Swimming with Carnivores: Australian Men Eaten By Crocodiles

20 Foot Charlie

Why would anyone jump into a Crocodile infested river? To get to other side, naturally! Unfortunately that’s if you can get to the other side anyways. In Australia, it would seem that people living there would be wise enough not to swim in the rivers and lakes there. After all, that country is renowned for their over sized Salt Water Crocks, thanks to 20 Steve Erwin. But, this author can only guess that being an Australian and being aware of the dangers of swimming in a Crock filled river at night, don’t always go hand in hand.

A 20 year old man, drunk from drinking with his brother-in-law, decided to tempt fate and launch himself into the dark waters of the Daly River, 200 miles south of the Northern Territory capital of Darwin with his brother-in-law. Instead of heading to a bridge to reach the other side of the river, where they had camped with relatives, they decided to swim across to the far bank. He and his Brother-in-law both made the swim, but for some reason he ended up behind a little as his wife watched from a short distance near by.

According to the report, they heard a few loud screams and heavy splashing. His wife claims she witnessed her husband get dragged down under the water and then pulled out into the dark waters beyond her sight.

Locals had said a large crocodile had been seen in the area in previous days and no-one had dared venture into the water, but after a night of drinking, said a police officer, it appeared that the two men had thrown caution to the wind and had decided to take a ’short cut’ back to the camping ground by swimming across the river. Even though there were several signs that warned of the animals in the waters.

“‘While we cannot confirm with absolute certainty that the man has been killed by a crocodile, everyone needs to consider the likelihood that the one time you have trouble swimming is the same time that a crocodile is seen next to you.” Said a Police Officer investigator after the incident.

Police have established a half-mile exclusion zone in the area to make sure that no-one else is attacked while the hunt for crocodiles continues. They are looking for a 14 foot monster, but they fear that the victim’s body may never be found. The animal itself is quite capable of ingesting the man whole and digesting him, which could take several weeks before the Animal releases his body as excrement.

The suspected crocodile attack was the third death by one of the reptiles in northern Australia in recent months, the two earlier incidents involving children.

The Northern Territory is concerned about the rising number of crocodile attacks occurring in or near urban areas, is considering a plan to either destroy or move any of the reptiles found within 20 miles of Darwin.

In another incident involving a man and meat-eating reptile, a well-known British pensioner named Arthur Booker, 63, was believed to be checking a crab trap on the shores on the Endeavour River near Cooktown in north Queensland.When a 20+ foot crocodile named Charlie is suspected of grabbing the man by his arm and dragging him down under. Charlie has been caught once before and tagged for conservation reasons, and suspected of being the only Crock large enough in the area to drag of Mr.Booker without much sound or warning.

His wife who went looking for her missing husband found a crab pot rope snapped on the bank, along with large crocodile slide marks and the couples’ new video recorder. Mr Booker’s watch was found at the scene, along with one sandal.

The news came as the father of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin begged authorities not to kill the crocodile responsible. Conservationist Bob Irwin said the crocodile had just been doing what it had to do to survive in the wild.

“The crocodile was simply hunting for food. It’s what they obviously have to do in the wild to survive. Because of his reported size, it’s likely that this area of the river would have been his home for at least fifty years.” Said Mr.Irwin

“There are signs all over the area warning locals and tourists that the area is home to saltwater crocodiles,” he said.

“I feel tremendously sorry for the man’s family, and my deepest sympathy goes out to them.

“It is very, very sad for the family. But you really can’t blame the crocodile.”

This Author would have to agree. After all….these are Crocodiles, and we are just slabs of meat to them, unfortunately that just means, we can’t really blame them for eating people, now can we?

First Sgt. Benjamin Kaufman - Medal of Honor recipient -

NOTE: This essay is one of a continuing series, authored by Army Sustainment Command noncommissioned officers, marking the Year of the NCO.) This is the story I had heard from my dad, though I'm sure it had been exaggerated over the years, just good to know he wasn't pulling my leg!

Born on March 10, 1894, Benjamin Kaufman would become one of America's most honored World War I veterans because of his bravery in the Argonne Forest, France, in October 1918. He was an unassuming young man growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He never intended to join the Army; he was just a normal college student at Syracuse University when America became a participant in the Great War in 1917.

Early on, Kaufman was assigned to Company K, 308th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. He was sent to France, where he moved to the front lines immediately. In an epic battle to rescue several of his men, Kaufman was blinded by a gas shell. He refused medical help, but was forced to go to the hospital. However, he stole a uniform and made his way back to his unit, only to find himself faced with bigger trouble than before. Kaufman had to face a court martial for leaving the hospital without proper discharge. He fought the charges placed against him and Army officers eventually cleared him of any wrongdoing and allowed Kaufman to rejoin his fellow soldiers.

First Sergeant Kaufman was already a hero among his peers, and within his unit for acts of bravery. While serving in an advance detail in the Argonne Forest, France, Kaufman and his men were once again facing danger. On Oct. 4, 1918, 1st Sgt. Kaufman and his men came under heavy fire from a German machine gun. Two of his men were immediately wounded. Kaufman confronted the task of silencing the machine gun in order to provide proper assistance to his own men. Unfortunately, before he was able to use his weapons, Kaufman was struck in the arm by enemy fire. With his shattered, bleeding right arm hanging limply by his side, he advanced on the enemy gun alone. He showed no hesitation as he lobbed hand grenades with his left arm. Waving an empty pistol, he charged, managing to take a prisoner while the enemy crew scattered. Kaufman barely made it back to the American lines with his prisoner. He managed to report the position of the German lines before fainting from blood loss. His revelation regarding the enemy's position made it possible for the Americans to move forward and attack. Kaufman received awards for bravery from nine foreign governments, including the Medal of Honor awarded by the United States.

Kaufman continued his service to America after the war. He served as a national commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States from 1941 through 1942. His credentials grew during World War II, when he served as the director of the War Manpower Commission (WMC) in New Jersey. The WMC balanced the labor needs of agriculture, industry and the armed forces during the World War. During this time he also served as commander of the New Jersey Council of the Disabled American Veterans of the World War and national vice commander of the National Legion of Valor. From 1945 thru 1959 Kaufman was the executive director of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States.

Kaufman died at the age of 86 at Mercer Medical Center, Trenton, N.J., on Feb. 5, 1981, He was honored once again through the naming of the Ben Kaufman Post 156 of the Jewish War Veterans in Trenton, N.J. The Post is a living memorial to a man who has been described as someone who always wore a smile, even when the going was tough. A Syracuse University student who never considered joining the military had become one of America's most valorous decorated veterans, taking care of fellow servicemen until death.

