Here is few pictures of weird rides and transportation...Enjoy
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hexes, aka Curse, Jinx, Whammy, Bad Juju, Original Sin
Once upon a time, the word "hex" simply meant to practice magic or witchcraft, but those days are long gone. The strange and wonderful world of semantics has mutated the word into a darker form.
The art of the hex, as it is understood today, means putting the nasty on someone you hate. A hex is the supernatural equivalent of hitting someone over the head with a folding chair. There are different sorts of hexes, but they all basically boil down to making bad things happen to people you hate.
The basic curse is arguably the oldest form of magic, having been employed by God against three residents of Eden, Adam, Eve and the snake, for the inexcusable sin of seeking knowledge. Many religions feature variations on this Judeo-Christian-Muslim story of the first sin, which seeks to explain why life sucks so bad all the time.
God's curse on mankind is the simplest form of hex, in which the hexer makes a formal pronouncement of bad things he or she wishes upon the hexee:
The story of an original curse on humanity occurs in most cultures and religious traditions, since life pretty much sucks no matter where you live, and people wanted explanations, dammit! The spread of human-on-human cursing can pretty much be attributed to the scientific syndrome known as "monkey see, monkey do."
O
nce in the hands of humankind, the art of the hex became more nasty and considerably more elaborate. There are as many ways to cast a hex as there are bitter, spiteful, and slightly irrational people in the world.
Hexes run from the very general to the very precise. The simplest hexes simply mess with the victim's mojo and cause a streak of bad luck. More sophisticated hexes can target a victim's wealth, health, even specific body parts.
The basic curse is a pretty straightforward concept. It is simply a verbalized exhortation to the fates, requesting that bad things happen to the victim. The minimum requirement for a hex involves speaking a brief description of what you want to happen to the victim, while invoking a magical name or word. For instance:
"May you wander over the face of the earth forever, never sleep twice in the same bed, never drink water twice from the same well, and never cross the same river twice in a year."
The above is allegedly a traditional Gy
psy curse. Gypsy curses are the most famous kind of curse, but the vast majority of such curses occur in a historical context that ranges in credibility from Stephen King to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Simpsons. Presumably there is some sort of historical basis for the notion, likely deriving from the cottage industry of gypsy fortune-telling, but that nugget of fact has been buried under a mountain of shit from which it may never emerge.
The problem with a simple verbalized curse is that it rarely works (unless you're God or a Gypsy). That's a good thing, of course, or else the average lifespan would be 42. You'd live just long enough to ground your teenage child, who would respond, "I hate you! I wish you would die!"
Faced with this failure, many people simply abandon the notion of cursing at an early age. But some people aren't content to leave bad enough alone. Committed hexers were forced to develop ever more elaborate means to get the job done.
Th
e exact means vary widely from culture to culture, but most of them are wildly entertaining. A quick trot around the globe finds techniques and beliefs that run from the pragmatic to the bizarre. The voodoo doll is a favorite of hexers and cursers everywhere. The hexer creates a small effigy of his or her victim, usually out of wax, and includes a small item connected to the victim, such as a lock of hair or fingernail clipping. The doll is then stuck with pins or otherwise tortured in order to produce a corresponding effect on the victim's body.
In China, a curse can be delivered by leaving a few grains of rice and a few pennies on the victim's door step, symbolizing a wish that the victim be stricken with poverty.
In 2004, a member of the Tanzanian parliament vowed to place an "Islamic death curse" on the members of Tanzania's executive branch if they didn't do a better job cleaning up corruption. There isn't much in the way of supporting literature for this practice, but odds are someone somewhere believes it well enough.
Surprisingly, the Catholic church not only believes in the efficacy
of curses but allows that there may be appropriate times to use them. Based on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Vatican allows that believers may:
petition that calamity may be visited by God on persons or things in requital for wrongdoing. ... [If] the imprecation be directed towards irrational creatures not on account of their relation to God, but simply as they are in themselves, the guilt is no greater than that which attaches to vain and idle words, except where grave scandal is given, or the evil wished to the irrational creature cannot be separated from serious loss to a rational creature, as would be the case were one to wish the death of another's horse, or the destruction of his house by fire, for such wishes involved serious violation of charity.
In one U.S. case attributed to Santeria, a hexer adorned a victim's front step with a cow's tongue that had the names of several gods affixed to it using pins.
British witches allegedly cursed Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Aleister Crowley is reputed to have exchanged curses with MacGregor Mathers, a rival within the ranks of the occult secret society, Golden Dawn. By most accounts, Crowley was the decisive victor in this battle. Of course, most of the accounts were written by Crowley.
Aboriginal Australians believe that one can be hexed, or even killed, by pointing a kangaroo bone at them. Notable victims include non-aboriginal Australian Prime Minister John Howard (as punishment for cutting off an aboriginal self-governance program).
While the ancient Egyptians frequently used curses to protect grave sites, the legendary curse of young King Tutankhamun is apparently mythical. Various inscriptions have been reported in media and historical accounts of the tomb's discovery. None of them are real. That didn't keep six members of the archaeological team that discovered the tomb from early and unfortunate deaths, but it's worth noting that the man most responsible for the opening of the tomb, archaeologist Howard Carter, died of old age.
Hardly a week goes by without a new report about someone, somewhere, collecting human body parts for use either in casting a curse or removing a curse. Reports come in regularly from across Africa, from South America, from everywhere in Europe and occasionally from North America (where practitioners restrain themselves mainly due to fear of becoming the latest New York Post headline).
The
Romans inscribed the names of hex victims onto thin metal sheets, which were then rolled up and pierced by nails. The archaeological records suggest these curse were mostly issued over penny-ante debts, which detracts from the romantic adventure of the whole thing.
Rasputin is said to have cursed the Romanovs, Russia's ru
ling monarchs, on his death bed. His angst may have had to do with the fact he had been shot, drowned and castrated by a Romanov prince. It was extraordinarily effective, as curses go. The entire family was dead within a year.
The infamous ancient Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times" is apparently neither Chinese nor ancient. Made popular when uttered by John F. Kennedy, the phrase doesn't appear to have a pedigree going further back than the 20th century, although the exact origin of the phrase is still under debate. Once we cure cancer, end world hunger, solve global terrorism and figure out whether there's a God, we'll get back to you with a definitive answer on this.
Hindus and Buddhists believe in karma, the self-correcting law of the universe that sooner or later forces you to accept the consequences of your evil deeds. This would seem to make curses superfluous, however you wouldn't know it on a tour of India's occultish hotspots.
The so-called "hex signs" of the Pennsylvania Dutch have nothing to do with hexes. Let us never speak of this again.
The Algonquin tribe of Native Americans famously cursed its enemies, including a famous hex that the president holding office every 20 years after 1820 would die in office. The only president to dodge that bullet so far was Ronald Reagan, who literally had to dodge a bullet to escape. We don't know if the curse keeps George W Bush up nights, but he's sitting right in the Algonquin curse's crosshairs at this hour.
With all this hexing and cursing going on, there is a booming worldwide industry in hex removal. Whether or not you actually believe in hexes, you must listen to the following statement and believe it with all your heart: ANYONE WHO IS CHARGING YOU MONEY TO REMOVE A HEX IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.
Outside of the West, you can at least rest easy in the notion you might only be gouged once in your lifetime. But Westerners, and particularly Americans, are extremely vulnerable to an ongoing scam in which you go to a psychic for a reading, the psychic tells you that you have been cursed, the psychic explains they can remove the curse for $500, you give the psychic the money, your life does not improve, the psychic explains the curse was more difficult that he or she thought, the psychic offers to remove the curse for $2,000, lather, rinse and repeat with ever-increasing dollar amounts.
If you are actually worried that you have somehow been cursed (excluding that original curse from God, which is non-revokable), the good news is that there are plenty of happy, good-hearted New Agers and witches out there who will attempt to help you for free.
The bad news is that these well-intentioned persons may not be much more effective than the scam artists. But the other good news is that, even if the Good Samaritans can't help you, you will still only be cursed -- as opposed to being cursed, broke and stupid.
Curse removal techniques can involve anything from burning sage incense, to keeping amber and hematite stones on your person, wearing a talisman, sprinkling yourself with holy water, or even engaging in a full-scale Exorcism. Or harvesting human body parts, but Rotten.com does not recommend this approach. (Not even if you take pictures.)
