ACA Canyon Forums http://www.canyoneering.net/forums ACA Forums on canyoneering.net Official web site of the American Canyoneering Association. en Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:55:50 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg ACA Canyon Forums http://www.canyoneering.net/forums Quotes http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2580&goto=newpost Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:09:37 GMT "If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs." --Theodore Roosevelt

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that, too." --W. Somerset Maugham

"He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has." --Epictetus ]]> News, Videos, Free for All rcwild http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2580 Multhomah Falls, Stunt or Training? http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2574&goto=newpost Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:24:31 GMT I recently attended the 2008 ITRS (International Technical Rescue Symposium) in Albuquerque New Mexico. Every year this conference of Rescue Professionals from around the world takes place with presenters coming to the U.S. from as far away as Canada, Europe and even New Zealand. There were many... I recently attended the 2008 ITRS (International Technical Rescue Symposium) in Albuquerque New Mexico. Every year this conference of Rescue Professionals from around the world takes place with presenters coming to the U.S. from as far away as Canada, Europe and even New Zealand. There were many interesting presentations this year but one in particular I thought this group might find interesting.

Multnomah Falls, Stunt or Training?

In April 2008 the USFS invited SAR groups from a four county area around Portland Oregon to participate in a SAR Fair and Clean-up day at Multnomah Falls, a fantastic 500+ foot waterfall located about 30 minutes away from Portland in the spectacularly scenic Columbia River Gorge. It just so happens that Multnomah Falls is only a short distance down the road from Eagle Creek, a "don't miss" canyon if you're ever in the Portland area. This waterfall is a huge tourist attraction and receives somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 million visitors a year. The event was intended to give SAR teams a chance to meet the public and showcase their skills and abilities. To this end Portland Mountain Rescue chose to rig a guided rappel off this stunningly beautiful waterfall. As you might imagine, the "stunt" factor for the event was high. However, PMR was able to justify it as a training exercise. It is the process PMR went through to prepare for this event that I thought people of this forum would find interesting.

As canyoners, our approach to this problem (assuming we were carrying enough rope) would be fairly straight forward. After all, rigging a guided rappel is not rocket science. Send the first man down to anchor the guide line at the bottom. Tension and block the guide line. All subsequent canyoners rappel using the guide line to direct them away from the waterfall or other potential hazard. PMR however, had a slightly different approach.

The SAR environment is very different than our recreational world. When we are out playing in canyons, we are there to have fun. And although safety is always paramount, we try not to let obsessive safety concerns interfere with having a good time. Search and Rescue Teams though, have a different approach. When they get the call, it means someone is in trouble. And the primary concern of all SAR exercises is to not add to the problem by creating unintentional victims. To this end, they typically push their safety margin far beyond what we are accustomed to.

Rocky Henderson, a member of Portland Mountain Rescue since 1986 organized and managed the event. Rappelling down a waterfall was an idea very foreign to him. Where we as canyoners would typically rig the rappel close to, if not in the waterfall. His objective was to keep rappellers as far away from the water as possible. And where we would keep extra rope in a bag or a second rope available at the top in case of a problem, relying on our skill and experience to get down the drop, they rigged the rappel with multiple, redundant safety's. And of course, this was prudent as most of the rappellers had never been over a drop of this size much less one with a raging waterfall only a few short meters away.

The first thing they did was a thorough reconnaissance of the location. Including anchors top and bottom as well as physically measuring the drop with a length of 550# paracord. The second step was to rig a simulation of the drop at their training facility in Portland. Rocky understood that the actual event would be a bad place for an inexperienced rappeller to get his first taste of a drop this size. So they designed a simulation and required all interested team members to participate in a day of practice before the actual event.

Although they did not hang a fire hose from the top of their training tower, they did do a couple of things to simulate potential problems they could encounter. First, they rigged the guide line from the top of the tower to a vehicle in the parking lot below. They tensioned the guide line by ganging on a 3 to 1 MA system. As this is the same system they use to tension rescue high lines they were careful not to over tighten the guide line. They then decided it prudent to use the guide line as a belay for the rappeller and rigged a second lanyard attachment to the guide line with a Petzl ASAP, self trailing rope grab. The rappeller was attached to the guide line with his safety lanyard on a pulley with a second lanyard attached to the ASAP trailing right behind. The idea being that if there was a main line failure, the rappeller would not ride the guide line turned zip line to the bottom. Would be participants had to practice rappelling with this set up. Because activating the ASAP during the rappel was a possibility each participant had to first activate the ASAP mid-rappel then practice taking their weight off it, re-setting and continuing on with the rappel. To simulate the weight of over 500 feet of rope, they hung a 35 lb. barbell plate on the bottom of the rappel rope. Rappellers used a three bar rappel rack. Lighter people only had to use two bars. They offered three practice sessions and ended up with about 18 trained participants.