Nothing Works.....I'm SiCk!!!

I'm sick. I'm running a fever. My throat hurts like crazy. My body feels like Rocky after the fight. I look like rocky after the fight. I'm weak and tired. I haven't slept in 3 nights. I have cold chills and a sweaty forehead! My body smells like Richard Simmons after sweating to the oldies. I'm irritable and I can't talk. My head hurts when I cough. I feel basically like a lump of....well....you know....crap???

So all of my friends have made many suggestions to help me out and I have done every one of them.

I bathed in Ginger Root Bath water. I smelled like a Chinese salad dressing. Mixed slightly with Garlic...because...

I ate several cloves now of Raw Garlic, which BURNED like hell going down. I even ate raw onion till my nose started crying....

I chewed raw Ginger root...which BURNED like hell as well going down.....and made me want to send it back up...but I'm a tough cookie...like that Survivor Man guy who can squeeze water out of elephant poop...So I made hot Ginger tea...which sounded good and was quite pleasurable...but last time I ingested large amounts of Ginger root I tripped like I was on acid!!

I gargled with warm salt water several times....I think if I do anymore I'll start retaining water in my ankles! But I will keep doing it anyways! Kinda wish I lived at the beach...Sea water is better...

I tried sweating it out. I woke up in a puddle of man juice...smelling like a Italian dressing....

I ate so much chicken soup I think Campbells is going to revoke my Noodle membership!!

I tried Raw Cherry Juice...which you would think would taste good...NOPE!!! So I tried Pomegranate and cherry juice with Cranberry....Still....it wasn't pleasant!!! But I have drank about a gallon so far...I believe my urinary tract is squeaky clean now....and my Kidneys are able to breath again...

I've tried chewing on Tobacco...got buzzed pretty good...burned my throat and made me wanna vomit....but I felt funky like I did once behind the racket ball courts in Junior High one morning with some girl I knew named Jenny Sullivan...

I ate popcorn...which is supposed to scrape the walls of your throat and open up the infection....the salt in the popcorn then is supposed to help relieve and destroy the infection...well the movie was great...I now know what it feels to eat sand and swallow sand while your throat feels like sand...

I made a tincture of Oregano and olive oil....Now when I fart I smell like a Italian pizzeria/Chinese restaurant!!

Maybe Sushi is a cure...drop some off...lets see....

Only thing left is.....nawww....forget that!!!

Newsroom Fight on Italian TV

Video-Pentagon Gunman Shot and Killed After Shooting 2 Officers: Plus JPatrickBedell on Wikipedia

A lone gunman opened fire on three Pentagon Officers, wounding two, before being shot and killed. The gun man John Patrick Bedell, 36, died in the hospital after being hit twice, once in the head and again in the shoulder. One officer sustained a thigh wound, and the other a shoulder wound. Both were released from the hospital the next day.

It appears that the gun man was a 9/11 conspiracy believer. A blog connected to Bedell via the social networking site LinkedIn shows his growing distrust of the federal government and hints at a deeply seeded mistrust of the Defense Department emerged in a few Internet postings linked to Bedell. A blog connected to his LinkedIn profile contained a two-part treatise on big government, including its vulnerability to being controlled by a criminal organization. He tries to give credence to the idea that a criminal enterprise is being run out of the government and could have staged the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This was one of several conspiracy/hate-laden Internet postings Bedell made, that attempted to shine light on a 9/11 conspiracy theory. "This organization, like so many murderous governments throughout history, would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens, in an event such as the September 11 attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control,"

Authorities said Bedell, of Hollister, Calif., had previous run-ins with law-enforcement, but found no known connection to terrorist groups or other types of ideologies, chief investigators said. The attack outside the massive Defense Department headquarters appeared to be a case of "a single individual who had issues," Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police, said Friday during a press conference.

Bedell died Thursday night from a single head wound. Officials said the two wounded guards were officers Jeffery Amos and Marvin Carraway, both of whom returned fire. They said a third guard they did not name also fired. Reached by telephone, Amos declined to answer any questions about the shooting but said he was doing fine. "I'm fine and my family is fine," he told The Associated Press. "I just thank the Lord that he shielded me when all of this took place."

Bedell drove across country, including a single known stop at a hotel in Reno, Nevada, law enforcement officials said.

Bedell was described as "very well-educated" and well-dressed, wearing a suit that blended with commuters when he showed up at the Pentagon's subway entrance about 6:40 p.m. But he was concealing two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and "many magazines" of ammunition, Keevill said. "When Bedell seemed to reach into his pocket for worker identification, he was instead reaching for a gun", Keevill said.
"He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting" at point-blank range, Keevill said.
"He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face."

Although the gunfire near the subway exit in Arlington, Va., lasted less than a minute, Keevill said, numerous shots were fired. There was more ammunition found in Bedell's truck, which authorities found in a nearby mall parking garage only a few blocks from the gates of the Pentagon.


"He came here from California," Keevill said. "We were able to identify certain locations that he spent that last several weeks making his way from the West coast to the East coast." Keevill said he did not know what motivated the shooting: "I have no idea what his intentions were."

There is a Wikipedia page linked to Bedell, by a user with the name JPatrickBedell revealed ill feelings toward the government and the armed forces and made reference to another conspiracy theory.
JPatrickBedell wrote that he was "determined to see that justice is served" in the death of Marine Col. James Sabow, who was found dead in the backyard of his California home in 1991. The death was ruled a suicide but the case has long been the source of theories of a cover up. Sabow's family has maintained that he was murdered because he was about to expose covert military operations in Central America involving drug smuggling.

That posting can be linked to Bedell through online court documents matching the shooter's birth date but Keevill said Friday that authorities had not made "a final determination" that the shooter was the same Bedell found online.


On the Internet posting, user JPatrickBedell wrote the Sabow case was "a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions."

There were some warnings though....John Patrick Bedell's parents reportedly warned authorities about him, saying he might have a gun. They also filed a missing person's report on him with the San Benito County Sheriff's Department about two months ago, stating they were concerned about him, citing past mental health problems. He apparently made light of his intentions before departing for his violent clash.

He was also the best circuit design student at San Jose State University, but also a troubled man with a serious drug problem. Now.a conflicting picture of Bedellm has began to emerge as professors, classmates, friends and family reacted to the event. On the one hand he was a quiet but brilliant engineering student who attended colleges off-and-on over the past 18 years, but he smoked and cultivated marijuana, displayed erratic behavior and was involved in a number of scrapes with the law.

