The Gulf Crisis - Maybe it's Time for Prayer? We are One Nation under God.

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For a country that claims to be "one nation, under God", we seem to have forgotten the God factor in just about everything we do. Way back 234 years ago when a ragtag group of colonists decided to take on the most powerful empire in the history of the world, the British empire, God and prayer were invoked first in
our expressions of hope and our reaffirmation of faith.

Now we seem to have forgotten the power of prayer. Back during the revolution our Founding Fathers did not hope for miracles, they relied on them to guide us through a war in which we had no business fighting, were it not for faith and hope.



But in these trying times we seem to have forgotten the power of prayer.

What could be more proper for a nation founded under God than to pray to the Holy Mother Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, and the patron saint of America, to help protect the environment and the people who might be affected by the Gulf oil crisis?



Even the Native Americans and Mexican Americans hold the Holy Mother sacred with the Indians honoring Mother Earth and the Mexicans Our Lady of Guadalupe. These variations of the Holy Mother are among the most revered of spiritual figures. Of course to the Christian she is honored above all others for giving birth to the Messiah.



Believers understand the power of the Holy Mother through Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima and other visitations and even thousands of non-believers at Fatima witnessed the dancing and falling sun that fateful morning of October 13, 1917.

Her prophecies foretold of the loss of nations, the tragic rise of Hitler and Nazism, the emergence and dangers of Communism, World War I, World War II, the destruction of cultures and the challenges to the church which have all unfolded over the past century.

Her pleas for people to have faith in God and Jesus and pray, especially the rosary, went largely ignored as an astonishing string of complex, powerful and destructive prophecies came true because we did not heed the call to prayer.

Mother Mary, or Mother Earth, cries for the human condition and the way humans treat Mother Earth as she has consistently asked us to take a few moments for prayer if we really have faith, and good things would come to us.



In the Americas, five centuries ago, cruel human sacrificing rituals were performed on a scale never approached, even remotely, by another peoples. Never before or after in human history a more open, long running, ritualized and institutionalized public showcase of the Culture of Death has been manifested.

No one will ever know how many were killed this way. Estimates start from 20,000 to 50,000 a year in several sources. Recently, Woodrow Borah, possibly the leading authority on the demography of Mexico at the time of the conquest, has revised the estimated number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the fifteenth century to 250,000 per year.

The climax of these ritual killings came in 1487 for the dedication of the new and richly decorated with serpents temple of Huitzilopochtli, in Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), when in a single ceremony that lasted four days and four nights, with the constant beating of giant drums made of snakeskin, the Aztec ruler and demon worshiper Tlacaellel presided over the sacrifice of more than 80,000 men.
Children were said to be frequent victims, in part because they were considered pure and unspoiled. The early Mexican historian Ixtlilxochitl estimated that one out of every five children in Mexico were sacrificed.

After her appearance at Guadalupe in 1531 in Mexico 6 million Mexicans converted to Christianity and the killings by the Aztecs in the form of thousands of human sacrifices in the pagan empires of Mexico ended, as well as the corrupted civilizations that spawned them.



In Russia, after she foretold of the rise of Communism, the Godless Soviet empire and their extermination of 60 million of their own people through state induced murder was also brought to an end though her warnings were largely ignored and the hardship and suffering continued long after it could have been stopped.

Her prophecies of the 19th century foretelling the rise of Germany engulfing Europe in flames under Hitler's Swastika came true just as she foretold that Portugal would be protected from harm during the Spanish Civil War and World War II and the rise of Nazism and Communism if they prayed the rosary. They did and the small nation of Portugal survived intact.



I think a prayer vigil to the Holy Mother Mary for the protection of the people, animals, birds, fishes and environment threatened by the Gulf oil crisis might just be heard in the heavens because she told us to pray, and how to pray, if we want to reach out to God and be heard.

Tell everyone you can to pray the rosary once a day for this worthy cause and see if it makes a difference. It will bring people together in a way politicians and bankers never could. Let the engineers and scientists do their work and pray they be guided by Mother Earth in healing the land.



We have all been given gifts beyond the imagination of most people of the world. Perhaps it is time we take stock of what we have and thank God for allowing us to share in his gifts and miracles, and to help us protect those gifts and miracles.

Food, shelter, clothing, education and medical care are available to us in ways no other people of the world will ever have these things. Yet we still want more. We have been given the miracle of life and then had all these wonderful things made available to us.



Add to that the freedoms unique to America, the one nation under God, and you start to realize just how fortunate we really are. Is it asking too much for a rosary a day to be said of thanks to God and the Holy Mother Mary for watching over us?



With the potential for a very serious Gulf catastrophe in the making it is even more reason to pray for the intervention of God to help save the people, the environment, the economy and the earth that could be damaged or destroyed by this crisis.