During the actual event they used large, stout trees (abundantly available) about twenty feet back from the edge for anchors at the top of Multnomah Falls. Separate wrap 3 pull 2 anchors were set up for each rope with Aztec Kits collapsed to be used as load releasing systems for contingencies. At the edge of the drop both ropes were directed through a Kootnay Carriage anchored to another stout tree with a wrap 3 pull 2 anchor. As in the simulation, the guide rope was tensioned at the bottom with a 3 to 1 MA system. They used a messenger cord to haul the ASAP back up to the top for the next rappeller.

It took rappellers 10 to 20 minutes each to complete the 500+ ft. rappel. No one had any problems due to the well thought out systems in place and the fact that every participant had "practiced" the rappel in simulation. They drew quite a crowd and everyone had fun.

Rocky's conclusion was that the event was valuable on a number of levels. During a season when their teams mission load was down, it gave them a real project to work on. The event required extra training that was different and so more interesting than their normal fare. This resulted in a real sense of accomplishment for the team and gave a number of team members a chance to get some real live experience that otherwise would not have been possible. So although the event had a very "stunt" like appearance, it is felt that the training value was well worth the time spent.

Personally, I marvel at the complexity with which they addressed a problem we have a fairly straight forward solution for. It is understandable that they would want inexperienced rappellers to practice before the actual event as they would in no way want to have to turn this demonstration for the public into an actual rescue. Wish I coulda been there to watch. ]]> Technical Canyoneering charlybldr http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2574 Urine Test http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2570&goto=newpost Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:06:38 GMT One of those forwarded emails ... Like most folks, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is... One of those forwarded emails ...

Like most folks, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.

Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them? Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their butt, doing drugs, while I work. Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'. ]]> News, Videos, Free for All rcwild http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2570 <![CDATA[Technical Canyoneering in December '08]]> http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2568&goto=newpost Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:23:22 GMT Just added two Technical Canyoneering Courses to the schedule. December 6-7 in Cedar City. December 20-21 in southern California. These 2-day versions of our Technical Canyoneering Course require participants to already possess basic skills like rappelling, knots, etc. Fee for ACA... Just added two Technical Canyoneering Courses to the schedule.

December 6-7 in Cedar City.

December 20-21 in southern California.

These 2-day versions of our Technical Canyoneering Course require participants to already possess basic skills like rappelling, knots, etc.

Fee for ACA members will be $195. Fee for non-members will be $245. Non-member fee includes lifetime ACA membership.

I will post registration information by the end of the day today. ]]> Canyoneering Courses rcwild http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2568 Server Outage http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2567&goto=newpost Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:44:39 GMT Servers went down around 2:00 PM on Nov 11th. Came back online at 5:40 AM on Nov 12th. From the server admin: XMission experienced a serious outage while we were performing some standard UPS maintenance today. The outage affected all services and started at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday,... Servers went down around 2:00 PM on Nov 11th. Came back online at 5:40 AM on Nov 12th.

From the server admin:

XMission experienced a serious outage while we were performing some standard UPS maintenance today. The outage affected all services and started at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11th. Network services for many were partially restored by about 2:30 p.m. but some other services required a lot of attention and took much longer.

Details
-------
About 40% of our data center, including our server room, suffered a power outage when a technician flipped a mislabled breaker during some standard maintenance on one of our 3 UPS units. Although the power outage was momentary, servers and routers often respond very poorly to losing power and sometimes take extensive work to come back up. Unfortunately, such was the case today with many systems.

Seriously Affected Systems
--------------------------
* An important router, which some connections and servers rely on, required extensive attention from our network administrators.

* DNS (Domain Name Service) was sporadic for some customers for over an hour.

* Email services were down for over 5 hours.