If you can't find someone to help you for free, odds are that you're an asshole who deserved to be cursed in the first place. You might as well ride it out, because your karma will catch up to you eventually. Think of it as a get out of Purgatory early card.
The art of the hex, as it is understood today, means putting the nasty on someone you hate. A hex is the supernatural equivalent of hitting someone over the head with a folding chair. There are different sorts of hexes, but they all basically boil down to making bad things happen to people you hate.
The basic curse is arguably the oldest form of magic, having been employed by God against three residents of Eden, Adam, Eve and the snake, for the inexcusable sin of seeking knowledge. Many religions feature variations on this Judeo-Christian-Muslim story of the first sin, which seeks to explain why life sucks so bad all the time.
God's curse on mankind is the simplest form of hex, in which the hexer makes a formal pronouncement of bad things he or she wishes upon the hexee:
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The story of an original curse on humanity occurs in most cultures and religious traditions, since life pretty much sucks no matter where you live, and people wanted explanations, dammit! The spread of human-on-human cursing can pretty much be attributed to the scientific syndrome known as "monkey see, monkey do."
O
nce in the hands of humankind, the art of the hex became more nasty and considerably more elaborate. There are as many ways to cast a hex as there are bitter, spiteful, and slightly irrational people in the world.Hexes run from the very general to the very precise. The simplest hexes simply mess with the victim's mojo and cause a streak of bad luck. More sophisticated hexes can target a victim's wealth, health, even specific body parts.
The basic curse is a pretty straightforward concept. It is simply a verbalized exhortation to the fates, requesting that bad things happen to the victim. The minimum requirement for a hex involves speaking a brief description of what you want to happen to the victim, while invoking a magical name or word. For instance:
"May you wander over the face of the earth forever, never sleep twice in the same bed, never drink water twice from the same well, and never cross the same river twice in a year."
The above is allegedly a traditional Gy
psy curse. Gypsy curses are the most famous kind of curse, but the vast majority of such curses occur in a historical context that ranges in credibility from Stephen King to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Simpsons. Presumably there is some sort of historical basis for the notion, likely deriving from the cottage industry of gypsy fortune-telling, but that nugget of fact has been buried under a mountain of shit from which it may never emerge.The problem with a simple verbalized curse is that it rarely works (unless you're God or a Gypsy). That's a good thing, of course, or else the average lifespan would be 42. You'd live just long enough to ground your teenage child, who would respond, "I hate you! I wish you would die!"
Faced with this failure, many people simply abandon the notion of cursing at an early age. But some people aren't content to leave bad enough alone. Committed hexers were forced to develop ever more elaborate means to get the job done.
Th
e exact means vary widely from culture to culture, but most of them are wildly entertaining. A quick trot around the globe finds techniques and beliefs that run from the pragmatic to the bizarre. The voodoo doll is a favorite of hexers and cursers everywhere. The hexer creates a small effigy of his or her victim, usually out of wax, and includes a small item connected to the victim, such as a lock of hair or fingernail clipping. The doll is then stuck with pins or otherwise tortured in order to produce a corresponding effect on the victim's body.In China, a curse can be delivered by leaving a few grains of rice and a few pennies on the victim's door step, symbolizing a wish that the victim be stricken with poverty.
In 2004, a member of the Tanzanian parliament vowed to place an "Islamic death curse" on the members of Tanzania's executive branch if they didn't do a better job cleaning up corruption. There isn't much in the way of supporting literature for this practice, but odds are someone somewhere believes it well enough.
Surprisingly, the Catholic church not only believes in the efficacy
of curses but allows that there may be appropriate times to use them. Based on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Vatican allows that believers may:petition that calamity may be visited by God on persons or things in requital for wrongdoing. ... [If] the imprecation be directed towards irrational creatures not on account of their relation to God, but simply as they are in themselves, the guilt is no greater than that which attaches to vain and idle words, except where grave scandal is given, or the evil wished to the irrational creature cannot be separated from serious loss to a rational creature, as would be the case were one to wish the death of another's horse, or the destruction of his house by fire, for such wishes involved serious violation of charity.
In one U.S. case attributed to Santeria, a hexer adorned a victim's front step with a cow's tongue that had the names of several gods affixed to it using pins.
British witches allegedly cursed Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Aleister Crowley is reputed to have exchanged curses with MacGregor Mathers, a rival within the ranks of the occult secret society, Golden Dawn. By most accounts, Crowley was the decisive victor in this battle. Of course, most of the accounts were written by Crowley.
Aboriginal Australians believe that one can be hexed, or even killed, by pointing a kangaroo bone at them. Notable victims include non-aboriginal Australian Prime Minister John Howard (as punishment for cutting off an aboriginal self-governance program).
While the ancient Egyptians frequently used curses to protect grave sites, the legendary curse of young King Tutankhamun is apparently mythical. Various inscriptions have been reported in media and historical accounts of the tomb's discovery. None of them are real. That didn't keep six members of the archaeological team that discovered the tomb from early and unfortunate deaths, but it's worth noting that the man most responsible for the opening of the tomb, archaeologist Howard Carter, died of old age.
Hardly a week goes by without a new report about someone, somewhere, collecting human body parts for use either in casting a curse or removing a curse. Reports come in regularly from across Africa, from South America, from everywhere in Europe and occasionally from North America (where practitioners restrain themselves mainly due to fear of becoming the latest New York Post headline).
The
Romans inscribed the names of hex victims onto thin metal sheets, which were then rolled up and pierced by nails. The archaeological records suggest these curse were mostly issued over penny-ante debts, which detracts from the romantic adventure of the whole thing.Rasputin is said to have cursed the Romanovs, Russia's ru
ling monarchs, on his death bed. His angst may have had to do with the fact he had been shot, drowned and castrated by a Romanov prince. It was extraordinarily effective, as curses go. The entire family was dead within a year.The infamous ancient Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times" is apparently neither Chinese nor ancient. Made popular when uttered by John F. Kennedy, the phrase doesn't appear to have a pedigree going further back than the 20th century, although the exact origin of the phrase is still under debate. Once we cure cancer, end world hunger, solve global terrorism and figure out whether there's a God, we'll get back to you with a definitive answer on this.
Hindus and Buddhists believe in karma, the self-correcting law of the universe that sooner or later forces you to accept the consequences of your evil deeds. This would seem to make curses superfluous, however you wouldn't know it on a tour of India's occultish hotspots.
The so-called "hex signs" of the Pennsylvania Dutch have nothing to do with hexes. Let us never speak of this again.
The Algonquin tribe of Native Americans famously cursed its enemies, including a famous hex that the president holding office every 20 years after 1820 would die in office. The only president to dodge that bullet so far was Ronald Reagan, who literally had to dodge a bullet to escape. We don't know if the curse keeps George W Bush up nights, but he's sitting right in the Algonquin curse's crosshairs at this hour.
With all this hexing and cursing going on, there is a booming worldwide industry in hex removal. Whether or not you actually believe in hexes, you must listen to the following statement and believe it with all your heart: ANYONE WHO IS CHARGING YOU MONEY TO REMOVE A HEX IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.
Outside of the West, you can at least rest easy in the notion you might only be gouged once in your lifetime. But Westerners, and particularly Americans, are extremely vulnerable to an ongoing scam in which you go to a psychic for a reading, the psychic tells you that you have been cursed, the psychic explains they can remove the curse for $500, you give the psychic the money, your life does not improve, the psychic explains the curse was more difficult that he or she thought, the psychic offers to remove the curse for $2,000, lather, rinse and repeat with ever-increasing dollar amounts.
If you are actually worried that you have somehow been cursed (excluding that original curse from God, which is non-revokable), the good news is that there are plenty of happy, good-hearted New Agers and witches out there who will attempt to help you for free.
The bad news is that these well-intentioned persons may not be much more effective than the scam artists. But the other good news is that, even if the Good Samaritans can't help you, you will still only be cursed -- as opposed to being cursed, broke and stupid.
Curse removal techniques can involve anything from burning sage incense, to keeping amber and hematite stones on your person, wearing a talisman, sprinkling yourself with holy water, or even engaging in a full-scale Exorcism. Or harvesting human body parts, but Rotten.com does not recommend this approach. (Not even if you take pictures.)
