le Voyageur

Maybe they should rename the Beagle for something a wee bit more ap.... hmmmm....the Virginia Dare, Flying Dutchman, and Queen Anne's Revenge are a few that come to mind....

I've not done the Alligash....but, it's on my list of rivers that I want to run. Figure, every now and then it's a good ideal to get off of white water, and spend some quite time listening to the loons....

Check your messages....

Per chance,have you considered canoeing the Allagash?

Adrianvs -you asked a great question, that is, who decides who is the bad guy, and who is not (I've changed the wording to broaden the scope of your question...) This is actually another one of the hidden fucntions of governments; deciding who is, and who isn't a good guy, and then deciding that person's (or ethnic group's) fate...life or death, freedom or prison..war or peace In this country, the FBI and other US law enforcement enties has been doing just that over the years, by conducting operations against Italian-American, Asian-Americans, African Americans, Japanese-Americans, Irish-Americans, Branch Davidians, Hollywood and the entertainment industries, Mexican-Americans and so on....and now has targeted Arabs and Arab-Americans with the carte blanche authority of the Patriot Act... If one was to look closely at the majority of targeted groups therein, there is one glaring theme seen which is simply governmental racism supported and embraced by we the people...we the people are now travelling down a very dangerous path into the future.... It is my belief that the jingoistic racism of all governments must stop for the welfare of the human race. In this country we the people can put a stop to it, and should put a stop to it before it's too late even for us... It also my belief that jingoistic racism is not the only prime motavating force behind murderous governments, but thrives directly in the absent of personal freedom, and the loss of civil liberties....

Well, as I said it was a complex issue...however, this is my view, not THE view. Instead of reacting in such a negative and hostile fashion, why not explore this issue in a different light...try this site http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com

My own thinking for the heavy handed presecution of Jews in the 20th century was due to the rise of Zionism (a Jewish Mafia of racial elitism), and the Zionist's Jerusalem plan. To simplify a very complex subject I'll reduce it to this....in the beginning, ALL Zionist were Jews, but NOT all Jews were Zionist (however, thats not the case today where....ALL Zionist ARE NOT Jews, but STILL NOT all Jews are zionist). As I see it, the Nazi party rose to counter the Zionists who were wrecking havoc on the German economy. Hilter took the broad brush approach, killing Jews by the millions to get at a handfull of Zionist....pure insanity

It's interesting to note that he Inquistion ended about 1832....but, besides being a purge of heritics, and those that crossed papal authority; the Church (a defacto government of the period), during the time of the Black Death who's priestcraft was incapable of stemming this disease, targeted women as the cause, and executed them in the tens of thousands..... http://malleusmaleficarum.org

For games, touch base with a C.O.P.E. Director for ideals on games that build teamwork Keep the class dynamic, not static. They've just spent 9 months sitting in a classroom. Get them outdoors, and involved with their enviroment. Have a project that each patrol will have to teach to the other patrols... Tap into training ideals from JLT, Woodbadge, C.O.P.E., NCS, NOLS and etc.....

Sew FOG......you still believe the earth is flat, hey...

If everything made sense, then where is the mystery ? Or the fun of discovery...

I have never groused.....

FOG, by now you should know that the English language is constanly changing, with dozens of new words being added almost daily...get a pencil and enter it in your OED, hey... As for being a pacifist...I think not. Just keeping my eye on the greatest enemy that any freeman has which are the governments that claim rule over them...

Here's an interesting articles for those of you who are most eagar to give up their freedoms for the warm fuzzy blanket of government security... http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe0307.html

First, I'm not implying anything, nor do I have a solution...democide simply means "death by government" which includes both mass murder and genocide. Figure, that since over the years that I have acquired a useless mass of meaningless information that I would share and pass it along, just in case some of you end up on Jeopardy... However, I've always found it fascinating in exploring the dark underbelly of governments, one of which is the killing of it's citizens besides in wars, but either through it's justice sytems, or in purges.... But, if I was looking for a Utopia, I would simply head out to Roswell, and see if I couldn't get a lift to another world...since, as long as there are humans, there will never be a utopia. It's just not in our gene's to be anything greater than the animals that we are...