Asides from the Engineering part, smoking pot and having run in's with the law describes a large section of the United States 30 something population. 

John Bedell's Wiki Post:

My hope is to use the creativity of markets and advanced technology to transcend the destructive regimes that have fastened themselves upon the world. I have dreamed for an number of years of creating v:production econosystems, which I hope to apply to the creation of v:security service econosystems using new and economic mechanisms and information technology.

I have a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and studied biochemistry at San Jose State University. I've studied electrical engineering with the goal of creating microsystems for molecular analysis.^[1][2][3][4]
You can see a proposal to use aluminum anodization as an adsorption method for DNA molecules on CMOS chips at v:DNA_integrated_circuit/proposal_import_2007 (which originates from an unsuccessful DARPA proposal to create a "microMIRV" interoperable with standard firearms ammunition), and a proposal to use xenon difluoride to create a picoliter-scale computer-controlled device for sorting biomolecules (available at v:Capillary_electrode_array/proposal_import_2007), including DNA and protein molecules.

My goals include the discovery of a protein sequence for the diamondase enzyme, enabling the creation of macroscale diamond structures, and the creation of self-assembled macrosystems with CMOS DNA-integrated circuits. The scale of these and other projects have led me to develop financial instruments representing information as a tool to manage large projects that are very knowledge-intensive.

I am determined to see that justice is served in the death of Colonel James Sabow, as a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions and institutions such as the coup regime of 1963 that maintains itself in power through the global drug trade, financial corruption, and murder, among other crimes. My work to develop information currency is an effort to create a framework for information management that uses financial markets to create the economic signals (prices) that will effect complex human actions in the real world based on specified information.

My desire for justice led me to violate what I think is one of the most unjust laws, cannabis prohibition, by growing 16 cannabis plants on my balcony in Irvine, CA from March 2006 to June 2006. I've posted the Orange County, CA District Attorney's complaint for this offense at http://cannabis.wikia.com/wiki/JPatrickBedell_2006-06-06_cannabis_felony_complaint .

One desired result of my effort is (will be) billions and billions of carefully cultivated, highly valuable cannabis plants growing throughout the United States with complete security of property. I have posted the image to the right in order to illustrate the use of cannabis as a monetary system using digital financial instruments. There are two information currency units in each of the PDF417 codes pictured.

One of the information currency units is drawn from a series with "one gram cannabis" with the underlying asset, and the second ICU in each code has as its underlying asset the URL http://www.mises.org/humanaction/pdf/humanaction.pdf and the SHA-1 digest value of the file at that location (fd8205cb8b4793d43b57ba6f6c7367aa700c307a). This is a way of associating the work of Ludwig von Mises with financial value, which may be a tool to implement his ideas in reality. I hope someday to see full-reserve banking and observance of Article One, Section 10 of the US Constitution.

I apologize for the graphic content of some of my contributions, but detailed evidence is sometimes necessary to address important matters. I am very disturbed by the fact that Col. Sabow's civilian superiors and their successors have been able to continue their narco-mercantilism. For historical comparison, I might resemble the odd German still complaining about the murders of the Night of the Long Knives in 1938(?). Of course, Wikipedia didn't exist in 1938!

8.8 EarthQuake hits Chile

First before you read this post, I think it would be wise to look at the latest earthquakes to have took place in the last few days. Please go here and look at the quakes to have taken place in the last few hours. The numbers are frightening if not disturbing.




The earthquake epicenter caused concern for Asian Islands far from the center of the quake. The after effects put Japan and others on alert.

The map to the left here displays the wave effects from the epicenter, but so far luckily the after shocks have been been centered in the general areas of the epicenter.

The major concern though was the effect it had on Chile and surrounding areas. Roughly 1.7-2.1 million people are displaced at the moment, with a death toll rising up to if not expected beyond 1,000. So far luckily the numbers have reached 720, which is far less than the quake that hit Haiti. Roughly 270,000 died in the Haiti Quake, but Chile was far more prepared and ready for such a catastrophe.

The two maps below give you a idea of the local and the number of quakes taking place around the world in the last 38 hours.


Chile has relatively escaped huge numbers of human life loss, more damage to buildings than people, thankfully!



An estimated 100,000 Chile Troops have been deployed to halt looting and social unrest.



U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton brought much-needed satellite phones and a promise of more aid on Tuesday. More aid is needed, but because of this countries ability to recover, America will not be deploying troops. Unlike Haiti.

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□ Swimming With Carnivores: Man Swims with Crocodile

Chico and Poncho are two birds of different feathers, well neither one has any feathers, and it may be a good thing Chico doesn’t, not very sure if that matters, but never the less….Chico swims with a 17 foot Costa Rica Salt Water Crocodile almost everyday. As if you might imagine, no not in a cage or behind Plexiglas, in the water, right next to the Aquatic Reptile, and yes he calls him a friend,

Steve Erwin would probably have a heat attack if he was still alive to witness this man.

Smile! Crazy huh?

Chico found the reptile as a wounded victim, and hand fed and recuperated the creature since then. Swimming with him from when it was no bigger than 6 feet in length, to now at 17.5 feet in length and 1,000 pounds. Normally this would never happen in the wild, at least not for very long, but the creature Chico swims with actually responds to his chanting calls, and coaxing.

The animal is not by any means trained, but it does recognize his “friend” Chico and doesn’t see him as food or a danger.

Why? Well the Croc would have to answer that, but if you asked me, I would say that because of the length of the relationship and the bonding this man and this Croc have dealt each other over a long length of time, that the memory or thoughts of Chico in this creatures mind, does not compel it to react to him in any other way than what ways it is used to reacting to Chico in.

Smile! Crazy huh?

This 52-year-old daredevil draws gasps of amazement from onlookers by wading chest-deep into the water, then whistling for his 980lb buddy – and giving him an affectionate hug.

Chico says: “Pocho is my best friend. This is a very dangerous routine but we have a good relationship. He will look me in the eye and not attack me.

“It is too dangerous for anyone else to come in the water. It is only ever the two of us.”
Chico made friends with the croc after finding him with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Central American state’s Parismina river 20 years ago.

He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death.
But Chico enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat.
He says: “When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house.

 

“He was very skinny, weighing only around 150lb. I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover.

“I stayed by Pocho’s side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad.

“It meant a lot of sacrifice. I had to be there every day. I love all animals – especially ones that have suffered.”
It took years before Chico felt that Pocho had bonded with him enough to get closer to the animal.

