‘trials’. Judge came out to meet us and discuss things with his buddies, Bad Cop and DA. They all decided that they would go inside to confer and we were to wait out on the porch with our coffee and donuts. However, just before going inside they asked us how much money we had. Are you getting the idea there is some sort of scam going on here?

The money situation wasn’t very good for me. I only had $40 to my name, but between the three of us there was $300. That was probably lucky for us.

We waited anxiously on the porch for what seemed like a long time. Finally they all came out and Judge sat down behind his judging desk. We were handed carbon copies of the official charges that Judge was reading to us. After reading each charge we were given the choice to plead guilty. Then Judge pronounced the sentence. On the charge of the narcotic implement we were each fined $50. On the charge of the possession of marijuana, he explained that normally he and drugs didn’t mix and he’d just as soon put us away in jail for being involved in drugs. However, if we agreed to leave the county he would suspend the sentence for that charge.

Obviously the only thought on our minds at that point was to get the hell as far away from that county as we could. So that ended the court session; all that was left was for us to sign over $150 of our traveler’s checks to them. Hey, that’s exactly half of our money! I had to borrow $10 for my share of the fine leaving me penniless in a far away land.

After we paid up, Bad Cop and DA drove us back to our van, it was now about 9 am. We were in the process of battening down the hatches so we could get out of there, when our friend K. showed up with his 65 Mustang. What timing!

K. explained that he had arrived last night around 10 pm and found a little rest area just a couple of miles down the road from where we were. Had he gone the extra distance and found us last night, we were convinced that we would have left then and there, thus avoiding the unpleasant episode. I guess our guardian angel wanted us to go through that horrific ordeal.

It’s hard to explain the state of mind I was in at this point. Having no sleep that night, going through the arrest and trail, no money to my name and really no clear idea of what I was going to do with my life except to get out of that county.

It felt like I had really hit rock bottom, but I was to learn that there were even deeper depths to explore.

Fire in the Hole

2005-01-20T17:53:00.000-08:00

There are events in our lives that burn into our being and our memory. Things we never forget because the heat leaves its mark. So to get back to my story, I was on a slow decent to despair, but still had a long way to go to hit bottom.

As soon as the Bad Cop got a whiff of our sweet smelling incense he immediately accused of smoking illegal substances. Our explanation meant nothing to him, though the Good Cop seemed to understand our predicament, but did nothing to help us.

We were hauled out of the van and had to show our papers. Then the thorough search of our van commenced. We sat inside helpless as the Bad Cop went through every nook and cranny looking for stuff. He came upon a switch blade that we had picked up as a souvenir in Mexico from an early adventure. He was quite pleased at the find and informed us that it was a felony to have such a weapon, but quickly added that it would be a nice addition to his collection.

He was accumulating a pile of ‘evidence’ on the couch as he searched through our belongings. He came upon a ‘hippie’ pipe and asked what we used that for. Well now, I don’t want to incriminate myself here, but the truth is the pipe had only been recently used to smoke tobacco collected from cigarette butts. Later we learned that this pipe was actually a narcotic implement.

Further searching, he found an old 35mm film canister. We had forgotten about that, it was about one third full of some round looking seeds, something you might find in commercial bird seed. This was his prize find!

Finally he moved to the front of the van and left us sitting alone in the back. The Good Cop was no where to be seen at the time. We all looked at each other and whispered how easy it would be for us to throw his stash out the door into the bushes. No one had the nerve to do that, but I quietly covered the stash up with a blanket that was lying there.

Oh boy! Have you ever seen a Bad Cop when he is angry? He was nearly frantic asking us where his stash was. We all acted dumb as he searched recklessly. Finally I moved the blanket slightly so he could see that his stuff was exactly where he had left it.

Well that was enough. He picked up all the stuff he had collected and put us in the back of the squad car. We were headed for police headquarters, but there were a few stops on the way. We had to check out a noisy party and then a stop to harass a truck driver that was peeing on the side of the road.

We finally made it to the station some time after 5 am on Sunday morning.

Checking In

2005-01-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

Well I haven’t been at my blog for a couple of days now, so I guess I’m getting behind. I don’t have time right now to continue my story, but if anyone wants to hear what all happened let me know and I will get back at it.

I got invited over to a friend’s to watch the Super Bowl. He’s hoping he will have his HD TV up and running by then. Not sure if we’ll will go or not. Being a football fan I usually enjoy watching the Super Bowl but the main thing is they don’t allow you to wear shoes in their house and the Mrs. isn’t too keen on that. Not to mention we went there last year and it wasn’t all that great an experience really. One of the problems was she didn’t know about the no shoes rule and didn’t dress accordingly.

Of course there are all sorts of other underlying things that go on when a group of people get together, especially if they don’t really know each other that well. A lot of small talk to consume, and some people will be making judgments about other people, and other people will thinking that people are judging them.