For those of you/us who survived the blood letting of the 20th century, congratulations. But, be aware that the insainity of democide continues on into this century, and that we'll be feeding our decendants to this curse...here's a rough body count for the 20th century.. Second World War 1937-45 50,000,000 Mao Zedong's regime 1949-76 48,250,000 Stalin's regime 1924-53 20,000,000 First World War 1914-18 15,000,000 Russian Civil War 1918-21 8,800,000 China, Warlord/Nationalist era 1917-37 4,000,000 Congo Free State 1900-08 3,000,000 Korean War 1950-53 2,800,000 2nd Indochia War 1960-75 2,700,000 Chinese Civil War 1945-49 2,500,000 German Expulsions, post WW II 1945-47 2,100,000 Second Sudanese Civil War 1983- 1,900,000 Congolese Civil war 1998- 1,700,000 Khmer Rouge 1975-79 1,650,000 Afghanistan Civil War 1980-2000 1,575,000 Ethiopian Civil Wars 1962-92 1,400,000 Mexican Revolution 1910-20 1, 250,000 East Pakistan Massacres 1971 1,250,000 Iran-Iraq War 1980-88 1,000,000 Nigeria-/Biafran revolt 1967-70 1,000,000 Mozambique 1976-92 800,000 Rwandan Massacres 1994 800,000 French-Algerian War 1954-62 650,000 First Indochia War 1945-54 600,000 India-Pakistqan Partition 1947 500, 000 Indonesia (massacre of communists) 1965-67 500,000 Angolan Civil War 1975-94 500,000 First Sudanese Civil War 1955-72 500,000 Decline of Amazonian Indians 1900-99 500,000 Spanish Civil War 1936-39 365,000 Somalia Civil War 1991- 350,000 North Korea, Communist Regime 1948- unknown Note: not included are the numbers for narco terrorisms, or some of the lesser conflicts such as the Tanker war, Panama, the Falkland war, etc.... But, if get the time, I'll start compiling the ongoing body count for this century a little later...

hmmmm.....guess it's time to start another thread on genocide/democide, hey.... So, what century do you want?

Sorry KS, But in all respect, no sell, I prefer to stay paranoid against all forms and manners of governments since it is in their best interest to lie and conceal....For the now, I can hear the glass breaking...

The largest number of medals to be awarded for a single engagement against unarmed "combatants", 18 medals on 19 December 1890 at Wounded Knee....

OGE has asked for a wee bit of help on items covering the early French fur trade era. So, I'll be posting several threads to cover this request. One of the first items of wear that could be tackled is the making of a capote, easy to make requiring only basic hand sewing skills. The stitch of choice being the simple blanket stitch. Unlike the mountainman capte seen worn on buckskinners, the French Canadian capote is much simpler and more basic...no fringe, and much shorter. For blankets, Sierra Trading Post sells a Czech blanket, natural in colour with blue stripes. Currently these are on sale at $13 apiece. Two will be needed for an adult size capote. However, there will be enough left over for leggings, and mittens...3 blankets should make 2 capotes for scouts age 13/14... For the pattern, use the Eagle View pattern (#90) which can be found at Track of the Wolf http://www.trackofthewolf.com (this is a buckskinner pattern, but very easy to alter, and adjust to a French Canadian capote). Now for a bit of homework...I like to rferance the paintings of Cornelius Krieghoff... http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/krieghoff_cornelius.html go to Paintings in Museums and Galleries and click on National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (first one on top...) see... Indian Wigwam in Lower Canada The River Road The Toll Gate Indians in Snowy Landscape Huntr in Wintr Indian Woman Crossing Frozen River The Ice Bridge at Lonque-Pointe The Blizzard Layout, cuttin and hand sewing will take a few hours over serveral days to complete, consider around 12 to 18 hours to be the norm. For sewing, use a heavy cotton yarn and a doll maker's needle (found at Wal Mart) to join the fabric...