If you can't find someone to help you for free, odds are that you're an asshole who deserved to be cursed in the first place. You might as well ride it out, because your karma will catch up to you eventually. Think of it as a get out of Purgatory early card.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Exorcism
Exorcism
In the olden days, primitive people laughably believed that mental illnesses and epileptic fits were caused by evil demons possessing the bodies of humans. They ridiculously treated these maladies with exorcism, a one-time process in which the demons were expelled, allowing the person to return to normal life.
In these enlightened times of course, there is no "cure" for mental illness, which is now humanely treated with neuron-destroying drugs, involuntary commitment, neverending codependency with psychoanalysts and intermittent lifelong bouts of hospitalization with other raving lunatics. Thank God for progress!
Exorcism is one of the most widespread practices in human history. Almost every known religion has some context in which possession is considered possible, although the interpretation of such possession can vary widely. Various religions, such the ancient Greeks and practitioners of Voudoun (or "voodoo," if you're a neanderthal, non-PC bastard), actually embrace possession as part of their religious rituals. The difference in voudoun, of course, is that the possessing spirit (known as a loa) politely and considerately leaves at the end of the ceremony, with the possessed person's body in pretty much the same shape as he or she left it.
When an invading spirit is not so polite and considerate as a loa, exorcism is called for.
By far the most famous form of exorcism is the Christian form of the practice, specifically the Roman Catholic ceremony famously depicted in the 1973 schlock horror fest, "The Exorcist." While the details of exorcism are generally not thought to be so Hollywood friendly, the general thrust of the movie gives a pretty good idea of the basic components. Exorcism generally involves a lot of telling the bad spirit to go away. When the bad spirit fails to comply, the exorcist might slap it around (or rather, slap around the body of the person unfortunate enough to be acting as host), splash holy water or other sanctified stuff, invoke ancient rituals and, as a last resort, fall down the stairs.
The Catholic exorcism ritual has been largely unchanged since the 17th century, with most of the revisions pertaining to raising the standard for determining when exorcism is a preferable treatment to Thorazine, but the Church rather stridently insists that exorcism remain a viable option, in light of the canonical absolute insistence on the existence of Satan. In fact, the Vatican's chief exorcist is on the record saying it is heretical to deny the reality of possession and exorcism, so disbelievers are just begging to have a Crusade land on their heads.
Exorcism is one of the most widespread practices in human history. Almost every known religion has some context in which possession is considered possible, although the interpretation of such possession can vary widely. Various religions, such the ancient Greeks and practitioners of Voudoun (or "voodoo," if you're a neanderthal, non-PC bastard), actually embrace possession as part of their religious rituals. The difference in voudoun, of course, is that the possessing spirit (known as a loa) politely and considerately leaves at the end of the ceremony, with the possessed person's body in pretty much the same shape as he or she left it.
When an invading spirit is not so polite and considerate as a loa, exorcism is called for.
By far the most famous form of exorcism is the Christian form of the practice, specifically the Roman Catholic ceremony famously depicted in the 1973 schlock horror fest, "The Exorcist." While the details of exorcism are generally not thought to be so Hollywood friendly, the general thrust of the movie gives a pretty good idea of the basic components. Exorcism generally involves a lot of telling the bad spirit to go away. When the bad spirit fails to comply, the exorcist might slap it around (or rather, slap around the body of the person unfortunate enough to be acting as host), splash holy water or other sanctified stuff, invoke ancient rituals and, as a last resort, fall down the stairs.
The Catholic exorcism ritual has been largely unchanged since the 17th century, with most of the revisions pertaining to raising the standard for determining when exorcism is a preferable treatment to Thorazine, but the Church rather stridently insists that exorcism remain a viable option, in light of the canonical absolute insistence on the existence of Satan. In fact, the Vatican's chief exorcist is on the record saying it is heretical to deny the reality of possession and exorcism, so disbelievers are just begging to have a Crusade land on their heads.
In the case of really tough possessions, the pope gets involved. The number and nature of these incidents are a closely guarded secret in the secret archives of the Vatican, but one can presume these cases are on a Hollywood scale, with victims floating over the bed, projectile vomiting and ominous statements about what the pope's mother might be getting up to in hell.
Which brings us, inevitably, to the movie. "The Exorcist" is based on a "true story" of a possession in Maryland in the 1940s. In the real-life case, a boy somewhere between 12 and 15 was allegedly the subject of a full-blown Hollywood-style exorcism, complete with special effects and plot twists. In reality, the details of the story are much contested and several versions of the tale are circulating. Highlights include the infamous "floating over the bed" routine and poltergeist activity of various sorts.
Author William Blatty took these sketchy stories and wove them into a novel, which then became a movie. His protagonist, a 12-year-old girl, performs a long string of various blasphemies, including masturbating with a crucifix, spitting blue and purple bile across the room and famously informing the attending exorcist that his mother "sucks cocks in hell." In addition to permanently scarring the young actress, Linda Blair, the movie's borderline snuff-pedophilia-religious-porn overtones warped a generation of viewers and spawned an unholy slew of inferior sequels.
Which brings us, inevitably, to the movie. "The Exorcist" is based on a "true story" of a possession in Maryland in the 1940s. In the real-life case, a boy somewhere between 12 and 15 was allegedly the subject of a full-blown Hollywood-style exorcism, complete with special effects and plot twists. In reality, the details of the story are much contested and several versions of the tale are circulating. Highlights include the infamous "floating over the bed" routine and poltergeist activity of various sorts.
Author William Blatty took these sketchy stories and wove them into a novel, which then became a movie. His protagonist, a 12-year-old girl, performs a long string of various blasphemies, including masturbating with a crucifix, spitting blue and purple bile across the room and famously informing the attending exorcist that his mother "sucks cocks in hell." In addition to permanently scarring the young actress, Linda Blair, the movie's borderline snuff-pedophilia-religious-porn overtones warped a generation of viewers and spawned an unholy slew of inferior sequels.
Catholic icon Mother Teresa is perhaps the most famous victim of demonic possession (aside from baseless speculation regarding Wayne Newton). She requested the ritual after a visiting archbishop suggested her insomnia might be demonically inspired.
The ritual worked miracles, just like a half-tab of Halcion. When asked if the presence of dirty, filthy, unsanctified devil spunk in her frail body might be considered a negative for her posthumous sainthood campaign, the archbishop told the Associated Press, and I quote, "No way!" Right on, brother!
The ultimate uber-exorcist, of course, was Jesus Christ himself, who reputedly cast out bunches of demons on general principal, with the side benefit that it qualified him as the fulfillment of various biblical prophecies. One particularly colorful tale has Jesus casting out multiple demons from a single victim and banishing them to death in the bodies of pigs.
Catholics and movie-makers don't have a exclusive lock on exorcism, however. Evangelical Protestant have a thriving exorcism practice as well. The evangelicals have a less formal approach however, without the Latin pedigree and the chrism. Evangelical exorcism is a lot like evangelical healing — a lot of smacking people on the head and crying out the name of Jesus. Some evangelical preachers perform exorcisms over the radio, TV or telephone.
The ritual worked miracles, just like a half-tab of Halcion. When asked if the presence of dirty, filthy, unsanctified devil spunk in her frail body might be considered a negative for her posthumous sainthood campaign, the archbishop told the Associated Press, and I quote, "No way!" Right on, brother!
The ultimate uber-exorcist, of course, was Jesus Christ himself, who reputedly cast out bunches of demons on general principal, with the side benefit that it qualified him as the fulfillment of various biblical prophecies. One particularly colorful tale has Jesus casting out multiple demons from a single victim and banishing them to death in the bodies of pigs.
Catholics and movie-makers don't have a exclusive lock on exorcism, however. Evangelical Protestant have a thriving exorcism practice as well. The evangelicals have a less formal approach however, without the Latin pedigree and the chrism. Evangelical exorcism is a lot like evangelical healing — a lot of smacking people on the head and crying out the name of Jesus. Some evangelical preachers perform exorcisms over the radio, TV or telephone.
Then there's the Assemblies of God, which boasts as its most famous member U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Assemblies are extremely concerned with possession, because of the "spread of oriental religions and the occult" in America — they literally believe that power yoga is a tool of the devil.
The Attorney General's religion teaches that the main danger related to demon possession is directly related to a preoccupation with the "sexy" side of demonic activity, such as projectile vomiting. According to the A.G. (the Assemblies, not Ashcroft necessarily): "There seems to be no basis in Scripture for the accompanying preoccupation with external phenomena, such as vomiting up various substances in connection with the casting out of demons (forgetting that demons are spirit beings). In the one instance in which foaming is mandated, Scripture makes it clear that this was a consistent pattern prior to the time the demon was cast out and not a phenomenon occurring only at the time of exorcism."