Maybe Seaworld should have this man join their Killer Whale Trainers Team?

Intel Launches Fastest Processor on the Planet: i7

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 17, 2008 - Intel Corporation introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel® Core™ i7 processor. The Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximize data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption. 

Broadly heralded by the computing industry as a technical marvel, the Intel® Core™ i7 processor holds a new world record of 117 for the SPECint_base_rate2006* benchmark test that measures the performance of a processor. This is the first time ever for any single processor to exceed a score of 100 points.
"Intel has delivered the fastest desktop processor on Earth to the most demanding users on Earth, the ones who are using their PCs for video, gaming and music," said Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group. "When you couple what is Intel's biggest leap in chip design with other incredible innovations like Intel's solid state drives, the Core i7 processor has redefined the computer of tomorrow."

Tech Web sites have been extremely positive in their product reviews. Anandtech states that "Core i7 continues to fuel Intel's beacon of performance." "The Core i7 is everything they promised it would be," says PC Perspective. "Nehalem is a masterpiece," says the Lost Circuits Web site. The Tech Report calls it "one of the most consequential shifts in the industry."

Intel's unique Turbo Boost Technology accelerates performance to match a computer user's needs and workloads. Through a sophisticated on-die power control unit and using new "power gate" transistors based on Intel's advanced 45 nanometer, high-k metal gate manufacturing process, Turbo Boost automatically adjusts the clock speed of one or more of the four individual processing cores for single- and multi-threaded applications to boost performance, without increasing power consumption. The Core i7 also has the latest Intel power-saving technologies, allowing desktops to go into sleep states formerly reserved for Intel-based notebooks.

The Core i7 processor more than doubles the memory bandwidth of previous Intel "Extreme" platforms, speeding the transfer of computer bits and bites in and out of the processor with Intel® Quickpath Technology. Designed with Intel's Hyper-Threading Technology, the processor also allows multiple computing threads to run simultaneously, effectively enabling it to do two things at once. As a result, the Core i7 quad-core processor delivers 8-threaded performance.

The Intel Core i7 processor also offers unrivaled performance for immersive 3-D games - over 40 percent faster than previous Intel high-performance processors on both the 3DMark Vantage CPU* physics and AI tests, popular industry computer benchmarks that measure gaming performance. The Extreme Edition uses 8 threads to run games with advanced artificial intelligence and physics to make games act and feel real.
The Intel® Core™ i7 processors and Intel® X58 Express Chipset-based Intel® Desktop Board DX58SO Extreme Series are for sale immediately from several computer manufacturers online and in retail stores, as well as a boxed retail product via channel online sales.

The Core i7 processor is the first member of the Intel Nehalem microarchitecture family; server and mobile product versions will be in production later. Each Core i7 processor features an 8 MB level 3 cache and three channels of DDR3 1066 memory to deliver the best memory performance of any desktop platform. Intel's top performance processor, the Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Edition, also removes overspeed protection, allowing Intel's knowledgeable customers or hobbyists to further increase the chip's speed.

China's Revolution: A Revolution Sure to Come

The Tienanmen Square protests of 1989, referred to in much of the world as the Tienanmen Square massacre and in the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the June Fourth Incident (officially to avoid confusion with two prior Tienanmen Square protests), were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the PRC beginning on 14 April 1989. Led mainly by students and intellectuals, the protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world.
The protests were sparked by the death of a pro-democracy and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn. By the eve of Hu's funeral, 100,000 people had gathered at Tiananmen square.Communist Party of ChinaTrotskyists as well as free market reformers, who were generally against the government's authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic change and democratic reform within the structure of the government.

To this day the Chinese Government has blocked access to it's civilian population of viewing anything related to the subject. In China you can not google the words Tienanmen Massacre and receive any truthful results to your inquirers on the subject. Instead you are brought to a page that has zero information about the event, just useful tourist information and vivid pictures of the square, but nothing about the event that took place there.
Some of the top Social Science Professors in China have predicted a soon to come revolt from the civil population. Mostly due to the censoring and strangulation that China's Government takes on their civil liberties.

China's top expert on social unrest has warned that hardline security policies are taking the country to the brink of ''revolutionary turmoil''.

In contrast with the powerful, assertive and united China that is being projected to the outside world, Yu Jianrong said his prediction of looming internal disaster reflected on-the-ground surveys and also the views of Chinese government ministers.

Deepening social fractures were caused by the Communist Party's obsession with preserving its monopoly on power through ''state violence'' and ''ideology'', rather than justice, Professor Yu said.

Some lawyers, economists and religious and civil society leaders have expressed similar views but it is unusual for someone with Professor Yu's official standing to make such direct and detailed criticisms of core Communist Party policies.

Professor Yu is known as an outspoken insider. As the director of social issues research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Rural Affairs he advises top leaders and conducts surveys on social unrest.

He previously has warned of the rising cost of imposing ''rigid stability'' by force but has not previously been reported as speaking about such immediate dangers.

''Some in the so-called democracy movement regard Yu as an agent for the party, because he advises senior leaders on how to maintain their control,'' said Feng Chongyi, associate professor in China Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Author used Wikipedia as a source and  JOHN GARNAUT post as another source.

Controversial new US defence logo

Recently a new Logo for America's Missile Defense Agency has come under-fire for the resemblance it slightly bares to the Islamic Flag and Obama's last campaign symbol. The symbol itself does have a likeness to both, but it is also a new design from a company trying to gain some ground by producing more modern, futuristic designs
.
It was designed by TMP Government, a marketing company that manages the websites for numerous Government departments. But this particular design has caught the eye of critics of the Obama administration. But I believe anything would catch the eye of critics of the Obama administration. It's like handing out fish food to starving gold fish, they will eat up anything you put in the bowl, good or bad. Maybe that's a bad analogy, but the point is there.

You might notice that the crescent shape is similar to a few Islamic and even Chinese items of interests, but to those who are critical of the design, they claim it says to the Muslim World that ....oh never mind here is what he said..." I'm having trouble seeing past the crescent and star in the new logo," one critic posted on WashingtonTimes.com. "Is this our signal to the Muslim world that we're not going to shoot down their missiles?" For real? Looks to me like it says...."Our Missiles Can Reach Out and Touch You." or maybe..."From one side of this planet to another, American can respond without leaving our soil."
To me I don't think the Obama Administration can do anything right at the moment, at least to the critics of Obama. It's a shame because America isn't speaking, it's the Republicans and the repubs just don't get it, and never will.