Maybe, just maybe, if we welcome God and the Holy Mother back into our hearts our prayers will be answered and some kind of miraculous work will bring the crisis to an end.



If you are not above praying for others here is a short explanation of how to say the rosary as the Holy Mother Mary has requested.

1. Make the Sign of the Cross and say the Apostles Creed.
2. Say the Our Father.
3. Say three Hail Marys.
4. Say the Glory be to the Father.
5. Say the Our Father.
6. Say ten Hail Marys.
7. Say the Glory be to the Father.
8. Repeat 5-7 four more times.

These are the prayers that make up the rosary in English, Spanish and French.

ENGLISH

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

SPANISH

Sign of the Cross

En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo. Amen.

Apostles Creed

Creo en Dios, Padre todopoderoso, creador del Cielo y de la Tierra. Creo en Jesucristo su único Hijo, Nuestro Señor, que fue concebido por obra y gracia del Espíritu Santo; nació de Santa María Virgen; padeció bajo el poder de Poncio Pilato; fue crucificado, muerto y sepultado; descendió a los infiernos; al tercer día resucitó de entre los muertos; subió a los cielos y está a la diestra de Dios Padre; desde allí ha de venir a juzgar a los vivos y a los muertos. Creo en el Espíritu Santo, en la Santa Iglesia Católica, la comumión de los Santos en el perdon de los pecados la resurrección de los muertos y la vida eterna. Amen.

Our Father

Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo. Santificado sea tu nombre. Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día. Perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en tentación y líbranos del mal. Amen.

Hail Mary

Dios te salve, María. Llena eres de gracia: El Señor es contigo. Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres. Y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre: Jesús. Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amen.

Glory Be

Gloria al Padre, al Hijo y al Espíritu Santo. Como era en el principio, ahora y siempre, por los siglos de los siglos. Amen.

FRENCH

Sign of the Cross

Au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint-Esprit. Amen.

Apostles Creed

Je crois en Dieu, le Père tout-puissant, créateur du ciel et de la terre. Et en Jésus Christ, son Fils unique, notre Seigneur qui a été conçu du Saint-Esprit, est né de la Vierge Marie, a souffert sous Ponce Pilate, a été crucifié, est mort et a été enseveli, est descendu aux enfers, le troisième jour est ressuscité des morts, est monté aux cieux, est assis à la droite de Dieu le Père tout-puissant d'où Il viendra juger les vivants et les morts. Je crois en l'Esprit-Saint, á la sainte Eglise catholique, à la communion des saints, à la rémission des péchés, à la résurrection de la chair, à la vie éternelle. Amen.

Our Father

Notre Père qui es aux cieux, que ton Nom soit sanctifié, que ton règne vienne, que ta volonté sit soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-nous aujourd'hui notre pain quotidien. Pardonne-nous nos offenses comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés. Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation, mais délivre-nous du mal. Amen.

Hail Mary

Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâces, le Seigneur est avec vous; vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes, et Jésus le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous pécheurs, maintenant, et à l'heure de notre mort. Amen.

Glory Be

Gloire au Pére, au Fils et au Saint-Esprit. Comme Il état au commencement, maintenant et toujours pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.

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The Oil Crisis in the Gulf - For Once Can't the White House Stop Acting Like the Junkyard Bully?

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Last night White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told the press that the White House would "keep the boot on BP's neck," in yet another shallow and disparaging remark to corporate America. He was echoing the earlier reference by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar when in two separate Sunday TV appearances he used the imagery of a Wild West bar fight to describe how the administration was dealing with the company.



"Our job is basically to keep the boot on the neck of British Petroleum," Salazar said, who often sports a Stetson and who four months ago stirred the ire of the oil business by saying unlike his predecessors in the George W. Bush administration, oil companies would no longer be treated like "kings of the world."



Of course this is the same Ken Salazar who, when he was a senator, had to apologize after calling Christian conservative leader James Dobson "the antichrist of the world." Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made clear yesterday that the step-on-the-neck image had the White House seal of approval.



The White House thugs keep trying to distance themselves from big business and Wall Street as they secretly continue shaking down the corporate PACs and executives for campaign contributions to try and save the Democrats who supported their legislative program, a program in sharp contrast to the will of the people of America.



The Chairman of BP previously stated the company was going to pay for the cost of the clean up. BP is also the only oil company on television promoting energy independence through a combination of alternative and conventional energy techniques, the only logical way for America to break our dependence on foreign oil.

So what is to be gained by the strident language and threats from the bully boys? No matter how tough the White House gang tries to be, they were the darling of Wall Street, pharmaceutical companies, big banks the housing and health companies and even Goldman Sachs. Calling corporate America on the carpet while stuffing their pockets with campaign contributions from them is demeaning.



If they were really sincere in beating up corporate America they would give back the hundreds of millions of corporate dollars they spent and the tens of millions they are raising this election cycle to keep the Democrats from becoming an endangered species in Congress. Fat chance the White House will give back to the fat cats the even fatter campaign bankrolls they collected from them.