Now that we've cleared that up, the position of the Assemblies is that demonic possession is a very real phenomenon, but "true Christians" are immune by virtue of their... well, virtuousness. So if you're possessed, you have a legit problem, but you probably deserve it.
The Attorney General's religion teaches that the main danger related to demon possession is directly related to a preoccupation with the "sexy" side of demonic activity, such as projectile vomiting. According to the A.G. (the Assemblies, not Ashcroft necessarily): "There seems to be no basis in Scripture for the accompanying preoccupation with external phenomena, such as vomiting up various substances in connection with the casting out of demons (forgetting that demons are spirit beings). In the one instance in which foaming is mandated, Scripture makes it clear that this was a consistent pattern prior to the time the demon was cast out and not a phenomenon occurring only at the time of exorcism."
Now that we've cleared that up, the position of the Assemblies is that demonic possession is a very real phenomenon, but "true Christians" are immune by virtue of their... well, virtuousness. So if you're possessed, you have a legit problem, but you probably deserve it.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
After the Space Shuttle, What?
The U.S. space program is veering toward an ominous black hole with the shuttle era set to end in 2010 and a replacement system still about seven years from being ready for launch. The gap will make NASA more vulnerable to funding cuts as federal budget woes mount in the years after the shuttles' exit.
But NASA's pain will be the private sector's gain as the agency seeks to share its cost burden by investing more in private industry space efforts. Helping private companies develop rockets and crew capsules for missions that the shuttles currently perform will help free NASA to concentrate more fully on its goals of returning men to the moon and eventually sending a manned mission to Mars.
A first glimpse into how successful NASA's public-private partnership -- known as Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS -- will come in 2010. At that point, two competing firms will receive word on whether they've passed initial muster on NASA's tests of their ability to develop technology for practical space transportation services. The two companies -- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of El Segundo, Calif., and Rocketplane Kistler of Oklahoma City -- will make about $500 million if they meet set milestones. NASA then plans a second round of bidding, seeking firms that can actually supply transportation services for the space agency.
If successful, the COTS program will help make low-Earth-orbit missions cheaper, safer and more frequent, a boon to communications and other companies that now find themselves on long waiting lists to put new satellites into orbit, Moreover, it will reduce U.S. reliance on other countries' rockets and reinvigorate the U.S. launch service industry, which has become less and less competitive globally in recent years, thanks to strict U.S. export controls.
NASA's planned replacement for the remaining three space shuttles -- Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour -- is going to look familiar to those who grew up watching the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. Borrowing from the past, the next generation of NASA-run spaceflights -- dubbed the Constellation program -- will have a crew capsule atop a rocket, though the capsule design known as Orion will have more-advanced communications, navigation and other technology than its 1960s forerunners. The rocket that will put Orion into orbit is called Ares I. Although much of the work is being done in-house at NASA's research centers, private firms Boeing Co., Alliant Techsystems subsidiary ATK Thiokol of Brigham City, Utah, and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., are the major contractors for Ares I. Lockheed Martin Corp. is the prime contractor for the crew vehicle.
But the Ares I rocket and the Orion module won't be ready for launch until 2014. Even meeting that deadline will depend on the space agency's being able to preserve its budget in the face of competing demands from defense (both during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and in rebuilding the military afterward), health care, Social Security and other pressing concerns. Until then, NASA will have to rely on Russian rockets to send its astronauts into orbit. "It's going to be an embarrassing time for the U.S.," says J.P. Stevens, vice president for space systems at the Aerospace Industries Association.
The next phase of Constellation will be the design and construction of a much larger launch vehicle known as the Ares V. As envisioned, the Ares V would carry with it all the additional supplies a manned lunar mission might require. Once both are in orbit, the Orion capsule would rendezvous and dock with the Ares V, and the joint spacecraft would proceed to the moon. Under the effort outlined by President Bush, resuming lunar missions would be the first step toward envisioned manned missions to Mars.
The earliest the new lunar missions could conceivably take place would be in 2020. But again, competing budget pressures are likely to push back that timetable. And politics is also intruding into the mix. "Now that Democrats have recaptured Congress, no one is interested in finding funding for Bush's initiative," says Alex Roland, professor of history at Duke University and a former chief historian of NASA. The odds are that, long before another American sets foot on the moon, China's "taikonauts" will get there first. The China National Space Administration is already on track to send an unmanned mission to the moon by 2010.
Siberian Husky History
The Beginning -Siberia
The Siberian Husky was developed over a period of around 3,000 years by the Chukchi and related peoples of Siberia, the breed was developed to fulfill a particular need of the Chukchi life and culture. In one of the most inhospitable climates in the world, with temperatures plummeting to (-1000F)C in winter and with winds up to 100 mph, the Chukchi relied on there dogs for survival, as they were a remarkable tool of ingenuity. In teams as large as twenty or more they could travel out over the ice sometimes covering as much as 100 miles in a single day to allow a single man to ice-fish and return with his catch, by sled dog standards they were small the large size of the teams minimized per-dog pulling power, while smaller frames maximized endurance and low energy consumption. (Even today, in long races, Alaskan Huskies the Siberians cousins require twice the amount of food the Siberians consume)
The Chukchi economy and religious life was centered around the Huskies. The best dogs were owned by the richest members of the community, and this is precisely why they were richest members of the community. Many religious ceremonies and iconography was centered around the huskies, according to Chukchi belief two huskies guard the gates of heaven turning away anybody that has shown cruelty to a dog in there life time. A Chukchi legend tells of a time of famine both human and dog populations were decimated, the last two remaining pups were nursed at a woman's breast to insure the survival of the breed.
Tribe life revolved around the dogs The women of the tribe reared the pups and chose what pups to keep, discarding all but the most promising bitches and neutering all but the most promising males. The men's responsibility was sled training, mostly geldings were used. huskies also would act as companions for the children and families dogs slept inside the temperatures at night were even measured in terms of the number of dogs necessary to keep a body warm eg. "two dog night, Three dognight Etc." The legendary sweetness of temperament was no accident.100 miles out on the ice, a single man with twenty dogs, if there's a dog fight , he simply does not get home (this is also one of the reasons for using geldings; the other being food consumption is lowered ).
In the nineteenth century, when Czarist troops were sent on a mission to open the area to the fur trade the Chukchi faced a peril even deadlier than the Siberian winters Czarist troops attempted an all -out genocide of the Chukchi people. Again, the dogs would be the key to there survival. The Chukchi were able to outrun the Russian reindeer cavalry on their sleds, the Chukchi to evaded the invading armies for some time. The invasion culminating in a final battle were the Chukchi armed only with spears overwhelmingly outnumbered trapped and routed a heavily armed Russian Troops. This victory led to Czarist Russia signing a treaty with the Chukchi giving them independence the first tribe to do so Unfortunately in the twentieth century, the Soviets opened free trade with the Chukchi, then known as the "Apaches of the North," these invaders had a far more effective weapon smallpox! Small pox decimated the tribe. Then with a diabolical understanding of the importance of the dogs in Chukchi cultural coherence, the Soviets then executed the village leaders, who were of course the dog breeders, They then set up their own dog breeding programs these were designed to obliterate the native gene pool the soviets wanted replace it with a gene pool that would produce a much larger freighting dog thought to be more effective for their own proposed fur-trading practices in the region. The Soviets even went so far, in 1952, as issuing an official proclamation that the breed we now call the Siberian Husky never really existed. Some remnant of the breed still survives in its native territory today. The painter Jon Van Zyle has managed to bring back several from the region. If you have seen the old National Geographic Special on the Siberian tiger will have noticed that one of the two dogs used in the tracking and pursuit of one of these animals was Siberian Husky undoubtedly
East to Alaska
Long before the Soviets managed to relegate them to the category of "those who officially never existed." The reputation of the little Chukchi dogs had already spread throughout the world around the turn of the twentieth century, polar exploration was capturing the worlds attention and adventurers came to the yearly Markova Fair on the Siberian peninsula where tribes of the area came to trade. This gathering included the Chukchi and other dog-breeding tribes, such as the Koryak (all of whom probably had some part in the pool of animals that eventually became the Siberian Husky). Gdosak, a Russian fur trader acquired a team there in 1908 and, in 1909, took them across the Bering Strait to race in the All Alaska Sweepstakes, a 408-mile, grueling race first run in 1908.The Alaskan Gold Rush had established the sled dog as an invaluable commodity, and the race had been instituted to add excitement to an otherwise pretty grim world, to give bragging rights to the eventual winner, and to give vent to that favorite frontier boomtown passion, gambling.Nome to Candle and back,was the route of the race crossing every conceivable terrain, including a valley almost always engulfed in a blizzard. Caches of food were strategically stashed along the route by drivers. Regular checkpoints were established, but rest was at each driver's discretion. The Trade Saloon in Nome,was the betting office bets were placed on a board and betting was open until the first team crossed the finish line. School children had a holidays the four days of the race and at the start of the race in 1909 event, there was already more than $100,000 bet on the race.The siberians were about half the weight of the local sled dogs, and much smaller in stature. They were given little chance by the bookies , referred to then as Siberian Wolf Dogs. They were dubbed "Siberian Rats,"because of their small stature. But Thurstrup was convinced by Goosak to take on the team.in April 1909, the first team of Siberian Huskies to be seen on the North American continent trotted out of the town of Nome and into the annals of history.Unfortunetly, Thurstrup was not a wise or judicious driver. At the halfway point in the race, he took a short rest period in Candle,he was overtaken by two more rested teams in the last stretch of the race. and finished in third place.The little dogs suprised everyone. This Inspired a young Scot named Fox Maule Ramsey to spend $25,000 on a freighter to transport seventy new Siberians across the Bering Sea,. He split these into three teams for the 1910 race, the results were first, second, and fourth place places.