Suicide squad kill foreigners

The once beautiful front of a shopping centre about 22 metres away was blown out, but the streets were mostly deserted. Most people were still asleep on the start of the weekend, which is also part of a religious holiday for most of the population in the area. Branches torn from trees and the charred remains of a car engine littered the streets. Ambulances ploughed through roads carpeted in glass to take the wounded to hospital.

This was the scene of the after effect on a suicide squad who picked two hotels “used by foreigners” as targets.

"The first explosion was the loudest,” said Ahmed Shah, 28. “I ran outside and saw police covered with dust all over their faces. They told me to go inside. Then they thought I was a suicide bomber trying to escape and the guards had to help me get in.” Ahmed Continued.

At least six Indians and an Italian diplomat were among 16 people killed yesterday when a Taleban suicide squad stormed central Kabul. A French film-maker who had arrived less than 24 hours earlier and three Afghan policemen were also killed when a series of blasts, followed by more than three hours of gunfire, rocked an upmarket shopping district.

Officials reported that 32 people were injured when three Taliban militants launched a coordinated attack just after 6.32am. A 13ft crater marked the spot of the first massive explosion, a make shift car bomb, outside a guesthouse that was popular with Indian doctors.

The Hamid Hotel and the Park Residence were less than half a kilometre from the Indian Embassy, which has been attacked repeatedly.

President Karzai naturally condemned the assault as a “terrorist attack against Indian citizens” who were helping the Afghan people and said that it would not affect relations between Delhi and Kabul.
S. M. Krishna, the Indian Foreign Minister, called the attacks barbaric and a matter of concern. “These are the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine the friendship between India and Afghanistan,” he said.

Afghan and US officials have accused the Pakistani intelligence service of involvement in previous attacks against the Indian Embassy.

Feed the Universe

Feed the Universe = Do Good & Get Pot
The Unemployed Gourmet | Season 2 Finale
Do you care about hunger in the United States?  Then read on…
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Avigail Abarbanel: The Gaza Ghetto At 2010

24 February, 2010
Australiansforpalestine.com

Avigail Abarbanel

Growing up in Israel, one of the most striking things I learned about the Holocaust was that the Nazis were not just content to kill Jews. They wanted to rob them of their human dignity, to dehumanise them. This policy was particularly evident in the way the Nazis created and ran their infamous ghettos. One of the most well-known of those was the Warsaw ghetto.

The Warsaw ghetto was created by sealing off a section of the city and trapping the Jewish population within its walls. The wall that surrounded the ghetto was 3.5 metres high and had barbed wire and broken glass at the top. It took a long time and cost a lot of money to build. The Gates were heavily guarded and the guards would shoot anyone who tried to enter or leave without permission. The policy was ’shoot to kill’ because the lives of those inside the ghetto had no value. They were walking dead, abandoned by the social rules and laws that safeguarded human rights.

The Nazis had complete control over the amount of food, water and other essentials that were allowed into the ghetto. They dictated how much and what was allowed in. Everything was rationed to create a deliberate shortage, to make sure that there wasn’t enough for everyone and that nutrition was inadequate. As a child growing up in Israel I read stories about people’s struggle to feed their children in the ghetto. I remember how horrified and guilty I felt reading a story about a mother trying to convince her reluctant daughter to eat potato peels because that’s all that was available. Although I was so young, the mother’s powerlessness in the story was very clear to me.

Naturally life within the ghetto deteriorated rapidly. With inadequate living conditions, poor sanitation, no healthcare or medicine, overcrowding, shortage of water, food and clothing, the signs began to show on the people. Disease and death were rampant. Smuggling of food and essentials into the ghetto became a vital function, at a great cost to those volunteering to do the job. The black market flourished. Competition over food turned some people ruthless as they were trying to help themselves and loved-ones survive one more day. Mental health deteriorated rapidly. The Nazis controlled the social and political organisation of the ghetto and made sure that Jews turned against one another. They created policies deliberately designed to elicit and encourage the worst traits in human nature. Some Jews stole from other Jews and some people betrayed others just to survive another day. Worst of all, they had no idea what was going to happen next, why it was done to them and when it was all going to end.

Why did the Nazis do this? Why go to all this trouble and cost, when what you really plan to do is kill them all anyway? I think the answer lies in the massive effort of Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda and in the policy of allowing outsiders to get a peek into ghetto life. Ordinary buses passed by the ghetto and people could catch a glimpse of the people living in it. They were not allowed to get too close, but they were close enough to see the filth and the deprivation. They could see how dirty and pathetic people in the ghetto appeared, how unhealthy and lost they looked.

Put any group of people under impossible conditions and very soon what we think of as human dignity begins to drop off. Dirty, poorly fed and dressed people always look like they have less dignity than those who are well groomed and well fed. In reality they do not have any less dignity but humanity has always relied a bit too much on outward appearances to make judgments about people’s character. In any case the message to outside spectators of the Warsaw ghetto was, ‘You see? That’s what Jews are like. This is how they live.’
It’s well known that dehumanising people makes it easier to kill them. It also makes it easier for the killer to escape criticism. Dehumanisation can even provide an excuse for killing. It makes the job of murder seem almost desirable. The killer can be seen as helping the world rid itself of problem people that no one really wants. Of course the real reasons for killing have nothing to do with the dignity of the other. But making your victims look less human is certainly good for propaganda. It also helps to convince your own soldiers and bureaucrats that those they are killing are not as human as you, that they are therefore dangerous and don’t deserve to live.

Reading Sara Roy’s report, ‘Gaza: Treading on Shards’ (17th February), I noticed that what Israel has been doing in Gaza is chillingly similar to what the Nazis did in Warsaw and in its other ghettos. I don’t think that the citizens of Gaza have any less dignity than anyone else. Perhaps they even have more. I don’t know how they survive and how they get up every morning and keep going. As a mental health professional I can only guess at what these people actually feel from moment to moment and what long term damage is being done to them. We already know that all the children in Gaza suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Everyone in Gaza would have lost someone close to Israeli bombings. There is bound to be unimaginable grief there.
How do you hold on to your sense of hope and meaning when your life is reduced to living on scraps, when you can’t feed your children or keep them safe, and when you have absolutely no control over what is happening to you; and worst of all, how do you keep going when you are incarcerated indefinitely with no chance of escape, and when so few in the outside world care about what is happening to you?

Most people would agree that what the Nazis did was monstrous and wrong, that ghettos were inhumane and should never have been allowed to exist in the first place. So why is the Gaza ghetto allowed to exist in 2010? Why is Israel allowed to dehumanise, control, humiliate and murder 1.5 million people and get away with it? Israel is breaking every human rights law conceivable in the way it treats the citizens of Gaza, and no one stops it.

