Sunlight Finally

Tuesday the 25th of January. For the first time in several weeks the fog has lifted and its not raining. Temperature in the high 60's. California has returned. Tonite is the St. Rose Pastoral Council and I intend to make a pitch for a goal energizing the Catholics in our parish who have drifted away. 2012 is the 1ooth anniversary of becoming a parish and hopefully we will do more than have a luncheon for the Bishop.

Weather Report

Heavy December rains and snow lead me to consider the issues of global warming. Although the US is set to benefit from warmer winters, the south Pacific is already experiencing the effects of global warming. The US is the ONLY major country where the legislative leaders question the reality of the effects of a warmer earth. During the next 10 years we will witness the deaths and damages directly attributable to changes in weather. The Cancun Conference http://www.daraint.org made several things clear. We can no longer worship at the altar of Adam Smith,

SF Giants Rule Forever

Now that the Giants are the world champions, one would think that all those "friends" who took me to task for supporting Barry Bonds would call me to say they have been wrong. Bond holds more baseball records than any other player and had a real role in building this team. Oh well, next year - the Oakland A's.

Waiting for the Crown

Now that the San Francisco Giants have won the first two games, we are entitled to hope for 2 more wins. Then, everyone who has trash-talked my favorite player Barry Bonds can hear me say "I told you so!" Stay tuned.

New Computer

After 25 years of using a personal computer for the first time my hard disk failed. I thought everything was properly backed up. It wasn't! Now the transfer from XP tp Windows 7 also fails. I was able to save all my word processing material but so far have been unable to recover several years of financial records. Worst of all, my genealogy data is still not on the new machine. There may be a message hidden in there somewhere. Tomorrow will be the first game of the World's Series here in SF. Keep your fingers crossed.

Keith

Computer Woes

For the past 3 weeks, after my older computer died, I have been struggling to get my new machine working - a Gateway. I can only use it in "safe" mode and that is frustrating. Pray for me.

WHO IS THE WINNER? ND or Golf

Congratulations to ND state agencies for continuing investigation into issue of ground water dangers.

NEW YORK(Reuters) - Dallas-based Denbury Resources said it stanched an oil and fracturing fluid leak froma broken well in North Dakota, and will plug the well withcement later Friday before investigating the cause the two-dayleak.

The well near Killdeer, North Dakota spewed 246 barrels ofcrude and 2,200 barrels of fresh fracking fluid - a water-basedmixture containing chemicals -- before it was suppressed withdrilling mud early on Friday.

At Least It's Not Earl

As we listen to reports about hurricane Earl, we have been reminded that we live surrounded by several active faults. "Is this a precursor of the big one?" Who knows. Perhaps!

Magnitude 3.3 - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA

Shades of BP

Even a small spill like this should cause North Dakotas residents to be a little uneasy.

"There are more than 5,000 wells now producing more than 320,000 barrels of oil a day in western North Dakota, a record amount. As of Wednesday, there were 142 rigs drilling new wells in the state, at the rate of about one well per rig per month."

Jason's New Job

After searching since graduation last May, grandson Jason is in the process of being hired by St. Vincent's School for Boys in San Rafael. The school is operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco through Catholic Charities and Catholic Youth Organization. We keep our prayers focused on this process and pray that the employment process soon be completed.

The King, The President and Me

I don't know if King Harald is part of the Nobel selection process, but his views and mine coincide with President Obama's views.

The Norway Post: "King Harald's
New Year speech to the nation
Excess consumption, the climate crisis, the
hunt for profit, intolerance and 'Berlin Walls' that create hate and mistrust
were the main themes of King Harald's traditional speech to the nation on New
Year's Eve.
King Harald fears that excess consumption at the worst may
create a dramatic imbalance in the global climate. He urges us all to take this
challenge seriously, in order that our earth may be passed on to new
generations."

1927 Bridge on the way down

This is a shot of a piece of the old bridge coming down. The Crockett Museum has dozens of these.

North Dakota Leads

I always wanted to get down into these silos. Next trip home I'll do it.

Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site State Historical Society of North Dakota: "The new Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site actually consists of two sites telling the story of the Cold War years in North Dakota. They are the Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility and the November-33 Launch Facility. They are the last remnants of the 321st Missile Wing, a cluster of intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites that were spread over a 6,500-square-mile area around the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The Oscar Zero Launch Control Center and the November-33 Missile Facilty played an integral part in the Cold War in North Dakota and the world. This site is the last launch control center intact with the top-side of November 33 missile facility left intact."