John "Iron Man" Johnson
The legendary John "Iron Man" Johnson team finished first in this 1910 race was driven by , who completed the race in 74 hours, 14 minutes, 37 seconds. This time was never equaled, even when the race was rerun within the last decade with the benefit of modern equipment, better nutrition, and supposedly more specialized hybrid "race dogs:'Next few years, of the race were plagued with scandal with rumors that Johnson's dogs had been drugged near the end of the race or that the moneyed interests had actually convinced him to throw the race, and it was not until 1914 that Johnson again won the event.
"The Little Man with His Little Dogs"
Daring his first trip east, the redoubtable Leonhard Seppala and his celebrated "Serum Run" team posed for this photo on the roof of a department store in Providence, Rhode Island. One of these dogs actually leaped over the roof s guard wall of this very tall building that dci). Fortunatel); he was saved whe.n his fall was broken by a projecting awning.
Born in Skjervoy, Norway, inside the Arctic Circle Leonhard Seppala came to Alaska as a young man around 1900 seeking fortune and adventure. A short man at only about 5 feet tall, Seppala had been an Arctic fisherman since he was 11years old, an apprentice blacksmith to his father, and was an accomplished wrestler and skier. Seppalla worked at various jobs in the mining camps. In 1914, Jafet Lindeberg, his employer, acquired what was left of the first Siberian imports and their offspring, around fifteen animals in all. They were to be a gift to the explorer Captain Roald Amundsen, who was planning a expedition to the North Pole. Seppala was given the job of the care and training of the dogs, and he loved it.
When World War I broke out it changed Amundsen’s plans, and Seppala ended up in possession of the dogs. He entered the 1914 All Alaska Sweepstakes, but with disastrous results he had to drop out early when he lost the trail, and his dogs’ feet got badly cut.He trained hard in secret, far from town,Blitzing the field in the 1915 Sweepstakes by over and hour . He repeated this victory in 1916 and 1917, at which time the increased war effort and the lack of any real competition for him caused the race to be discontinued.
“the little man with his little dogs,”as he came to be known, became a legend in Alaska, remaining devoted to his Siberians hauling freight and supplies, setting many new records in mid-distance races, and on several occasions being involved in truly heroic exploits he once, unarmed, chasing down an armed kidnapper, and on another occasion transporting a man mangled in a sawmill accident oVer a long distance at a speed no one thought possible.In 1925, Seppala and his Siberians came to national prominence, with the famous "Serum Run" that saved the city of Nome from a diphtheria epidemic. Seppala and his Siberians, with his famous lead dog Togo, covered 340 miles in that race against death, with no other team traveling more than 53 miles.
Toga, leader in the serum drive.
Togo became permanently lame from that marathon run. Seppala credited Togo with over 5,000 miles in his running career. The teams had covered a distance of 650 miles that normally took the mail teams twenty-five days, and they did it in just five and a half days. Senator Dill of Washington state had the story written into the Congressional Record, one sentence of which reads, "Men had thought the limit of speed and endurance had been reached in the grueling races of Alaska, but a race for sport and money proved to have far less stimulus than this contest in which humanity was the urge and life was the prize.
A Challenge in New England
A contrast of stvles-Leonhard Seppala (left) and Arthur Walden (right) and their leader dogs pose with their racing trophies in this intriguing vintage study
After the Serum Run Seppala was a national hero and he marched in parades and posed for glamorous photographs in his equally glamorous furs, sometimes in 900F weather.All this fame and notoritity brought a challenge from Arthur Walden the polar explorer, adventurer, and full-time blowhard,he challenged Seppala to come to New England to race against his locally famous Chinook dogs, a strain of large, Mastiff-types he had developed from a single dog. This dog, named Chinook, gained fame on Admiral Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition. Walden would become Byrd's chief dog handler on that voyage, was the president of the New England Sled Dog Club, and was generally considered unbeatable.
Seppala accepted the challenge, As they drove their teams for three days to get to the site of the race, Seppala was careful to keep his dogs in check and letting Walden gain a false sense of confidence. Seppala figured his dogs may be out of condition from all their parade appearances and wasn't sure how they would perform on the New England trails. As the two teams lined up the Chinooks weighing in at 90 to 100 pounds, the Siberians at around half that weightthe contrast was striking . many New Englanders objected to the race on humanitarian grounds, considering the Siberians too small to compete (There were even nutters like that in them days) Dick Moulton, who would later become Byrd's chief dog handler and a two-time Congressional Medal of Honor winner (once for saving the Admiral's wife and once for his search-and-rescue missions during the Battle of the Bulge), was a teenager at the time. Moulton remembered vividly the stark contrast between the dogs as the two teams were boarded at opposite ends of a barn the night before the race. "At one end," he says, were Walden's great big Chinooks, while at the other were these sweet, little, kind of foxy Siberian dogs who stood up on their hind legs to greet you, and their heads were hardly higher than your waist."What was not Known in 1925, was that if you double a dog's size, you only increase heart and lung capacity by about a 30 percent therefore big dogs tire much sooner than medium-sized dogs. the next day Seppala simply left Walden's team in his dust , changing the history of New England sled dog racing for all time. Admiral Byrd, himself, would learn the same lesson when he reprimanded Moulton, upon first arriving on his second Antarctic expedition, asking why in the world he had brought such little dogs. Moulton simply demurred, and Byrd then took ofin at this point in the story, a twinkle in his eyes. "You see," he says, "I knew that not only do big dogs get tired quicky, they also need a long time to rest. But I wasn't going tell HIM that!"
Early New England Breeders
Elizabeth Ricker (later Nansen) with a group of famous early sled dogs. In the fore ground. from left. are Sugruk, Mukluk and Sapsuk ii. The dogs in the background are Jean (left) and Sepp I. (Warren Rover)
The Last of the Imports, andAKC Recognition
Seppala stayed on in New England for a time, winning pretty much all the races and planting the seeds of the future Siberian Husky that would come to be officially recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1930.A partnership with Seppala and a woman named Elizabeth Ricker, Elizabeth had imported the last Siberians to come directly from Siberia and was an avid sled dog enthusiast, Nine of these were selected by the renowned expert on Siberian dogs,Olaf Swenson, but the ship that brought them to the United States became stranded in ice for the winter, and only four survived.Kreevanka and Tserko were the most influential of these males, who, along with the legendary Togo, his father Suggen, and the beautiful leader Fritz, probably figure in the pedigree of every Siberian Husky living-if one were to trace back that far.The dogs developed by the Seppala-Ricker partnership eventually went to Harry Wheeler of St. Jovite, Canada, in 1932 when Elizabeth Ricker married the explorer Kaare Nansen and gave up her dogs. From these, in turn, came the animals that would form the three most influential kennels in the establishment and development of the AKC-recognized Siberian Husky: Milton and Eva Seeley’s Chinook Kennels, Nicholas and Lorna Demidoff’s Monadnock Kennels, and Mrs. Marie Lee Frothingham’s Gold River Kennels.