Goldman was of course Obama's largest contributor. Obama was also the recipient of the most BP money getting three times as much as McKean. But then Obama was recipient of the most money from the most corporations of any Democrat in history so what do you expect?

So back off on the hypocritical criticism of corporate America White House people. Your campaign bank accounts were filled with money from those bad guys. We know how toothless your criticism of the big boys has been based on what you did to the crooks in housing, on Wall Street and in health care. Making idle threats while doing nothing behind the scenes is a bit ludicrous in this age of transparency.



Right now BP is trying to do the right thing. Stop slamming them for it. If they successfully cap the oil leaks it will be a historic technological event as never before have leaks 5,000 feet underwater that are covered with over 32,000 tons of debris been capped.

BP was pioneering deep water drilling and production four times deeper than ever done in history. If they can successfully stop the leak and isolate the cause of the engineering failure, most likely resulting from pressure 1000 times stronger than surface pressure, then they will make a giant leap forward in our desire for energy independence. Our energy freedom lies on the ocean bottom, not in alternative or conventional energy techniques.



You want to bully, go to New Jersey where they will put you in your place. Long ago Jersey people learned the difference between working up a steam and operating in a fog, where you seem to be lost. As our White House reps, you owe all Americans a little respect and common decency. Even big oil companies like BP can be doing good by pioneering deep water drilling and production.



We should use this critical time to encourage their engineering to resolve this potentially dangerous problem, to acknowledge their efforts to successfully drill at 35,000 feet which would move America a giant step forward technologically toward energy independence, and to thank them for taking responsibility for the accident.

Come to think of it, maybe the White House should try taking responsibility for something sometime. They can't go through all four years blaming everyone else for their trouble and making excuses for their mistakes. The people of America know we are all in this together. If we are going to overcome this potential disaster and save the coastal areas it will take the efforts of everyone, including BP, to get the job done right.

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The BP Gulf Offshore Drilling Disaster - What Aren't They Telling Us?

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What are the real environmental and ecological consequences?

Why is there so little known about the situation in the gulf with the BP drilling platform owned by the Transocean drilling company that is called the Deepwater Horizon rig? Because just six months ago it shattered the world record for deep water drilling when it drilled through 5,000 feet of water and 35,000 feet of ocean floor to reach a depth of 40,000 feet, or 12,192 meters deep. At the time it was the equivalent of Apollo reaching the moon in terms of scientific achievement as the deepest well before reached just 9,596 feet or 2,925 meters, in 2008. And that well, by Shell's Perdido rig, which was as tall as the Eiffel Tower reaching downward, was almost 25% deeper than the previous record.



Deep water drilling began in earnest in 2005 when the Kerr McGee Constitution rig first reached 4,921 feet or 1,500 meters. In 2007 the BP rig Atlantis reached 7,053 feet or 2,150 meters, a new record, until Shell reached 9,596 feet or 2,925 meters with Perdido in 2008. By September, 2009 BP shattered the record again with Deepwater Horizon reaching the 40,000 foot level, 12,192 meters.

Drilling a hole that deep does not mean producing oil, however. The first deep water well was drilled by BP in 1999 and called Thunder Horse but took ten years to resolve the new engineering problems the great depths brought about before it could produce oil in 2009. When Deepwater Horizon shattered the previous records just 7 months ago it achieved a depth four and one half times deeper than anything previously recorded.



What does it mean to be first? In terms of deep water drilling the biggest concern is whether the materials used underground can withstand the tremendous change in earth pressure at the new depths. Consider this, at 10,000 meters, less than the depth of Deepwater Horizon, the pressure is 1,000 times greater than sea level. Pressure analysis is an imperfect science at best as the different rock and salt layers below the water impact on pressure differently.

Until a well is drilled the real pressure cannot be known and massive computers monitor the pressure changes while the well is being drilled. Each time a record was set the firms made known that there was a tremendous engineering challenge to make certain the materials being used at those depths could withstand the pressure.



Once drilled the real work begins in testing and determining if the oil producing equipment from the pipelines to the safety valves will work at the increased pressure loads. Not clear in press reports is the fact the Deepwater Horizon platform was not even producing oil when it exploded as equipment was just being installed for the production task.

The Shell Perdido platform, that completed drilling in 2008, did not commence producing oil until one month ago, March 31, 2010. Two years between drilling and production was a new deep water record. The BP rig that exploded completed drilling just seven months ago. What had to be taking place was the installation and testing of the production equipment, by unmanned submersible vessels, far below the surface.

Could the massive new pressure requirements on the production equipment have been the failure that caused the well to explode and destroy the massive rig up on the surface? Most likely. The problem is further compounded by the fact the drilling platform then sank and collapsed on the wellhead more than 5,000 feet below the surface. That means the unmanned subs must somehow work through more than 32 thousand tons of debris to reach the wellhead. Simply stated, it has never been done and seems unlikely the current submersibles could achieve such a task.