* Web hosting suffered the longest outage because our NetApp storage appliance which houses all customer files and web sites lost multiple hard drives. As a result, we are currently restoring files to our new NetApp 2020 from our November 9th backup, which will take many hours yet to complete. We recently purchased this new NetApp and were merely days away from getting it online.

Conclusion
----------
Today's outage was exascerbated by multiple systems responding poorly to losing power. In spite of the holiday, our systems administrators were on site within minutes and continue to work tirelessly to restore all services. In the end, we should have performed this maintenance on a day when our systems administrators were on site because problems can arise no matter how carefully you proceed. ]]> Site Use and Feedback rcwild http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2567 Winter Canyons http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2566&goto=newpost Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:01:08 GMT Are there any canyons in the swell or robbers roost that are not too cold to do in December / January? If the temps are around 30s - 40s I think it would be alright but I am not to crazy about swimming potholes. Thanks Mike Kuper Are there any canyons in the swell or robbers roost that are not too cold to do in December / January? If the temps are around 30s - 40s I think it would be alright but I am not to crazy about swimming potholes.
Thanks
Mike Kuper ]]> kuper http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2566 <![CDATA[Late '08 and Early '09]]> http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2565&goto=newpost Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:37:58 GMT Just posting to give people a heads up regarding some upcoming plans. Some are firm; some are still tentative ... *Nov 22-23 Canyoneering FastTrack Course in Arizona* Only one or two spaces left. *Last week in November - Vera Cruz Mexico* *Dec 13-14 Canyon Leader Final Exam in California*... Just posting to give people a heads up regarding some upcoming plans. Some are firm; some are still tentative ...

Nov 22-23 Canyoneering FastTrack Course in Arizona
Only one or two spaces left.

Last week in November - Vera Cruz Mexico

Dec 13-14 Canyon Leader Final Exam in California
May be there a week before or a week after for a 2-day Technical Canyoneering Course and some weekday practice sessions at Stoney Point and in canyons.

December Dates TBD in northern California
Technical Canyoneering Course and Canyoneering FastTrack Course

January Dates TBD in Costa Rica
Technical Canyoneering Course, Canyoneering FastTrack Course, Canyon Leader Exam, canyons.

February or ?? in Copper Canyon
Still intending to organize an exploratory canyon rendezvous. Just wish there were more days in a year.

March Dates TBD - ACA/FEEC Instructor Exchange in Mexico
Instructors from Spain will join ACA instructors from the US, Mexico and Costa Rica for a Canyoneering FastTrack Course.

Apr 5-12 ACA/EFC/FEEC International Rendezvous in Cabo Verde

Apr 17-26 - Courses and Rendezvous in Arizona

May 9-17 in North Carolina and Tennessee
Technical Canyoneering Course? Canyoneering FastTrack Course? Rendezvous? Bashful Bob is working on logistics.

May Dates TBD - ACA/FEEC Instructor Exchange in Spain
ACA instructors from the US, Mexico and Costa Rica will join instructors in Spain for a Wild Water Canyon Course.

Squeezed in between these plans will be other Basic Skills Workshops, Technical Canyoneering Courses, Canyon Rescue Courses and practice sessions hosted by our Canyon Leaders. ]]> Canyoneering Courses rcwild http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2565 Pirate Carabiners http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2564&goto=newpost Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:05:54 GMT No, this thread is not about bootleg or counterfeit carabiners. This is a gear review of the Pirate Carabiner made by Rock Exotica.

Rock Exotica, if you haven't heard of them is the company in Clearfield, Utah, famous for manufacturing the Rescuescender, the Arizona Vortex Rescue Tripod and the Omni Block Pulleys used in Aztec Rescue Kits. They are also the company that makes Petzl's carabiners and now my Totem rappelling and rigging device. The company has its own line of carabiners; most of them steel for rescue applications. They asked me to give their aluminum Pirate carabiner a try for canyoneering. I did and I like it.

The Pirate closely resembles a Petzl Attache. Beefy stock, 0.47 inch diameter. Attache is gold. Pirate is copper-colored. Along the major axis, the Attache is rated to 23 kN, while the Pirate is rated to 26. On the minor axis, the Attache is rated to 7 kN, while the pirate is rated to 11. The Pirate is slightly longer -- 4.2 inches -- compared to the Attache at 3.9 inches.