The last of the imports, circa 1930. Kreevanka is the light dog at far left, Tserko is the dark dog at far right.
Chinook
In 1929 shortly after his return from the Antarctic on the first Byrd expedition Arthur Walden sold Chinook Kennels to Milton and Eva Seeley acquired . This was . Milton had just been diagnosed with diabetes and was advised by his doctor to take up country living. It was at Chinook that the dogs were trained for Byrd’s second and third Antarctic expeditions, and there that most of the Search and Rescue teams used in World War II were developed. Like Elizabeth Ricker before them, the Seeleys bred both Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies, and are seen as doing much of the important foundation work in both breeds. For their Siberian stock, they combined animals from Harry Wheeler and chose coming directly from Alaska to produce several of the first champions in the breed after AKC recognition. Their most famous and influential animals were probably Ch. Wonalancet’s Baldy of Alyeska (sire of the extremely influential Izok of Gap Mountain) and Ch. Alyeska’s Suggen of Chinook, both of whom proved important to the development of the Demidoffs’ Monadnock line along with many others. Milton Seeley died in 1944, but Eva (affectionatly acely known to all as “Short”) continued to be very influential in the breed (judging, driving, breeding, and serving in many capacities for the Siberian Husky Club of America, of which both Seeleys had been founding members) for decades thereafter. When Short Seeley died in 1985, Chinook Kennels became an official historic landmark of the State of Vermont, and can be visited to this day.
Monadnock
Lorna Demidoff became interested in sled dogs while married to Moseley Taylor, who was the owner of the Boston Globe. Moseley purchased Lorna her first Siberians from the Seeleys, along with a dog named Tuck who was from the Mike Cooney/John "Iron Man" Johnson kennels in Alaska. Lorna became the first woman to win a race,finished her first champion (and first Group placer in the breed) in 1939, her first home-bred champion in 1941, and became, for the next three decades, the most prominent breeder of Siberian show dogs and breeding stock in the United States. Having divorced Mosely Taylor, she married Nicholas Demidoff, an emigre Russian prince, in 1941, becoming affectionately known as "the Princess." She fielded competitive teams through the 1950s and continued to drive her pleasure teams until well into her sixties. Her animals may have won more National Specialties than anyone else's before or since, and her Ch. Monadnock's Pando was possibly the most influential stud dog in the history of the breed. (When he was shown for the last time in the Veterans' Class at age 14 in Philadelphia, he not only received a standing ovation, but was discovered to be the progenitor of 100 of the 103 Siberians shown that day!)With his son, Ch. Monadnock's King, he won every major Best Brace in Show award for which they competed, and virtually spearheaded the black-and-white, blue-eyed fashion in the breed. Lorna once told me the author said she regretted having started "that craze" and also regretted letting Pando be used at stud on so many bitches. "But,you know' she said, "there were so many shy dogs in those days that if the bitch had a good temperament I usually accepted her for breeding." I think this is a very telling comment because, although she was known (quite rightly) for establishing consistency of type in the breed, her greatest gift was probably in the area of making more consistent the confident, friendly temperament we so much value in the Siberian today. Until her death in 1993, Lorna Dernidoff remained the "premier" breeder- judge of Siberians and one of America's most respected Group and Best in Show judges.
Cold River
Affectionately Known as "the Duchess," Mrs. Marie Lee Frothingliam did not follow her friends Short Seeley and Lorna Demidoff into the show ring, with the consequent stronger focus on greater consistency of type, markings, and furnishings. However She did produce several influential show champions, most significantly Ch. Helen of Cold River (Dr. Roland Lombard's great racing leader) but her focus remained racing. Though she never drove a team herself she fielded some of the most competitive teams of her time, 1936-56, often two top-flight teams per race. When she retired, some of her better animals were passed onto her then driver/trainer team, Lyle and Marguerite Grant, to form their famous Marlytuk Kennels. Many of these dogs, though still very capable running dogs, became dominant show dogs, particularly the multiple-Specialty winner and famous producer, Ch. Marlytuk's Red Son of Kiska, sired by the last great Monadnock stud, Ch. Monadnock's Akela.
The Siberian Husky was developed over a period of around 3,000 years by the Chukchi and related peoples of Siberia, the breed was developed to fulfill a particular need of the Chukchi life and culture. In one of the most inhospitable climates in the world, with temperatures plummeting to (-1000F)C in winter and with winds up to 100 mph, the Chukchi relied on there dogs for survival, as they were a remarkable tool of ingenuity. In teams as large as twenty or more they could travel out over the ice sometimes covering as much as 100 miles in a single day to allow a single man to ice-fish and return with his catch, by sled dog standards they were small the large size of the teams minimized per-dog pulling power, while smaller frames maximized endurance and low energy consumption. (Even today, in long races, Alaskan Huskies the Siberians cousins require twice the amount of food the Siberians consume)
The Chukchi economy and religious life was centered around the Huskies. The best dogs were owned by the richest members of the community, and this is precisely why they were richest members of the community. Many religious ceremonies and iconography was centered around the huskies, according to Chukchi belief two huskies guard the gates of heaven turning away anybody that has shown cruelty to a dog in there life time. A Chukchi legend tells of a time of famine both human and dog populations were decimated, the last two remaining pups were nursed at a woman's breast to insure the survival of the breed.
Tribe life revolved around the dogs The women of the tribe reared the pups and chose what pups to keep, discarding all but the most promising bitches and neutering all but the most promising males. The men's responsibility was sled training, mostly geldings were used. huskies also would act as companions for the children and families dogs slept inside the temperatures at night were even measured in terms of the number of dogs necessary to keep a body warm eg. "two dog night, Three dognight Etc." The legendary sweetness of temperament was no accident.100 miles out on the ice, a single man with twenty dogs, if there's a dog fight , he simply does not get home (this is also one of the reasons for using geldings; the other being food consumption is lowered ).
When winter came, all dogs were tied up when not working, but the elite unneutered dogs were allowed to roam and breed at will, this insured that only the very best would breed. In summer, all dogs were releasesed and allowed to hunt in packs, they would only return to the villages when the snow returned and food grew scarce. The primitive hunting instincts can still be found in the breed today. A story documented a number of years ago testifies to this Siberian bitch a family's pet was lost during an autumn hik
In the nineteenth century, when Czarist troops were sent on a mission to open the area to the fur trade the Chukchi faced a peril even deadlier than the Siberian winters Czarist troops attempted an all -out genocide of the Chukchi people. Again, the dogs would be the key to there survival. The Chukchi were able to outrun the Russian reindeer cavalry on their sleds, the Chukchi to evaded the invading armies for some time. The invasion culminating in a final battle were the Chukchi armed only with spears overwhelmingly outnumbered trapped and routed a heavily armed Russian Troops. This victory led to Czarist Russia signing a treaty with the Chukchi giving them independence the first tribe to do so Unfortunately in the twentieth century, the Soviets opened free trade with the Chukchi, then known as the "Apaches of the North," these invaders had a far more effective weapon smallpox! Small pox decimated the tribe. Then with a diabolical understanding of the importance of the dogs in Chukchi cultural coherence, the Soviets then executed the village leaders, who were of course the dog breeders, They then set up their own dog breeding programs these were designed to obliterate the native gene pool the soviets wanted replace it with a gene pool that would produce a much larger freighting dog thought to be more effective for their own proposed fur-trading practices in the region. The Soviets even went so far, in 1952, as issuing an official proclamation that the breed we now call the Siberian Husky never really existed. Some remnant of the breed still survives in its native territory today. The painter Jon Van Zyle has managed to bring back several from the region. If you have seen the old National Geographic Special on the Siberian tiger will have noticed that one of the two dogs used in the tracking and pursuit of one of these animals was Siberian Husky undoubtedly
East to Alaska
Long before the Soviets managed to relegate them to the category of "those who officially never existed." The reputation of the little Chukchi dogs had already spread throughout the world around the turn of the twentieth century, polar exploration was capturing the worlds attention and adventurers came to the yearly Markova Fair on the Siberian peninsula where tribes of the area came to trade. This gathering included the Chukchi and other dog-breeding tribes, such as the Koryak (all of whom probably had some part in the pool of animals that eventually became the Siberian Husky). Gdosak, a Russian fur trader acquired a team there in 1908 and, in 1909, took them across the Bering Strait to race in the All Alaska Sweepstakes, a 408-mile, grueling race first run in 1908.The Alaskan Gold Rush had established the sled dog as an invaluable commodity, and the race had been instituted to add excitement to an otherwise pretty grim world, to give bragging rights to the eventual winner, and to give vent to that favorite frontier boomtown passion, gambling.Nome to Candle and back,was the route of the race crossing every conceivable terrain, including a valley almost always engulfed in a blizzard. Caches of food were strategically stashed along the route by drivers. Regular checkpoints were established, but rest was at each driver's discretion. The Trade Saloon in Nome,was the betting office bets were placed on a board and betting was open until the first team crossed the finish line. School children had a holidays the four days of the race and at the start of the race in 1909 event, there was already more than $100,000 bet on the race.The siberians were about half the weight of the local sled dogs, and much smaller in stature. They were given little chance by the bookies , referred to then as Siberian Wolf Dogs. They were dubbed "Siberian Rats,"because of their small stature. But Thurstrup was convinced by Goosak to take on the team.in April 1909, the first team of Siberian Huskies to be seen on the North American continent trotted out of the town of Nome and into the annals of history.Unfortunetly, Thurstrup was not a wise or judicious driver. At the halfway point in the race, he took a short rest period in Candle,he was overtaken by two more rested teams in the last stretch of the race. and finished in third place.The little dogs suprised everyone. This Inspired a young Scot named Fox Maule Ramsey to spend $25,000 on a freighter to transport seventy new Siberians across the Bering Sea,. He split these into three teams for the 1910 race, the results were first, second, and fourth place places.