If they fail to stop the flow of crude oil an alternate well must be dug which could take 7-9 months or longer. The worst blowout of an offshore rig was in 1979 in Mexico and it took 9 months to seal the well, with over 3,500,000 barrels of oil discharged.

Ironically, offshore drilling has been quite safe. There are over 8,300 offshore rigs in use around the world with nearly 2,500 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Offshore drilling has been underway since 1947. Other than the Mexican blowout in 1979 and the loss of 3.5 million barrels, no other accident resulted in more than 202,381 barrels lost. It is a dangerous business but the environmental damage has been minimum.

Short of an engineering miracle like dropping a concrete cap over the wreckage and hoping to seal off the multiple leaks, millions of barrels of oil could be lost and the environmental impact could be devastating to the economy and ecosystem of the gulf states. No doubt a stronger government policy toward deep water drilling is needed, especially when wells reach record depths. But in the business of science there is no better way of learning than through experience. Often times it is the only way.

Once I was involved in an environmental disaster in which no prior scientific data existed to evaluate the consequences. Before this event nothing had ever been experienced to establish a benchmark or method to calculate the potential damages. The event was called Three Mile Island, the worst and only nuclear plant disaster in America.



The loss of cooling water allowed the rods powering the reactor to become exposed and brought about a condition never experienced in public records in the world. Did the reactor core meltdown? Did it sink through the containment walls and would it send out a burst of radioactive gas? Would it continue melting down until it reached the core of the earth? What type of damage could such an unknown catastrophe cause?

It didn't help that just 12 days before the TMI disaster Hollywood released the haunting film China Syndrome about just such a nuclear meltdown taking place. The public was on edge when TMI suddenly made Hollywood fiction into reality. That was in 1979. By 1982 I was chief of staff of the New Jersey Department of Energy and TMI was owned by a Jersey firm. The aftermath and clean up of TMI, which took from 1979 until 1993, was partly the responsibility of our Department.

When I arrived in 1982 the reactor core had remained sealed since the accident. No one knew what happened inside the reactor core. It was not until 1985 that the first camera was dropped into the core and the partial meltdown became obvious based on the incredible damage to the reactor rods from the super-heating. Thank God the containment held. A billion dollars and 14 years later TMI 2 was sealed, there was still radiation contamination of the concrete, but it was no longer a threat to the public. It was sealed until both reactors could be decommissioned which is expected in 2034.

The BP accident in the Gulf has many similarities as it was also a new technology being used where it had never been used before under conditions that had never been experienced. We can only hope they do not suffer similar problems overcoming the disaster. In the meantime, it would be nice if our government would come clean on the problems and potential for long term economic and environmental consequences
as honesty in regulatory affairs has been absent from the government for quite some time.

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News Media Dine with Politicians and PIGS - Too Busy to Cover Car Bomb in NYC

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Saturday night was the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in our nation's capitol where the media rub shoulders with the news makers be they politicians, entertainers or pigs. Now you may ask how pigs get invited to an affair in which President Obama and Jay Leno are featured speakers but in truth, pigs control Washington.



Did I mention that a "pig" in political campaign terms refers to "public interest group" or "private interest group" which just about covers all the special interest groups that rule Washington? It also reflects a little of the distain for such special interest groups on the part of the campaigns who have to go begging to them for money all the time to fuel the campaigns.

At any rate, as I pondered on this self adulation on the part of the media which is what the event is all about I wondered if this event really could be a funeral wake of sorts for the mainstream media in America. If you follow the polls and the news, what little news there still is, you may have noticed the viewership for network news continues to fall off the cliff. At the same time the subscriptions for newspapers also is on a freefall.

Ironically and to the complete dismay of the cable news community all those people fleeing networks are not switching to cable news. Nor are they switching to newspapers from TV news. No, both the papers and television stations are going broke bringing us the news because the public figured out long ago that TV network and newspaper news outlets are nothing more than propaganda machines for the media companies that own them.



Those companies are addicted to advertising revenue and the competition for ad dollars has brought an end to any hope for fair and objective news in America. In fact, the prestige of news reporting in America has hit such a low that people no longer consider them the most reliable source of news as the most recent trend has shown independent news blogs to be considered more credible a news source for America than all forms of mainstream media.

The only thing that has prolonged the death of the mainstream news media has been the embracing of the entertainment industry by the news media, as celebrity gossip dominates news broadcasts. Thus you see the politicians, never one to not figure out how to best seduce the news media, surrounding themselves with celebrity figures in order to get more news coverage.