Israel and Jewish institutions around the world work so hard to make sure that the Holocaust isn’t forgotten. Holocaust Memorial Day is a big deal even here in Britain. Research into the Holocaust goes on. New perspectives and facts are revealed all the time and are taught to the world, so that ‘we never forget’. We may not have forgotten the Holocaust but we have learned nothing at all from it. There is absolutely no difference between the citizens of Gaza and the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto. These are all human beings like you and me. Of course the majority of Israeli Jews don’t think so. They consider the Palestinian people on the whole and Gaza’s citizens in particular, to be a lower form of life, a ‘less than’. But those of us less brainwashed can and should recognise the humanity and dignity of Gaza’s citizens, and their innocence.

Europe and the US were all complicit in the Holocaust by not reading the signs in advance. They allowed the gradual escalation of the Nazi regime’s institutionalised and legalised human rights violations against Jews; an escalation that was building up to mass extermination. By the time the ghettos were created, things had already gone too far but still, no one who had the power to make a difference did anything. The Jews were nobodies then, and now the Palestinians are suffering the same fate. Just like European Jews, the Palestinians are ordinary people caught in the grip of a murderous regime bent on destroying them for its own reasons. The Palestinians are today’s nobodies, and no one who has the power to change anything cares about them.
World leaders not only choose to say and do nothing. They openly embrace Israel’s anti-Palestinian propaganda. Looking at the suffering people of Gaza they see people who appear to the outside to have no dignity. Gazans are portrayed as less than human, ruthless, devious, blood-thirsty Jew and American-hating extremists, undesirables. It’s much easier to kill undesirables and get away with it, or just turn a blind eye to their endless suffering and subsequent death. Back in the 30s and 40s, Europe and the US could have excused their inaction by saying they were busy fighting a war. What is the excuse now?

Israel is intent on destroying Gaza eventually, however long it takes. Its policies there are not random. They are calculated and systematic and they are leading somewhere. In the meantime Israel is busy desensitising an already largely uncaring world by slowly escalating its policies and the violations and injustice they cause (not just in Gaza but against the whole Palestinian population). Why it’s doing it is the subject of psychological analysis and another article. Israel’s agenda may not be based on Nazi-style ‘race science’ but Israel’s actions are very similar and their outcomes are leading in the same direction as the outcomes of Nazi anti-Jewish policies.

Let’s just not say we didn’t know or didn’t read the signs. Good, honest people like Sara Roy must continue to write and report so that in the future if people wake up and begin to ask questions, our leaders wouldn’t be able to say that they didn’t know what was going on.

Avigail Abarbanel is a psychotherapist and counsellor. She is a former Israeli citizen and a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. She recently moved from Canberra Australia to the Scottish Highlands. Her website is at: www.avigailabarbanel.me.uk

Author of Patriotic American News and Opinion would like to extend his thanks to Avigail for allowing him to post this article.

The Next Step in Human Evolution: Me?

A study by Kanazawa found that more intelligent individuals were more nocturnal, waking up and staying up later than less intelligent individuals.  Because our ancestors lacked artificial light, they tended to wake up shortly before dawn and go to sleep shortly after dusk.  Being nocturnal is evolutionarily novel.

Well I must be evolving then. Actually the studies located here are very interesting to say the least. The claims about liberals being a more “Advanced” race makes a good deal of sense. Even the suggestions that those of us who stay up late have in a way taken a novel step forth in the evolutionary process makes me think there may be some truth to those studies.

Young adults who subjectively identify themselves as “very liberal” have an average IQ of 106 during adolescence while those who identify themselves as “very conservative” have an average IQ of 95 during adolescence.

Again, no surprise. After all, being that liberals are more attacked than Conservatives in a political discussion, mostly by Conservatives, tends to solidify the old salutation…”If you can not understand something, attack it.”

Young adults who identify themselves as “not at all religious” have an average IQ of 103 during adolescence, while those who identify themselves as “very religious” have an average IQ of 97 during adolescence.

Interesting figures there, no? I’m an Agnostic, not an Atheist, but I can guess that I would fall under the lines of the above figures. These studies shine some light on the facts of human nature, addressing the idea that if you think outside of the box, rather than stand in line waiting for the special kool-aid, then maybe you are a wee bit smarter than the average homogeneous species.

Similarly, religion is a byproduct of humans’ tendency to perceive agency and intention as causes of events, to see “the hands of God” at work behind otherwise natural phenomena.  “Humans are evolutionarily designed to be paranoid, and they believe in God because they are paranoid,” says Kanazawa.  This innate bias toward paranoia served humans well when self-preservation and protection of their families and clans depended on extreme vigilance to all potential dangers.  “So, more intelligent children are more likely to grow up to go against their natural evolutionary tendency to believe in God, and they become atheists.”

Now I never attended college, but I was making that same argument while I was in High school. I have always perceived that as humans we try to basically explain away the unexplainable, by giving events or unidentified actions on earth, per say lightning for an example, a god to identify it with. Native Americans had gods for everything, and with over 78-85 cultural religions out there, based upon a coherent need to explain things away that we couldn’t explain, it all adds up to religion being a man made artifact of who we are as humans. Of course in my mind religion was also a tool of control, giving rulers a form of control to govern over a body of civilization, and what better fear to use than your soul in the after life. Follow the rules and you will end up in a city of gold, virgins will be at your feet, and you will wash you hands in basins of diamonds and rubies. Don’t follow the rules and your soul will wander endlessly in a lake of fire, tortured, and torn apart by hells demons.

It’s a simple acknowledgment of the human condition, and humans ability to understand things before the advancement of Science. As we evolve, so does our understanding about everything around us, and I believe we are evolving very quickly in the mental area of understanding. Not very long ago the Earth was flat, and now we are taking photographs from a satellite we have shot out into space to explore our Universe.

What I also tend to believe is that it will not be very long until we find another planet to colonize. Why? Because we have almost, just about conquered understanding our World, although there a magnitude of things yet to discover here and learn, I think we have exhausted our ability to learn here to an extent that will push us further into understanding what is beyond our planet. It was only a few hundred years ago that people hypothesized what was beyond the horizons on Earth, and now we are doing the same in reference to what is outside our knowledge of Earth.