John "Iron Man" Johnson
The legendary John "Iron Man" Johnson team finished first in this 1910 race was driven by , who completed the race in 74 hours, 14 minutes, 37 seconds. This time was never equaled, even when the race was rerun within the last decade with the benefit of modern equipment, better nutrition, and supposedly more specialized hybrid "race dogs:'Next few years, of the race were plagued with scandal with rumors that Johnson's dogs had been drugged near the end of the race or that the moneyed interests had actually convinced him to throw the race, and it was not until 1914 that Johnson again won the event.
"The Little Man with His Little Dogs"
Daring his first trip east, the redoubtable Leonhard Seppala and his celebrated "Serum Run" team posed for this photo on the roof of a department store in Providence, Rhode Island. One of these dogs actually leaped over the roof s guard wall of this very tall building that dci). Fortunatel); he was saved whe.n his fall was broken by a projecting awning.
Born in Skjervoy, Norway, inside the Arctic Circle Leonhard Seppala came to Alaska as a young man around 1900 seeking fortune and adventure. A short man at only about 5 feet tall, Seppala had been an Arctic fisherman since he was 11years old, an apprentice blacksmith to his father, and was an accomplished wrestler and skier. Seppalla worked at various jobs in the mining camps. In 1914, Jafet Lindeberg, his employer, acquired what was left of the first Siberian imports and their offspring, around fifteen animals in all. They were to be a gift to the explorer Captain Roald Amundsen, who was planning a expedition to the North Pole. Seppala was given the job of the care and training of the dogs, and he loved it.
When World War I broke out it changed Amundsen’s plans, and Seppala ended up in possession of the dogs. He entered the 1914 All Alaska Sweepstakes, but with disastrous results he had to drop out early when he lost the trail, and his dogs’ feet got badly cut.He trained hard in secret, far from town,Blitzing the field in the 1915 Sweepstakes by over and hour . He repeated this victory in 1916 and 1917, at which time the increased war effort and the lack of any real competition for him caused the race to be discontinued.
“the little man with his little dogs,”as he came to be known, became a legend in Alaska, remaining devoted to his Siberians hauling freight and supplies, setting many new records in mid-distance races, and on several occasions being involved in truly heroic exploits he once, unarmed, chasing down an armed kidnapper, and on another occasion transporting a man mangled in a sawmill accident oVer a long distance at a speed no one thought possible.In 1925, Seppala and his Siberians came to national prominence, with the famous "Serum Run" that saved the city of Nome from a diphtheria epidemic. Seppala and his Siberians, with his famous lead dog Togo, covered 340 miles in that race against death, with no other team traveling more than 53 miles.
Toga, leader in the serum drive.
Togo became permanently lame from that marathon run. Seppala credited Togo with over 5,000 miles in his running career. The teams had covered a distance of 650 miles that normally took the mail teams twenty-five days, and they did it in just five and a half days. Senator Dill of Washington state had the story written into the Congressional Record, one sentence of which reads, "Men had thought the limit of speed and endurance had been reached in the grueling races of Alaska, but a race for sport and money proved to have far less stimulus than this contest in which humanity was the urge and life was the prize.
A Challenge in New England
A contrast of stvles-Leonhard Seppala (left) and Arthur Walden (right) and their leader dogs pose with their racing trophies in this intriguing vintage study
After the Serum Run Seppala was a national hero and he marched in parades and posed for glamorous photographs in his equally glamorous furs, sometimes in 900F weather.All this fame and notoritity brought a challenge from Arthur Walden the polar explorer, adventurer, and full-time blowhard,he challenged Seppala to come to New England to race against his locally famous Chinook dogs, a strain of large, Mastiff-types he had developed from a single dog. This dog, named Chinook, gained fame on Admiral Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition. Walden would become Byrd's chief dog handler on that voyage, was the president of the New England Sled Dog Club, and was generally considered unbeatable.
Seppala accepted the challenge, As they drove their teams for three days to get to the site of the race, Seppala was careful to keep his dogs in check and letting Walden gain a false sense of confidence. Seppala figured his dogs may be out of condition from all their parade appearances and wasn't sure how they would perform on the New England trails. As the two teams lined up the Chinooks weighing in at 90 to 100 pounds, the Siberians at around half that weightthe contrast was striking . many New Englanders objected to the race on humanitarian grounds, considering the Siberians too small to compete (There were even nutters like that in them days) Dick Moulton, who would later become Byrd's chief dog handler and a two-time Congressional Medal of Honor winner (once for saving the Admiral's wife and once for his search-and-rescue missions during the Battle of the Bulge), was a teenager at the time. Moulton remembered vividly the stark contrast between the dogs as the two teams were boarded at opposite ends of a barn the night before the race. "At one end," he says, were Walden's great big Chinooks, while at the other were these sweet, little, kind of foxy Siberian dogs who stood up on their hind legs to greet you, and their heads were hardly higher than your waist."What was not Known in 1925, was that if you double a dog's size, you only increase heart and lung capacity by about a 30 percent therefore big dogs tire much sooner than medium-sized dogs. the next day Seppala simply left Walden's team in his dust , changing the history of New England sled dog racing for all time. Admiral Byrd, himself, would learn the same lesson when he reprimanded Moulton, upon first arriving on his second Antarctic expedition, asking why in the world he had brought such little dogs. Moulton simply demurred, and Byrd then took ofin at this point in the story, a twinkle in his eyes. "You see," he says, "I knew that not only do big dogs get tired quicky, they also need a long time to rest. But I wasn't going tell HIM that!"
Early New England Breeders
Elizabeth Ricker (later Nansen) with a group of famous early sled dogs. In the fore ground. from left. are Sugruk, Mukluk and Sapsuk ii. The dogs in the background are Jean (left) and Sepp I. (Warren Rover)
The Last of the Imports, andAKC Recognition
Seppala stayed on in New England for a time, winning pretty much all the races and planting the seeds of the future Siberian Husky that would come to be officially recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1930.A partnership with Seppala and a woman named Elizabeth Ricker, Elizabeth had imported the last Siberians to come directly from Siberia and was an avid sled dog enthusiast, Nine of these were selected by the renowned expert on Siberian dogs,Olaf Swenson, but the ship that brought them to the United States became stranded in ice for the winter, and only four survived.Kreevanka and Tserko were the most influential of these males, who, along with the legendary Togo, his father Suggen, and the beautiful leader Fritz, probably figure in the pedigree of every Siberian Husky living-if one were to trace back that far.The dogs developed by the Seppala-Ricker partnership eventually went to Harry Wheeler of St. Jovite, Canada, in 1932 when Elizabeth Ricker married the explorer Kaare Nansen and gave up her dogs. From these, in turn, came the animals that would form the three most influential kennels in the establishment and development of the AKC-recognized Siberian Husky: Milton and Eva Seeley’s Chinook Kennels, Nicholas and Lorna Demidoff’s Monadnock Kennels, and Mrs. Marie Lee Frothingham’s Gold River Kennels.