KS...per your question concerning the loss of civil liberties in America. America's perpetual war, and the birth of American facism begins on 20 September 200l with George W. Bush declaring... "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there, It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated." and "How will we fight and win this war? We will direct every resource at our command, every means of diplomancy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapof of war, to the disruption and to the defeatr of the global terror network." However, before I list the constitutional incursions of the Patriot Act, and in all fairness, the door of facism was squeeked opened by the Clinton Administration's 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act...here's a short list of the constitutional incursions of this law... - allowing the government to deport immigrants based on undisclosed evidence. - making it a crime to support even the lawful activities of an organization labeled as a terrorist group by the State Department. - authorizing the FBI to investigate the crime of material support for terrorism based solely on activities protected under the First Amendment. - freezing assets of any US citizen or domestic organization believed to be an agent of a terrorist group, without specifying how an "agent" was identified. - expanding the powers of the secret court that administers the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, where federal judges sit in secret to consider, and mostly rubber stamp justice. - repealing the law that barred the FBI from opening investigations based solely on activities protected under the First Amendment, such as the anti-CISPES invesigations; and allowing such surveillance to go forward if the individuals were believed to be associated with any person or organization labeled as "terrorist". As to the constitutional incursions of the Patriot act... - it is a crime for anyone in this country to contribute money or other material support to the activities of a group on the State Department's terrorist watch list. Organizations are so designated on the basis of secret evidence, and their inclusion on the list cannot be challenged in court. Members of any such targeted organization can be deported even if they have not been involved in any illegal activities(the government freely admits that some of the groups it will designate are broadbased organizations engaged in lawful social, political, and humanitarian activities...) - the FBI can monitor and tape conversations and meetings between an attorney and a client who is in federal custody, wheteher the client has been convicted, charged, or merely detained as a material witness (re: the Lynn Harris case, a court appointed representative of Sheik Abdel Rahman indicted for aiding and abetting terrorism based on conversations with her client. This being a governmental warning shot across the bow to intimidate attorneys defending those accused of terrorism). - Americans captured on foreign soil and thought to have been involved in terrorist activities abroad may be held indefinitely in a military prison and denied access to lawyers or family members. No federal court can review the reason for the detention. - the FBI can order librarians to turn over information about heir patrons' reading habits and Internet use. The librarian cannot inform the patron that this information has been provided. - foreign citizens charged with a terrorist related act may be denied access to an attorney and their right to question witnesses and otherwise prepare for a defense may be severely curtailed if the Department of Justice says that's necessary to protect national security. - the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) can conduct full searches of people boarding airplanes and, if the passenger is a child, the child may be separated from the parent during the search. An objection by a parent or guardian to the search will put the objector at the risk of being charged with the crime of obstructing a federal law enforcement officer and tried in federal court. - Americans citizens and aliens can be held indefinitely in federal custody as "material witnesses". - the FBI can conduct aerial surveillance of individuals and homes without a warrant, and can install video cameras in places where lawful demonstrations and protests are held. and the list goes on and on....I say again, tryanny is at the gate...

Comparing the actions of an Italian General to the International court at Hague is apples and oranges, unless you're making chutney. However, the ICC could evolve as an important tool exclusive for the use of emerging democracies with embrionic court systems, if the U.S. wasn't so heavy handed and punitive. However, where I see the principle need for the ICC is in cases involving both genocide and democide... As for the Global Engagement Act, it's one of the methods used by the different branches of the military to try and gain additional budget dollars for pet projects, and golf courses for generals....

Maybe the Bush Administration is fixing their sights on the Dutch as the next Axis of Evil.... http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/08/aspa080302.htm

Since KS has referred to FDR...let's look at one of FDR's doings that has led us directly to this muddle.... Quoting from Curtis F. Jones, "The American Burden of Hegemony in the Middle East" "The cornerstone of U.S. policy for the Middle East is the understanding reached between President Roosevelt and King Ibn Sa'ud on the USS Quincy in the Suez Canal on February 14, 1945. Although Prime Minister Churchill was unaware and would have been appalled at the idea, the Quincy meeting initiated the transfer of the region from the British to the U.S. sphere of influence, an unruly and haphazard process that took three decades. Roosevelt's implicit extension of a security guarantee to the Saudi monarchy, in return for preferred access to Saudi oil, has been reaffirmed by every U.S. administration since then. During the ensuing decades, American policy has crystallized around three basic objectives: (1) To preserve Western hegemony over the region whose strategic importance to the defense of Europe had been recognized sine the time of Napoleon. (2) To ensure affordable access to Middle East oil. (3) To ensure the security of the state of Israel. In recent days, U.S. policy has also taken on as a fundamental aim the supp0ression of anti-American terrorism. In 1945, a U.S. State Department memorandum described Saudi Arabia's oil resources as: "a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in the world." Quoting Harold Ickes, U.S. Pretroleum Administrator for War during World War II "An honest and scrupulous man in the oil business is so rare as to rank as a museum piece." My thoughts...we have an Adminstration so seeped in oil, who, to preserve their wealth and power will strip away our civil liberties...so, where can we find an honorable person, who as President, will enact a policy of seperation between oil and state and lead us out of this bloody mess.....

"One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that evil in this world are to be cured by legisttion". Thomas Reed "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." B. Franklin "Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth ever afterward resumes its liberty." Walt Whitman "Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestiuous ses of Liberty." Thomas Jefferson "If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may prosterity forget that ye were my countrymen." Samuel Adams