In addition, humans have always been mildly polygynous in evolutionary history.  Men in polygynous marriages were not expected to be sexually exclusive to one mate, whereas men in monogamous marriages were.  In sharp contrast, whether they are in a monogamous or polygynous marriage, women were always expected to be sexually exclusive to one mate.  So being sexually exclusive is evolutionarily novel for men, but not for women.  And the theory predicts that more intelligent men are more likely to value sexual exclusivity than less intelligent men, but general intelligence makes no difference for women’s value on sexual exclusivity.  Kanazawa’s analysis of Add Health data supports these sex-specific predictions as well.

Opps. Now that also explains quite a bit as well. In order for a more dominant species to survive, they will mate continuously outside of their partner of choice, in order to pass along their genetic marker that makes them a smarter, stronger, more powerful creature. At least that is what I remember from National Geographic, and Wild America shows I watched as a kid. Maybe this is why I have 4-5 kids. Not sure, there maybe one from a wild day in my youth…..

□ Left Right Conservative Liberal Independent Tea Bag Democratic Republican Center?

I know I’m a Democrat, and I’m pretty sure I’m an American. I have no clue honestly if I’m a Righty or a Lefty. I couldn’t tell you whether or not I’m a Conservative, or a Liberal, or a Conservative Liberal, or a Liberal Conservative. I know I am pretty Liberal when it comes to sandwich spread and peanut butter, but that’s as liberal as I’m aware of being.

Hell I find more than half of the labels confusing, I know that a conservative right Republican needs mental rehabilitation, and a vacation in Ethiopia as a bed nurse, just to get back their humanity. Other than that I’m pretty lost on all the others.

Independent seems like the new way to go, but I’m getting those guys lost in the shuffle between tea bags and the left side of liberals, which I have no clue what that means. I’m lost on the meanings between being a left or a right. Yesterday I heard someone call themselves a “center” and that almost blew my mind. I assure you this wasn’t intended to be fractious, but I really don’t know where all these labels came from, or how you get labeled in the first place?

I feel like I am in a nickname race. Who decides what label you get adorned with? Do you pick your own, or does someone else apply the label for you? What if you’re pretty sure the label you have on is the label you prefer to wear?

Does that mean in conjuncture, I can be branded because of a stance or a ideal? If so, how long does the label stay on? Will it come off like a pickle jar label in the shower?

What if I would like being called an American Democrat? Would that be okay? Maybe a small label on my back that says, “Kick me when I’m down.”

I could easily find labels for some politicians to wear, but not one of the above mentioned would be applied. Labels such as, Lazy, Incompetent, Foolish, Racist, Stupid is and stupid does, Criminal, and Honk if You Have No Idea What Direction America is Running In….

Maybe some bumper sticker bingo labels for the Senate and Congress.

So, I have no clue what side of the fence I’m on, or what label applies to me, I just know it’s getting pretty hard to tell who is who anymore.

Why Do Republicans Have No Memory Recall?

Why does it seem to this Author and sublime reader of fact and fiction that no matter what, I can count on Republicans having zero, if any at all, of the ability to remember anything their past elected officials did? It's almost as if they go into a deep hibernation during terms of their elected hopefuls, only to wake up when a democrat gets in office and scream out in disgust. Now I can recall many unfortunate moments during Georgie Boys two horrible terms, but it seems as if he has been dipped in forgetfulness and vanishing cream in the eyes of Republicans. All I hear from the Republican voices out there is how horrible Obama is doing.

Need I remind you, and I am sure I need to do so, he took office after GWB, and with that office he also took on the responsibility of cleaning up after what I remember being the hugest and largest, most gigantic mess ever created over a two term time line by any President in America!

Obama took over a Trillion Dollar Deficit already running when he won the election, and it seems as if in the Republican mind, he had a hand in it. Obama isn't the one who turned this country upside down and shook the loose change out of your couch cushions, Obama didn't put us into a 30 Billion Dollar a month war in Iraq, and he sure didn't slink out of office with cash lined pockets, and gas prices soaring into oblivion! What kills me the most is that BUSH came from a wealthy oil family, who did nothing, yes nothing, but benefit from the war in Iraq.

Oh, but Obama is to blame, right? Obama is the one we should be pointing our chubby fingers at and looking to replace ASAP at the next election process, right? I'm sure McCain and Palin would have had this sorted out by now, right? We wouldn't be in a quadruple trillion dollar screw up still if Suzi homemaker and dough boy grandpa made it into the White House. right?

I'm proud of Obama right now, and I can't blame him for the situation we are in, because I was awake for the glorious two terms of screwing this country went through, and I'm not beating my drum of stupidity, because basically, without being rude, when you scream foul over Obama, you are only really making yourself seem stupid. Not everyone was in hibernation for GWB, some of us remember, and even know that this country was sent to the very edge of whoops by the president before, and if you deny that, then you should just go back into your cave and take another hibernated nap.

America's Army Game: More Than a Game?

America's Army game made its début a few years ago, and after several patches and fixes, it is now at 2.8.5 in version from its original. The US Military, The Defense Department, and obviously Our Government seeing success from this release, went on to create AA3, or America's Army Game 3, a new release based on the Unreal Engine Graphics and Technology, developed by Epic Games. These games however were made by both the military and private sector code writers, in a montage of military insights, and highly knowledgeable game creators.

AA3 did not receive a very thankful audience, it was and still is for some, a very buggy, lagged, and in some ways unplayable release. Most complaints were on the game play, menu, and behavior of the game on-line. Developers of the game and America's Army Game site admins dodged hateful player's questions and comments on their forums, then along came huge game patches, in the attempt to solve the problems, which if you are familiar with AA2, you might remember all the bugs it had at the start of its release.

Our tax dollars mind you, have paid the way for these games. It took millions to make it, and a few million more to get it into the hands of players, not just in America, but around the world. We paid the sum of a total cost of $33M in the form of tax dollars for the release of AA3.

Both games were and still are trying to recruit, and teach American Army Values to the public, but mostly for teenagers as a whole, to inspire them to join the Army or get interested in our Military Branches.
Both games teach a long list of valuable knowledge, from weapon identification, to actual first aid lessons. You do have to go through boot camp, weapon familiarization, medical first aid training, marksmanship, and a assortment of other weapon training, all along you can play and learn at the same time.
The question is, why? Is this game just a great recruiter, or does it go deeper?

Talking with some men and women from the Army itself, I asked some questions about the game. A military woman and avid game player, recently home from Iraq, and honorably discharged, took her first look at AA2+AA3 at my home here in N.C.