That silly trend makes the politicians feel good and makes the media feel like stars, I mean wouldn't you like to be on a first name basis with a George Clooney of the entertainment world? Unfortunately for us the politicians don't seem to get any smarter hanging out with entertainers or corporate gurus like Warren Buffett, they still cast votes that often defy logic and reason.

As for the death of the traditional media, let me give you an example that surprised even me though I have been watching the disintegration of the media for decades. It happened while the media were at the party in Washington. Apparently nearly all the national media from Washington to New York were at the party.



About the time the media stars were half lit and the party was in high gear a car bomb was being discovered in New York City in Times Square. Had the car bomb detonated many hundreds of tourists and Broadway patrons might have died in one of the worst terrorist acts since 9-11. Fortunately, a street vendor and a cop on horseback discovered it when smoke just started to fill the car and the NYC bomb squad was called in and dismantled it before a serious disaster occurred.



I spent all night checking the television for the latest reports on the attempted bombing and perhaps because all the media were partying in Washington, and partly because the media started running pre-recorded programs all night on Friday through Sunday nights, most major television news networks had no mention of the car bombing until 7 am Sunday morning, nearly 10 hours after the car was discovered.

What might have been one of the worst terrorist bombing attacks in years and no press was available to cover it, they were all bombed themselves in our nation's capitol. Now neither 24-7 cable news nor network broadcasters were staffed to cover the story in about the saddest performance by the news media in our history.



When they did wake up or sober up and go on the air they didn't have the staff to even get updated stories but spent much of Sunday re-running interviews from the night before. Of course the recycled news appeared on screen as "breaking news" developments but there was nothing breaking about events the night before.

Imagine that, all the news people in America and no one was available for what might have been the story of the decade. Nothing sums up the sorry state of media anymore than the truth. Is there really any wonder why people no longer turn to the news media for news?

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Kentucky Demolition Derby Set - Favorites Bookend the Field at Post

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It has been quite a build up to the Derby and finally this weekend it will push politics off the minds of America, at least for the fastest two minutes in sports. Millions will be glued to the television as yet another group of 3 year olds will try and lay claim to being the best horse in the world and to have a chance to become the first triple crown winner in 32 years.

It was in 1978 that Affirmed beat out Alydar by 1 1/2 lengths, a neck and a nose in the three races, the closest triple crown in history and only time the same horses finished 1-2 in all three races. That same decade Seattle Slew won in 1977 and the legendary Secretariat in 1973. There have only been 11 triple crown winners in 110 years. 21 times a horse won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to lose the Belmont.

This year the two early favorites drew the outside post positions with Lookin at Lucky #1 and Sidney's Candy #20, a most unusual draw and difficult locations to win the race as the Derby has more horses than any other graded stakes race with 20 starters. It is why only 2 favorites the last 10 years have won.

Current Favorites

Based on the odds the current favorites are 1. Lookin at Lucky, 2. Super Saver, 3. Devil May Care and Ice Box, 4. Awesome Act, 5. Sidney's Candy and Stately Victory, and 6. Dean's Kitten and Paddy O'Prado. One horse, Awesome Act is British. When horses are rated for running in the mud, and none has much experience, Awesome Act is favored followed by Ice Box, Super Saver and Lookin at Lucky.

One filly will be challenging the big boys this year, Devil May Care, in an attempt to become the fourth filly in 136 years to win with the last being 22 years ago.



Weather - the great equalizer

Flooding rain, violent thunderstorms and a tornado outbreak are among the concerns AccuWeather.com meteorologists have this weekend for the Ohio and lower Mississippi valleys, including Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Saturday.



Flooding

This could potentially be the wettest Kentucky Derby ever. According to the National Weather Service, the wettest Derby was in 1918, when 2.31 inches of rain fell. The track has been muddy all week from the 1 to 2 inches of rain that fell last weekend.

AccuWeather.com meteorologists are concerned that a repeating thunderstorm pattern from Friday night through Saturday evening could yield 3 to 6 inches of rain, flooded grounds, and the track at Churchill Downs being more like a swamp. While the Derby has never been postponed, drenching, saturating rain is not the only concern for thoroughbred horse racing fans, officials, jockeys, and owners.



Lightning

Clapping, booming thunder could have some of the horses on edge. Throughout Saturday, thunderstorms over the Ohio Valley will also bring the risk of lightning strikes. Louisville, Ky. is in the heart of the Ohio Valley, and the region lies in the middle of AccuWeather.com's area of concern for violent weather this weekend. A crowd in the neighborhood of 150,000 is typically in attendance at U.S. horse racing's most famous event.

Severe Weather

Thunderstorms with potential for damaging winds, hail and even a tornado could affect the Louisville area Friday night into Sunday. The first round of thunderstorms is forecast to move eastward into the Mississippi and Ohio valleys during the first part of the weekend. However, the forward progress of the storms will slow and then stall nearby Saturday, opening the door for multiple episodes of violent thunderstorms. Thunderstorms produced large hail and spun off tornadoes over the central Plains Thursday night. The same concerns exist, along with an increasing flooding threat, from Wisconsin to Texas this evening.