Support the Catholic Bishops

Washington D.C., Jul 22, 2009 / 03:02 am (CNA).- As national debate about a major Congressional health care bill continues, the U.S. bishops have called for “genuine” health care reform that protects human life and provides comprehensive health care access.
Bishop of Rockville Centre, New York William F. Murphy, writing a July 17 letter to Congress on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), commented:
“Genuine health care reform that protects the life and dignity of all is a moral imperative and a vital national obligation.”
Bishop Murphy, who is chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said that the U.S. bishops have advocated health care reform for decades.
He also outlined four criteria for health care reform, listing respect for human life and dignity, access for all, pluralism and equitable costs.
Concerning respect for human life, the bishop insisted that no health care reform plan should “compel us or others to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion.”
“Any such action would be morally wrong,” he stated, noting that U.S. law already bars federal funding for most abortions.
Health care reform, he said, should not be a vehicle for abandoning a “consensus” that “respects freedom of conscience and honors our best American traditions.”
“Any legislation should reflect longstanding and widely supported current policies on abortion funding, mandates and conscience protections because they represent sound morality, wise policy and political reality.”
Discussing access to health care, Bishop Murphy remarked, “All people need and should have access to comprehensive, quality health care that they can afford, and it should not depend on their stage of life, where or whether they or their parents work, how much they earn, where they live, or where they were born.”
The bishop said the USCCB believes health care reform should be “truly universal” and “genuinely affordable.”
Noting that some families, including immigrants, will not be covered by health care reform, Bishop Murphy urged Congress to fund adequately clinics and hospitals that serve these populations.
He also advocated more cost-sharing protections and new coverage options for poorer families, limits or exemptions on premiums for those who are near poverty, and increases in eligibility levels

Contra Costa Unemployment

As of a few days ago, the California unemployment reached 11.1 percent - the highest since 1941. Our county, Contra Costa, exceeded this meaning we are back to the beginning of the buildup of aircraft companies and shipbuilding brought on by the beginning effects of WWII. Next month we will probably drift into that era when it took a war to recover from the effects of the Great Depression. Every working class family, including mine, is experiencing the effects. I am astounded that the "talking heads" on radio and TV fail to recognize that the difference today is due to unemployment insurance, food stamps, Social Security, FICA etc. all of which grew out of the depression. The GOP is using the same language that HOOVER used that leave people alone to solve their own problems and the economy will recover on its own.

Oh well, its obvious that I am an Obama supporter.

The Celebrated War on Drugs

If we can determine that Iran is sending weapons to Iraq, why can't we stop the shipments to Mexico from the US?



Mexico's Drug War: Mexico drug cartels’ new weaponry means war - Los Angeles Times: "In addition to grenades, high-powered guns such as the .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle have become a weapon of choice in narcotics traffickers' arsenals, Mangan said. Unlike grenades and antitank weapons, the .50-caliber guns can be obtained by ordinary citizens in the U.S. and smuggled easily into Mexico, like the tons of assault rifles and automatic pistols."

Patsy's Ancestors

Since Patricia's (my wife) ancestors trace back to the French fur trappers maybe this is the answer to some of the anomolies.

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter: Hillary Clinton and the King's Daughters:

"Eastern Canada was originally settled by French adventurers, fur trappers, and soldiers. There were plenty of men but few women in the early days. The French government realized this was a problem and soon recruited young, single women to travel to New France. These women, known in French as the 'filles du roi' or in English as the 'King's Daughters,' agreed to travel to the new settlements in
North America and marry a settler there in exchange for a 50 pound dowry from the French King. Of the nearly 1,000 women who undertook the journey, about 800 made it to Canada."

Earthquake Preparedness

The geologists tell us that a major earthquake will occur on the Hayward Fault within the next thirty years. This reference from the Psalms is the first item in my survivor kit.

"Psalm 45 (46)
God, our refuge and our strength
The Lord is our refuge and our strength, a true help in our troubles.
Therefore we do not fear, even when the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the depths of the sea, the waves roar and foam and rise up to shake the mountains."

Saga of Cottonwood Farm

I am beginning my story of Cottonwood Farm - an autobiography of sorts. This is from the ND State Historical Society and will be included in a section on the first people to find Grand Forks County. I will be grateful for suggested sources to read and study.

First People
Before Euro-American settlement
of the Northern Plains began in the 19th Century, the land had been occupied for many centuries. Archeological investigations document the presence of big game hunting cultures after the retreat of the continental glaciers about 10,000 years ago and later settlements of both hunting and gathering and farming
peoples dating ca. 2000 B.C. to 1860. When the first white explorers arrived,
distinct Indian groups existed in what is now North Dakota.

These included the Dakota or Lakota nation (called "Sioux", or enemies by those who feared them), Assiniboine, Cheyenne, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara. Groups of Chippewa (or Ojibway) moved into the northern Red River valley around 1800, and Cree, Blackfeet, and Crow frequented the western buffalo ranges.

New Activity on the Hill

One of the actions I promised myself was to read Roman and Greek history when I had the time to do so. Recently I discovered an organization called "The Teaching Company." They offer hundreds of courses on Science and Math, Religion, Literature and the English Language, Classics, History and Philosopy on DVD taught by professors of top standing. At the moment I am pursuing "Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle,"in 36 half hour lectures taught by Robert Bartlett from Emory University.