Still, it’s the guys from work, and the boss will probably be there, so it’s a good opportunity to do a little socializing and keep up the front that I’m just a regular guy like everyone else. I don’t like to let the word out to the general public that I’m a Lookout. I can’t blow my cover or I might not be able to do my job. You can never be too careful when you’re working behind enemy lines.

The Walls are Closing In

2005-01-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had that feeling like the walls are closing in around you? Makes you feel like you are trapped with no way out. I’m always on the lookout for the walls closing in. The more aware you are, the better your chances are of positioning yourself to deal with it, as you can’t usually stop the walls closing in.

To continue my story from yesterday, I should have been more aware back then. The walls were closing in on me, and I walked right into the trap like a blind man. I doubt that I could have done anything different at the time. It turned out to be a very awareness expanding experience for me in the long run. But it was a hard path.

After correcting the fuel problem with the van, we took to the road again. Back then you could go to car parts stores and find recycled oil in 2 gallon cans. Yesterday, I incorrectly reported we were losing a gallon of oil every hundred miles, but I meant to say a quart. Our rendezvous point with K. was Fair Haven, New York, which was about 1,400 miles. So that was about 4 gallons of oil. It took awhile, our top speed was 55 mph, and we had to stop regularly to top off the oil.

There was no such thing as cell phones in 1972, and we had absolutely no way of contacting K. We had no idea if he was successful and if or when he would arrive at the rendezvous. We spent the days on the shores of Lake Ontario. At night we found a little rest area off the side of a county road. It had a picnic table and a place to park the van. Things weren’t going too badly, but food and money supplies were low and the locals were taking notice of the ‘hippies’ that seemed to have moved into their neighborhood. Unbeknownst to us the walls were closing in on us.

It was the third day, and we were becoming bored and frustrated at the indefinite wait we faced. In desperation the three of us made a vow not to sleep until K. showed up. Some how we thought that would make him show up or something. So that night we went to our usual spot and hung out in the van, waiting for K. to arrive. We didn’t find out until the next day that K. had arrived that night, but chose to stop just a couple of miles down the road from us.

The night dragged on to the early morning and we tried to keep ourselves entertained. B. was hungry and about the only thing we had in the cupboard was a can of sauerkraut. I don’t know where that came from since everyone except B. hated the stuff. He cooked up the can and had it for a snack. The foul odor was more than the rest of us could bear, so we got some incense sticks we had lying around and smoked up the place with that.

At 3:30 that morning there commenced a loud pounding on our back door. We opened the door and the sweet smelling hippie smoke wafted out into the faces of Good Cop and Bad Cop. Talk about the walls closing in, we were in for it now.

A Turn of Events

2005-01-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had that happen? You’re going along with a plan when something turns up and everything starts going a different way? You end up doing something completely different. As a lookout, I am concerned with my ability to agilely adjust to changing circumstances.

A turn of events; I don’t know how many times that has happened to me. I remember back in the 70’s I had this plan to avoid my draft notice. I was going to move from Seattle to Florida, get a job on a yacht via some vague family connection, and then save enough money to make a trip to Europe with my high school friend, K., who was also trying to skip out on the draft.

We took a couple of buddies with us in our hippie van on the trip out east to Florida. They just wanted to come along for the ride and then have a hitchhiking race back to Seattle.

Before we could get out of the state our back wheel came off as we were exiting the freeway. That was pretty lucky I guess. K. got a bad scrape on his back when he was thrown from the couch on to the floor. The wheel didn’t roll too far away, though it nearly missed hitting a car. Of course we had to get towed to a repair shop. That delayed us a day or two, and ate into our capital funding, which wasn’t very healthy to start with.

Then in Nebraska the engine in the van didn’t seem to want to run. I installed a new fuel pump that we carried with us for just such emergencies. I broke a bolt off when I over tightened it during the install process. The fuel pump still worked, but we started leaking oil at the enormous rate of a gallon every hundred miles. Unfortunately, the new fuel pump didn’t correct the problem.

Luckily we had access to the engine from inside the van while driving. We filled up empty coke bottles with gasoline and I sprayed the gas directly into the carburetor as we drove down the highway. That got us going! It was before the days of video cameras, but we did capture the procedure on 8mm film, so I can prove it really happened. We had about enough of that after a few hours, and we pulled over in Valentine, Nebraska. We were running behind our schedule, so I called home to find out about the job on the yacht. Too late, we missed the boat on that one.

So we did what any ordinary person would have done when a turn of events changes plans. We made a new one. It was decided that K. would hitchhike to his Dad’s house in Arizona and pickup his 1965 Mustang which was garaged there. Then he would meet up with the rest of us in up state New York at a designated state park, where we would await his arrival. From there we would go to Boston and find employment.