Mudder's Day

The most likely situation for the Derby on Saturday appears to be that of a frog strangler with rain being the great equalizer, or in the case of the atmosphere, the stabilizer. Clouds and cooling rain would prevent the strong updrafts and downdrafts necessary for rotating thunderstorms and tornadoes. However, if the sun were to burst through, much to the delight of spectators, it could yield one of those more violent thunderstorms around the time of the race.



Current Odds

Here is the final line up for the Derby. Odds will change right up to the race but the most current odds are as follows. Note the Morning Line are the first odds posted by handicappers and the difference between the Morning Line and Current odds show you where the money is being bet.

Post -- Name -- Morning Line / Current Odds
1 Lookin at Lucky 3-1 / 5-1
2 Ice Box 10-1 / 11-1
3 Noble's Promise 12-1 / 24-1
4 Super Saver 15-1 / 8-1
5 Line of David 30-1 / 20-1
6 Stately Victor 30-1 / 13-1
7 American Lion 30-1 / 25-1
8 Dean's Kitten 50-1 / 14-1
9 Make Music for Me 50-1 / 28-1
10 Paddy O'Prado 20-1 / 14-1
11 Devil May Care 10-1 / 11-1
12 Conveyance 12-1 / 18-1
13 Jackson Bend 15-1 / 26-1
14 Mission Impazible 20-1 / 26-1
15 Discreetly Mine 30-1 / 38-1
16 Awesome Act 10-1 / 12-1
17 Dublin 12-1 / 25-1
18 Backtalk 50-1 / 23-1
19 Homeboykris 50-1 / 29-1
20 Sidney's Candy 5-1 / 13-1



Betting the Derby

If you bet on a horse race few people know what the odds pay. There is always a slight adjustment for the size of the betting pools but generally these are the approximate payoffs. Since long shots have a great chance in the race I thought you might enjoy seeing this chart.

Pay-offs for $2 win bets:

1-5 = 2.40
2-5 = 2.80
1-2 = 3.00
3-5 = 3.20
4-5 = 3.60
1-1 = 4.00
6-5 = 4.40
7-5 = 4.80
3-2 = 5.00
8-5 = 5.20
9-5 = 5.60
2-1 = 6.00
5-2 = 7.00
3-1 = 8.00
7-2 = 9.00
4-1 = 10.00
9-2 = 11.00
5-1 = 12.00
6-1 = 14.00
7-1 = 16.00
8-1 = 18.00
9-1 = 20.00
10-1 = 22.00
15-1 = 32.00
20-1 = 42.00
30-1 = 62.00
50-1 = 102.00

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Earthquakes - Nature's Fury or Mankind's Folly?

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The Military's Pandora's Box - The HAARP Secret Weapon

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is a project of the United States Navy and Air Force with the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, which built a prototype for a ground based "Star Wars" weapon system located in the remote bush country of Alaska.

It is the HAARP system a super-powerful radiowave-beaming technology that lifts areas of the ionosphere by focusing a beam and heating those areas. Electromagnetic waves then bounce back onto earth and penetrate everything -- living and dead.

It's uses range from those claimed to be academic to far more dangerous secret military purposes including weather control that can cause earthquakes to electro-magnetic interference to shut down electrical grids, and it can alter the earth's atmosphere in a far more destructive way than anything carbon based. It is also the HAARP system that could cause the electrical interference that could disrupt the computer systems that operate cars (Toyota) and have many other devastating effects.



This is not science fiction as there are four HAARP systems currently in operation around the world but none with the capacity of the US facility in Alaska. The HAARP technology evolved from the work of the greatest inventor, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer in the world, Nikola Tesla, whose work on electromagnetism and electromechanical engineering was pioneering along with his contributions to the establishment of robotics, remote control, radar, computer science, ballistics, nuclear physics and theoretical physics.



The following excerpts are reprinted from an article prepared to provide a summary of the contents of a book written in 1995, Angels Don't Play This Harp - Advances in Tesla Technology, by Dr. Nick Begich and Jeane Manning, that describes an entirely new class of weapons.


HAARP Boils the Upper Atmosphere

HAARP will zap the upper atmosphere with a focused and steerable electromagnetic beam. It is an advanced model of an "ionospheric heater." (The ionosphere is the electrically-charged sphere surrounding Earth's upper atmosphere. It ranges between 40 to 60 miles above the surface of the Earth.)

HAARP publicity gives the impression that the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program is mainly an academic project with the goal of changing the ionosphere to improve communications for our own good. However, other U.S. military documents put it more clearly -- HAARP aims to learn how to "exploit the ionosphere for Department of Defense purposes." Communicating with submarines is only one of those purposes.