She felt the graphics were great in both versions, and enjoyed the game play in both. She then answered a few questions I had. My belief is that these games are more than a recruitment tool, but maybe possibly a trainer as well to some extent.

What I believe is the United States Defense Department is never going to spend the millions it spent, on something to just help get in new recruits and put on the market, a video game for the fun of it. Although I believe it helps with recruitment and grabbing the attention of young minds, I also believe that the actions shown in-game, and the visuals are also intended to help familiarize "civilians" with weapon loading, and usage.
In the small recesses of imagination, would it be possible to consider the game a tool, to insure civilians, in game play ages from 60-14 know how to load and operate a weapon, that if dropped in a home front war zone by a fallen soldier, the new owner a "civilian" would then be able to identify the weapon, and use it properly.

This lady of honor said this when I asked her about how she felt about my assumption.
"Sure, with the US weapons, and others, the movements and actual loading are almost exact." "I do believe that after a few hundred rounds of playing this game, you would become familiar enough to use the weapon correctly, especially with the 3.0 game, which is much more realistic!"

So am I just playing a game here? I'm a somewhat avid player of the older version, basically for its gentleman like quality. You get shot, you die, there is no auto re-spawn, and for the most part, the players are men and women in my age group. There is of course the younger crowd, but for the most part, those who play the game areolder than the intended audience.

America's Government invented a FPS (First Person Shooter) and funded the creation of the AA series on the premise, and what I believe the shroud of recruitment, and maybe skillfully teaching "civilians" on the side how to use and operate American weapons? It is my belief, to a short extent, that our defense department isn't as stupid as they seem. It's good to have a well trained military, it's even better to have a well taught civilian population as well.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right, but the fact remains, I know from playing the game myself, I could easily load and fire a lengthy assortment of both American Military Arms, and even Foreign weapons if I ever had to do so, which I haven't, but I know I could..

□ Environment Deterioration from a Fisherman's View

When I was young, 10-12 years of age, I had a few fishing poles and a few fishing holes. I would ride my bike a few miles down the road and go bass and catfish fishing. These tributaries of the Myakka River where I fished from in Florida, are called canals, and they teamed with so much life and a abundance of wildlife, that it was hard not to catch a few fish and spot a few animals.  There were times I spotted fish that I still to this day boggle my mind. Like a 6 foot sturgeon, a 4 eyed fish, Tilipia the size of tires, Alligator Gar over 6 feet in length, Mullet in schools so large you could almost walk across the water on their backs, not to mention Alligators and Painted Turtles of sizes beyond belief. I can recall seeing a Florida Panther, that I still think was looking at me like lunch, and a female Bobcat and her cubs once walked along side of the opposite bank in plain view one day. All of these memories still remain in my mind, because they were great and wonderful memories.

Water Lettuce

Not too long ago I returned to several of these fishing spots in my youth and not one held a mirror of resemblance to what I remembered and saw in my youth. The waters were dark and almost lifeless. There were no Egrets or Great Blue Herons stalking the sides of the canals, there were no Turtles popping their heads up, and moving along in front of me. Most importantly there were no fish. No Gars, no Tilapia, no Bass, nothing. This held true in both the fresh waters, brackish, and some of the Salt Water holes I fished as a kid. There were some tell tail signs of Mullet, but nothing even close to the numbers and sizes we once tried to snag, there were no bass, just Bowfin in the murky horrid waters. The only waters that had life, because they are so vast, were the salt water areas.

Great Heron

The contrast of what I had seen, smelled, and did in my youth as a fisherman had changed. A old spring fed pond that I fished as a kid, that used to hold hundreds of Blue Gill and Bass, was reduced to a Oscar hole. Meaning, someone tossed in their over grown Oscars and turned the pond into a scum suckers paradise! It was fun to catch Oscars the size of foot balls and they actually tasted pretty good, but the life in the pond had been reduced to just Oscars and catfish, nothing else could survive, spawn or grow.

7 Foot Alligator

18 out of the 20 Fresh Water Canals I fished were filled with Bowfin, huge predatory Air Bladder breathing behemoths, capable of reaching 25-30 pounds. The worst thing about these fish, is they can live in places that bass are getting choked out of by over growth, whatever bass remained, were certainly eaten. Bowfin are both day and night hunters, they fish at night using a sensory lateral line that can detect a fishes heartbeat in the dark waters, they have a great sense of smell as well. They are the greatest fresh water hunter, their skin is similar to Gars, they eat anything that swims, and they are wicked mean creatures, capable of tearing into basket wells filled with shiners hung over the side of a dock.

Besides the take over by muck fish and the such, the water quality had deteriorated horrendously. Talking to a Biologist one day when I was fishing the Myakka in a boat by Snook Haven, we talked over a few beers and he highlighted the reasons for the poor water standards in these man-made canals.

He explained that Hydrillia, Water Hyacinth (eichhornia crassipes), and Water Lettuce (pistia stratiotes) clog and reduce water flow, residents of these waters then complain about mosquitos, and the State sends out a crew to spray the plants for both mosquito and the plants themselves. Being the ecologists these State Crews are not, they kill off these plants, which then return burn off all the Oxygen in the water as they decay, killing all the Gill Breathers, and leaving behind the Bladder Breathers, who can survive without Oxygen in the water. If even some air breathers do move to these waters, they only become prey to these Bowfin. A full adult 25-30 pound Bowfin can easily eat a 5-10 pound bass. All due to the fact that these fish are supreme hunters, and while the bass float around at night in sleep mode, these monsters go after them. The reason though for all of these water weed pests to bloom so fast and quickly is because of human waste and farm land run off, mostly though he explained, human sewage.

Florida Bass

Sewage tanks for home owners in Florida during the building booms 0f the early 80's-late 90's were substandard. They over flowed and crept into fresh water springs through the sand aquifers that many of these communities were built on. These rich fluids helped fuel the aquatic nitrogen needs for these water weeds. Creating substantial massive blooms and over growth.Many communities were also built along the banks of many of these man made canals, and the sewage flow directly fed into these waters.

Florida Panther

23 years ago these places I fished were huge ecosystems, containing a beautiful assortment of wildlife and natural fisheries. There was a time when it was all I could do to not catch a fish, and fill a stringer with bass and catfish. Now though all that remains are the memories, and unless the State of Florida takes the time to change how things are taking place in these wonderful places, all will be lost. What once was a teeming and beautiful landscape, filled with health and beauty, is now reduced to gloomy lifeless mud holes, that are from the actions of an uneducated Florida Government, who refuses to acknowledge their hand in destroying and ruining a great water supply from the mighty Myakka.