While both carabiners are HMS (pear-shaped) the Pirate is slightly longer on the spine side, giving it a bit more D shape. This allows more of the load to settle along the spine, thus the extra major axis strength.

Extra strength on the minor axis can likely be attributed to the fact that the gate barrel screws farther up the nose than the Attache's barrel.

The Pirate's gate is slightly offset, allowing for a greater gate opening than the Attache. It also has cute features like a padlock image with an arrow showing the correct direction to turn the gate barrel to lock it and a skull and cross bones that is visible when the carabiner is not locked.

I believe the Pirate is destined to become my new favorite utility carabiner for canyoneering. I have but one reservation in recommending it ... At the end of the day when we're sorting gear it is easy for me to spot my copper-colored Pirate carabiners. It will get complicated again when all of you start using Pirates, too.
Attached Images
 
]]> Technical Canyoneering rcwild http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2564 partner needed http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2563&goto=newpost Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:55:53 GMT hello people, I am looking for an enthusiastic canyoneer. Someone, who is interested in taking weekly trips. who lives in the wasatch front area, or someone i could meet up with. Moreover, i am planning on going down to the north wash this week. If you are interested call me at 801-557-9708 hello people, I am looking for an enthusiastic canyoneer. Someone, who is interested in taking weekly trips. who lives in the wasatch front area, or someone i could meet up with. Moreover, i am planning on going down to the north wash this week. If you are interested call me at 801-557-9708 ]]> craigermachine http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2563 Advice to President-elect Obama http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2561&goto=newpost Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:36:17 GMT Advice to President-elect Obama
by Will Wilkinson

This article appeared in Marketplace on November 5, 2008.

Congratulations, Barack Obama! You're the next President of the United States. Sadly, the government's so broke that even new curtains for the Oval Office are beyond the bounds of fiscal responsibility. Thanks to the war, the Wall Street bailout, the lousy economy, and the drop in tax revenue, your big campaign plans just got a lot smaller.

Here's my advice: First, you've got to get spending under control. Yes: Bring the troops home, and shrink the military. But there's enormous waste in the non-defense budget, too, and you need to go after it. You said we need to cut spending with a scalpel, not a hatchet. Well, if you don't want to leave your kids with a crushing tax burden, you better get yourself a crate of scalpels.

Second, drop the xenophobic claptrap. The stuff from the debates about "mortgaging our future" by "borrowing from the Chinese to pay the Saudis" has got to stop. We are not, and cannot be, a self-contained fortress city. It's good that capital markets are international. It's good that energy markets are international. It's good for prosperity and it's good for peace that we're all in it together. Help save America's economy by making it even more open to the goods and people of the world.

Third, get real on the "new energy economy." You've been claiming that the government can simultaneously create millions of new jobs, spur growth-enhancing innovation, and save the Earth by politically picking winners among energy companies. It's a beautiful dream. But in reality, it means nothing more than the greening of corporate welfare and an increase in energy prices. Our struggling economy can't afford that.

You've got Congress on your side and the wind of public opinion at your back -- which is exactly why you should take it slow. This election was exactly what you said it was: a referendum on the last eight years of George W. Bush and his coalition. The voters agreed it was time to throw the bums out. But if you overreach, you'll be tomorrow's bum. Remember how popular Newt Gingrich's Contract for America was? Yeah. Me neither. ]]> News, Videos, Free for All rcwild http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2561 <![CDATA[Robber's Roost, Post Rain?]]> http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2559&goto=newpost Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:09:36 GMT I have seen some MUDDY pics of Alcatraz... Do Chambers, Alcatraz and other slots in this area hold up to a few days of precip? Or are they best left until they have a chance to dry out a little? Seems like some of the skinny up/downclimbs might be particularly challenging in sloppy conditions. ... I have seen some MUDDY pics of Alcatraz... Do Chambers, Alcatraz and other slots in this area hold up to a few days of precip? Or are they best left until they have a chance to dry out a little? Seems like some of the skinny up/downclimbs might be particularly challenging in sloppy conditions.

Thanks,

JMH ]]> JMH http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2559 Obama History http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2556&goto=newpost Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:45:45 GMT This is long, But an incredible read. November 2, 2008 RenewAmerica staff The chronology was gathered from a variety of sources. Every effort has been made to verify accuracy. Additional information will be posted as it can be verified. 1905, Dec. 31 — Frank Marshall Davis was... This is long, But an incredible read.