Press releases and other information from the military on HAARP continually downplay what it could do. Publicity documents insist that the HAARP project is no different than other ionospheric heaters operating safely throughout the world in places such as Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Tromso, Norway, and the former Soviet Union. However, a 1990government document indicates that the radio-frequency (RF) power zap will drive the ionosphere to unnatural activities.

Looking at the other patents which built on the work of a Texas' physicist named Bernard Eastlund, it becomes clearer how the military intends to use the HAARP transmitter. It also makes governmental denials less believable. The military knows how it intends to use this technology, and has made it clear in their documents. The military has deliberately misled the public, through sophisticated word games, deceit and outright disinformation.



The military says the HAARP system could:

Give the military a tool to replace the electromagnetic pulse effect of atmospheric thermonuclear devices (still considered a viable option by the military through at least 1986)

Replace the huge Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) submarine communication system operating in Michigan and Wisconsin with a new and more compact technology

Be used to replace the over-the-horizon radar system that was once planned for the current location of HAARP, with a more flexible and accurate system

Provide a way to wipe out communications over an extremely large area, while keeping the military's own communications systems working

Provide a wide area earth-penetrating tomography which, if combined with the computing abilities of EMASS and Cray computers, would make it possible to verify many parts of nuclear nonproliferation and peace agreements

Be a tool for geophysical probing to find oil, gas and mineral deposits over a large area

Be used to detect incoming low-level planes and cruise missiles, making other technologies obsolete



The above abilities seem like a good idea to all who believe in sound national defense, and to those concerned about cost-cutting. However, the possible uses which the HAARP records do not explain, and which can only be found in Air Force, Army, Navy and other federal agency records, are alarming. Moreover, effects from the reckless use of these power levels in our natural shield -- the ionosphere -- could be cataclysmic according to some scientists.



HAARP History

The patents described below were the package of ideas which were originally controlled by ARCO Power Technologies Incorporated (APTI), a subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Company, one of the biggest oil companies in the world. APTI was the contractor that built the HAARP facility. ARCO sold this subsidiary, the patents and the second phase construction contract to E-Systems in June 1994.

E-Systems is one of the biggest intelligence contractors in the world -- doing work for the CIA, defense intelligence organizations and others. $1.8 billion of their annual sales are to these organizations, with $800 million for black projects -- projects so secret that even the United States Congress isn't told how the money is being spent.

E-Systems was bought out by Raytheon, which is one of the largest defense contractors in the world. In 1994 Raytheon was listed as number forty-two on the Fortune 500 list of companies. Raytheon has thousands of patents, some of which will be valuable in the HAARP project. The twelve patents below are the backbone of the HAARP project, and are now buried among the thousands of others held in the name of Raytheon. Bernard J. Eastlund's U.S. Patent # 4,686,605, "Method and Apparatus for Altering a Region in the Earth's Atmosphere, Ionosphere; and/or Magnetosphere," was sealed for a year under a government Secrecy Order.



The Eastlund ionospheric heater was different; the radio frequency (RF) radiation was concentrated and focused to a point in the ionosphere. This difference throws an unprecedented amount of energy into the ionosphere. The Eastlund device would allow a concentration of one watt per cubic centimeter, compared to others only able to deliver about one millionth of one watt.

This huge difference could lift and change the ionosphere in the ways necessary to create futuristic effects described in the patent. According to the patent, the work of Nikola Tesla in the early 1900's formed the basis of the research.

For a time, HAARP researchers could not prove that this was one of the intended uses for HAARP. In April, 1995, however, Begich found other patents, connected with a "key personnel" list for APTI. Some of these new APTI patents were indeed a wireless system for sending electrical power. Eastlund's patent said the technology can confuse or completely disrupt airplanes' and missiles' sophisticated guidance systems. Further, this ability to spray large areas of Earth with electromagnetic waves of varying frequencies, and to control changes in those waves, makes it possible to knock out communications on land or sea as well as in the air.



The patent said:

"Thus, this invention provides the ability to put unprecedented amounts of power in the Earth's atmosphere at strategic locations and to maintain the power injection level particularly if random pulsing is employed, in a manner far more precise and better controlled than heretofore accomplished by the prior art, particularly by detonation of nuclear devices of various yields at various altitudes... "

"...it is possible not only to interfere with third party communications but to take advantage of one or more such beams to carry out a communications network even though the rest of the world's communications are disrupted. Put another way, what is used to disrupt another's communications can be employed by one knowledgeable of this invention as a communication network at the same time."

"... large regions of the atmosphere could be lifted to an unexpectedly high altitude so that missiles encounter unexpected and unplanned drag forces with resultant destruction."



"Weather modification is possible by, for example, altering upper atmosphere wind patterns by constructing one or more plumes of atmospheric particles which will act as a lens or focusing device.