So K. left on his journey, and we were left with figuring out why our van didn’t want to play nice. As it turned out there was a pink cotton fuzz ball in the gas tank blocking the fuel line. Apparently the pink shag carpet we had installed around the drivers seat had shed enough fuzz that it got into the gas tank. The fuel inlet was behind the driver’s seat, so there you have it. It was a 1947 UPS delivery van, what can you expect?

This adventure goes on, with one unexpected turn of events after another; maybe I’ll tell you some more about it on another day. It makes you wonder what is directing things. Though the events seem haphazard, they create a specific result. Is there some unseen force directing it? I don’t know, I remember on that trip my friend B. told me that was my problem, I thought everything had a reason behind it.

Now an important part of my lookout duties is keeping a lookout for unseen forces.

The Lonely Visitor

2005-01-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like a lonely visitor here, I often wondered if I belonged here. But then I wondered where is here? The question implies there is somewhere else I could be. But on close examination this concept denies the fact that Creation is everywhere and everything. In my world view nothing exists that is not the Creation. So how could I be anywhere else?

With a question like that, how could I be in search for a way out of here? I conclude that the way out of here is just a string of events or lessons that will show the way to a new understanding and perception of what here is.

Recently I had a discussion with my father, the Pastor. I dared him to consider that we were already in Heaven and that the Devil was in fact part of the Creation that the Creator made. This didn’t fit with his beliefs, though in my logical way of thinking, how it could be any other way? No belief required, just reasoned thought.

I question the need for beliefs. Why must we believe? Are we supposed to have to believe? Why is belief associated with spirituality? It seems to be the consensus that belief is connected with spirituality. To be spiritual means one has to have a belief. Why? Can’t we come to an understanding of our reality without beliefs?

Truly, our reality cannot be fully comprehended by reason alone, it will take more than logical deduction to comprehend fully the Creation. Unquestioned beliefs are not the answer, they block the path to the way out of here.

The Network

2005-01-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

Life behind enemy lines, in the land of greed and corporate power, has its advantages. Being the center of the dark planet, there are things available here that can’t be found anywhere else. That’s where I come in, if the Watchers or the Writer need something that can only be found here, I take care of it for them. We’re a network.

When operating behind enemy lines its important to have a network. There is really no way to get anything done without the help of a network. I don’t work alone, I have a trusted partner, Lookout Two. Together we deal with what comes up.

We got a request the other day from Watcher Three for a refrigerator filter part, the Writer needs new sheets, and Watcher One requests a book for research. Easy stuff to get here, at least it is today.

We’ve been on the lookout for changes though. Things change in small increments, but when you look at it over the span of time, the changes are substantial. When things change slow like that, it’s not always easy to see the direction they are heading. You have to look at the big picture, then the path the changes are heading down comes into focus.

There still is some time left, time before the incremental changes will prevent me from operating as I do today. I can’t sit idle and waste this time. Plans are in the hopper to ‘deal’ with things.

The key objective is to get the Writer’s work in print and out to those that need it. Any successful enterprise requires financial backing. So as we contemplated how to insure the Writer’s work will continue to be available, the Banker entered the scene. Here’s where the Network shines. With the Banker bankrolling the project, the members of the Network can work the operation. It’s in the works; soon the Network will have a remote site where the printing of the truth can continue when the walls of the matrix start to close in. The other good news today is that the alert system on the wall behind me is quiet.

On the Lookout

2005-01-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Where to start, I’ve been on the lookout for all my life, at least whenever I remember to, which is most of the time these days, as the days seem to dictate a stance of alertness. In some respects its been an adventure through wonderland these past 50 years or so. Now I find myself aligned with the Watchers and their pact with the Writer to expose the truth to those that might be able to see it.

I work on the outside, behind enemy lines you might say, but it’s my home and so far I remain comfortable here, but how long can that last? Things are heating up; still there is time to live a normal life. I can perform the required interaction with officialdom that allows the Writer to work at her hideout as it were. Not that it is hidden away anywhere, it’s just a place a little further out of reach, though by no means unreachable.

I hear the alert sounding from the speaker mounted on the wall behind me. The announcement blaring out says it’s only for the emergency coordinators, it tells me to sit tight until I hear the all clear signal. I have a passing thought, ‘if I had a gun I’d shoot that annoying speaker off the wall’. I don’t know where that came from, I have never handled a firearm in my life, but the droning warning signal the speaker puts out hits a nerve in me I guess.

They are probably just testing the new alert system anyway, nothing to worry about. Yep, they just announced it is only a test, do not evacuate the building. It’s cold outside, so I am grateful for that. Life in the city, in the capital of the dark planet, the Fallen world, the world of the Devil, of the Archons, of Matter that holds Spirit enchained, you have to expect these sort of things. I took this mission knowing the risks, so I have to accept them, I don’t let them upset and distract.