The last of the imports, circa 1930. Kreevanka is the light dog at far left, Tserko is the dark dog at far right.
Chinook
In 1929 shortly after his return from the Antarctic on the first Byrd expedition Arthur Walden sold Chinook Kennels to Milton and Eva Seeley acquired . This was . Milton had just been diagnosed with diabetes and was advised by his doctor to take up country living. It was at Chinook that the dogs were trained for Byrd’s second and third Antarctic expeditions, and there that most of the Search and Rescue teams used in World War II were developed. Like Elizabeth Ricker before them, the Seeleys bred both Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies, and are seen as doing much of the important foundation work in both breeds. For their Siberian stock, they combined animals from Harry Wheeler and chose coming directly from Alaska to produce several of the first champions in the breed after AKC recognition. Their most famous and influential animals were probably Ch. Wonalancet’s Baldy of Alyeska (sire of the extremely influential Izok of Gap Mountain) and Ch. Alyeska’s Suggen of Chinook, both of whom proved important to the development of the Demidoffs’ Monadnock line along with many others. Milton Seeley died in 1944, but Eva (affectionatly acely known to all as “Short”) continued to be very influential in the breed (judging, driving, breeding, and serving in many capacities for the Siberian Husky Club of America, of which both Seeleys had been founding members) for decades thereafter. When Short Seeley died in 1985, Chinook Kennels became an official historic landmark of the State of Vermont, and can be visited to this day.
Monadnock
Lorna Demidoff became interested in sled dogs while married to Moseley Taylor, who was the owner of the Boston Globe. Moseley purchased Lorna her first Siberians from the Seeleys, along with a dog named Tuck who was from the Mike Cooney/John "Iron Man" Johnson kennels in Alaska. Lorna became the first woman to win a race,finished her first champion (and first Group placer in the breed) in 1939, her first home-bred champion in 1941, and became, for the next three decades, the most prominent breeder of Siberian show dogs and breeding stock in the United States. Having divorced Mosely Taylor, she married Nicholas Demidoff, an emigre Russian prince, in 1941, becoming affectionately known as "the Princess." She fielded competitive teams through the 1950s and continued to drive her pleasure teams until well into her sixties. Her animals may have won more National Specialties than anyone else's before or since, and her Ch. Monadnock's Pando was possibly the most influential stud dog in the history of the breed. (When he was shown for the last time in the Veterans' Class at age 14 in Philadelphia, he not only received a standing ovation, but was discovered to be the progenitor of 100 of the 103 Siberians shown that day!)With his son, Ch. Monadnock's King, he won every major Best Brace in Show award for which they competed, and virtually spearheaded the black-and-white, blue-eyed fashion in the breed. Lorna once told me the author said she regretted having started "that craze" and also regretted letting Pando be used at stud on so many bitches. "But,you know' she said, "there were so many shy dogs in those days that if the bitch had a good temperament I usually accepted her for breeding." I think this is a very telling comment because, although she was known (quite rightly) for establishing consistency of type in the breed, her greatest gift was probably in the area of making more consistent the confident, friendly temperament we so much value in the Siberian today. Until her death in 1993, Lorna Dernidoff remained the "premier" breeder- judge of Siberians and one of America's most respected Group and Best in Show judges.
Cold River
Affectionately Known as "the Duchess," Mrs. Marie Lee Frothingliam did not follow her friends Short Seeley and Lorna Demidoff into the show ring, with the consequent stronger focus on greater consistency of type, markings, and furnishings. However She did produce several influential show champions, most significantly Ch. Helen of Cold River (Dr. Roland Lombard's great racing leader) but her focus remained racing. Though she never drove a team herself she fielded some of the most competitive teams of her time, 1936-56, often two top-flight teams per race. When she retired, some of her better animals were passed onto her then driver/trainer team, Lyle and Marguerite Grant, to form their famous Marlytuk Kennels. Many of these dogs, though still very capable running dogs, became dominant show dogs, particularly the multiple-Specialty winner and famous producer, Ch. Marlytuk's Red Son of Kiska, sired by the last great Monadnock stud, Ch. Monadnock's Akela.
Real Story about Lucifer
Story of Lucifer – His OriginTo find the origin of Lucifer, we turn to the Old Testament. In the Hebrew, the name Lucifer is translated from the Hebrew word "helel," which means brightness. This designation, referring to Lucifer, is the rendering of the "morning star" or "star of the morning" or "bright star" which is presented in Isaiah. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High’" (Isaiah 14:12-14, NIV). The context of this passage is a referral to the king of Babylon as presented in his pride, splendor and fall. However, it is to the power behind the evil Babylonian king that this is actually addressed. No mortal king would claim that his throne was above that of God or that he was like the Most High. The power behind the evil Babylonian king is Lucifer, Son of the Morning.
Story of Lucifer – His HistoryLucifer is just another name for Satan, who as head of the evil world-system is the real, though invisible, power behind the successive rulers of Tyre, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and all of those evil rulers that we have seen come and go in the history of the world. This passage goes beyond human history and marks the beginning of sin in the universe and the very fall of Satan in the pristine, sinless spheres before the creation of man. We also see this same motif in Ezekial: "Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19, NIV). This passage seems to be addressed to the "king of Tyre." In reality, it goes beyond the king to the one who is behind the evil king of Tyre. This passage also has near and far prophecy about Lucifer/Satan because although his final end is already sure, it has not happened yet and it occurs after the final judgment (Revelation 20:7-10). In both the Isaiah passage and the Ezekiel passage, the representation is not of Lucifer/Satan as confined to his own person but his working in and the consummating of his plans through earthly kings and rulers who take to themselves divine honors and who, whether they actually know this or not, rule in the spirit and under the aims of Satan. "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12, NIV). Satan is the principality behind the powers of this corrupt world system. Notice the statement that is given in the passage in Ezekiel, "the anointed cherub." These statements could never apply to a human king but, they do apply to Lucifer/Satan who is behind the human king. This angel is the highest creature the LORD ever created. The LORD says of him, "You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty." Satan was the wisest creature God ever created. No other angel, no other being was created with the intelligence that God gave to this creature. God says that this creation is "perfect in beauty." Apart from the Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this creature is today the highest being. In verse Ezekiel 28:14 it says, "You were the anointed Cherub." This tells us we are not talking about a human king. The word cherub is singular for cherubim. The cherubim are symbolic of God's Holy presence and His unapproachable majesty. These cherubim occupy a unique position. The "anointed cherub who covers" is the picture given to us in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had been sent out and God had placed cherubim to guard the way of the tree of life. Also, when Moses made the mercy seat and placed it into the tabernacle's Holy of Holies, God's glory came and dwelt between the cherubim. They "covered" the mercy seat with their wings. So we now see that Satan was a cherub and his position was to guard the very throne of God. His position was that of protecting the holiness of God. Satan had the highest of all positions, a position which he despised and lost. We have here in Ezekiel a picture of the highest of God's creatures, perfect in wisdom, beautiful beyond description, a musician and on top of all that, he was given this high, exalted position. But, this creation, with all of these wonderful attributes also had a free will. One day, God says to this marvelous creature, "Iniquity was found in you."
Story of Lucifer – His StatusWhat kind of iniquity was found of him? In the book of Ezekiel, God has let us stand with Him at the very beginning, to see the origin and the creation of Satan. But, why does God say this? What is this iniquity? We must look back to Isaiah 14:12, which tells us of Lucifer/Satan's choice. "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High." Did you notice in this passage all of the "I wills. " He said he would exalt his throne above the stars of God. The word "stars" here does not refer to what we see in the night sky. It refers to the angels of God. In other words, "I will take over heaven, I will be God." That is Lucifer/Satan's sin and that is the iniquity that was found in him. He does not want to be God's servant. He does not want to do what he was created to do. He wants to be served and there are millions who have chosen to do just that; serve him. They have listened to his lies and chosen to follow him. Eve believed the lie that she would be like God. The reason Lucifer/Satan tempted her with that was because it is the very thing that he wants -- to be God.
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