... molecular modifications of the atmosphere can take place so that positive environmental effects can be achieved. Besides actually changing the molecular composition of an atmospheric region, a particular molecule or molecules can be chosen for increased presence. For example, ozone, nitrogen, etc., concentrations in the atmosphere could be artificially increased."

Begich found eleven other APTI Patents. They told how to make "Nuclear-sized Explosions without Radiation," Power-beaming systems, over-the-horizon radar, detection systems for missiles carrying nuclear warheads, electromagnetic pulses previously produced by thermonuclear weapons and other Star-Wars tricks. This cluster of patents underlay the HAARP weapon system.

Related research by Begich and Manning uncovered bizarre schemes. For example, Air Force documents revealed that a system had been developed for manipulating and disturbing human mental processes through pulsed radio-frequency radiation (the stuff of HAARP) over large geographical areas. The most telling material about this technology came from writings of Zbigniew Brzezinski (former National Security Advisory to U.S. President Carter) and J.F. MacDonald (science advisor to U.S. President Johnson and a professor of Geophysics at UCLA), as they wrote about use of power-beaming transmitters for geophysical and environmental warfare. The documents showed how these effects might be caused, and the negative effects on human heath and thinking.

The mental-disruption possibilities for HAARP are the most disturbing. More than 40 pages of the book, with dozens of footnotes, chronicle the work of Harvard professors, military planners and scientists as they plan and test this use of the electromagnetic technology. For example, one of the papers describing this use was from the International Red Cross in Geneva. It even gave the frequency ranges where these effects could occur -- the same ranges which HAARP is capable of broadcasting.



The following statement was made more than twenty-five years ago in a book by Brzezinski which he wrote while a professor at Columbia University:

"Political strategists are tempted to exploit research on the brain and human behavior. Geophysicist Gordon J.F. MacDonald, a specialist in problems of warfare, says accurately-timed, artificially-excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth ... in this way one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations in selected regions over an extended period"

" ... no matter how deeply disturbing the thought of using the environment to manipulate behavior for national advantages, to some, the technology permitting such use will very probably develop within the next few decades."



In another document prepared by the government, the U.S. Air Force claims: "The potential applications of artificial electromagnetic fields are wide-ranging and can be used in many military or quasi-military situations... Some of these potential uses include dealing with terrorist groups, crowd control, controlling breaches of security at military installations, and antipersonnel techniques in tactical warfare. In all of these cases the EM (electromagnetic) systems would be used to produce mild to severe physiological disruption or perceptual distortion or disorientation. In addition, the ability of individuals to function could be degraded to such a point that they would be combat ineffective. Another advantage of electromagnetic systems is that they can provide coverage over large areas with a single system. They are silent and countermeasures to them may be difficult to develop... One last area where electromagnetic radiation may prove of some value is in enhancing abilities of individuals for anomalous phenomena."

Do these comments point to uses already somewhat developed? The author of the government report refers to an earlier Air Force document about the uses of radio frequency radiation in combat situations. (Here Begich and Manning note that HAARP is the most versatile and the largest radio-frequency-radiation transmitter in the world.)

The United States Congressional record deals with the use of HAARP for penetrating the earth with signals bounced off of the ionosphere. These signals are used to look inside the planet to a depth of many kilometers in order to locate underground munitions, minerals and tunnels. The U.S. Senate set aside $15 million dollars in 1996 to develop this ability alone -- earth-penetrating-tomography. The problem is that the frequency needed for earth-penetrating radiation is within the frequency range most cited for disruption of human mental functions. It may also have profound effects on migration patterns of fish and wild animals which rely on an undisturbed energy field to find their routes.

As if electromagnetic pulses in the sky and mental disruption were not enough, T. Eastlund bragged that the super-powerful ionospheric heater could control weather.



Weather Control

Avalanches of energy dislodged by such radio waves could hit us hard. Their work suggests that technicians could control global weather by sending relatively small 'signals' into the Van Allen belts (radiation belts around Earth). Thus Tesla's resonance effects can control enormous energies by tiny triggering signals.

The Begich/ Manning book asks whether that knowledge will be used by war-oriented or biosphere-oriented scientists.

The military has had about twenty years to work on weather warfare methods, which it euphemistically calls weather modification. For example, rainmaking technology was taken for a few test rides in Vietnam. The U.S. Department of Defense sampled lightning and hurricane manipulation studies in Project Skyfire and Project Stormfury. And they looked at some complicated technologies that would give big effects. Angels Don't Play This HAARP cites an expert who says the military studied both lasers and chemicals which they figured could damage the ozone layer over an enemy.

Looking at ways to cause earthquakes, as well as to detect them, was part of the project named Prime Argus, decades ago. The money for that came from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, now under the acronym ARPA.) In 1994 the Air Force revealed its Spacecast 2020 master plan which includes weather control. Scientists have experimented with weather control since the 1940's.

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