November 2, 2008
RenewAmerica staff


The chronology was gathered from a variety of sources. Every effort has been made to verify accuracy. Additional information will be posted as it can be verified.

1905, Dec. 31 — Frank Marshall Davis was born in Arkansas City, Kansas.

1907 — Davis' parents divorced when Frank was a year old.

1911 — When he was five years old, a group of white children a few years older who had heard about lynching of blacks tried to lynch Davis and nearly hanged him.

1918, Mar. 23 — Stanley Armour Dunham was born in Kansas.

1922, Oct. 26 — Madelyn Lee Payne (Dunham) was born in Peru, Kansas, to Rolla Charles and Leona (McCurry) Payne. Her mother was part Cherokee.

1923 — Frank Davis was educated at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas.

1924-27, 29 — Davis was further educated at Kansas State Agricultural College (Kansas State University), where he studied journalism and began writing poetry.

1926 — Stanley Dunham's mother committed suicide. His father abandoned his children after her death. Stanley and his brother Ralph lived with their maternal grandparents in El Dorado, Kansas.

1927 — Frank Davis moved to Chicago, where he worked for the Chicago Evening Bulletin, the Chicago Whip, and the Gary American, all African-American newspapers.

1931 — Davis moved to Atlanta and became editor of a semiweekly paper, the Atlanta World, which he eventually turned into a daily newspaper within two years of taking the job as the paper's managing editor in 1931. Under Davis, the Atlanta Daily World became America's first successful black daily.

As editor, Davis emphasized an agenda of social realism, racial and legal justice, and black activism. He warned against Depression-era remedies advocated by communists.

1935 summer — Davis published his first book, Black Man's Verse.

1935 — Davis returned to Chicago to take the position of managing editor of the Associated Negro Press, and served as executive editor of the ANP until 1947.

1936 — Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., was born near Lake Victoria in Nyang'oma Kogelo, Alego, Siaya, Kenya, to Hussein Onyango Obama (1895–1979), and Akumu Habiba. His family belonged to the Luo tribe. Obama Sr. was raised a Muslim, but later became an atheist. He grew up in Nyang'oma Kogelo, Kenya.

1936 — Lolo Soetoro was born in Indonesia.

1937 — Frank Davis received a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, participated in the federal Works Progress Administration Writers' Project, started a photography club, and worked for numerous political parties.

1940, May 5 — Stanley Armour and Madelyn Dunham married, after meeting in Wichita, Kansas.

1942, Nov. 7 — Stanley Ann Dunham was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Stanley and Madelyn Dunham. In later years, she and her family moved to California, Texas, and Seattle, Washington.

1945 — Frank Davis taught one of the first jazz history classes at the Abraham Lincoln School in Chicago.

1946 — Davis married Helen Canfield, his second wife, a white Chicago socialite who was 19 years younger than he. (His first wife's name has not been publicized.) They had five children — four girls and a boy.

1948 — Davis published 47th Street Poems.

1948 — Davis and his family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, after his friend Paul Robeson (a communist) suggested he do so. Davis operated a small wholesale paper business called Oahu Papers.

1950 — Davis was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee for his ties to the Communist Party USA, and the committee accused him of being involved in several communist-front organizations. For 19 years, he was under FBI investigation, as well.

1956 — Obama Sr. was married at age 18 in a tribal ceremony to his first wife, Kezia (who currently lives in Bracknell, Berkshire, England), with whom he had four children.

1956 — Ann Dunham's family moved to Mercer Island, Washington, where she attended Mercer Island High School. She later was a student at the University of Washington, and then the University of California, Berkeley.

1958 — Abongo (Roy) Obama was born to Barack Obama, Sr., and his first wife, Kezia.

1959 — Obama Sr. enrolled at the University of Hawaii, leaving behind Kezia and their infant son. At the time, Kezia was three months pregnant with their daughter Auma.

1959 — Frank Davis started Paradise Paper Company and wrote a weekly column, "Frank-ly speaking," for the Honolulu Record, which covered labor and racial issues.

1960 — Auma Obama was born to Obama Sr. and Kezia.

1960 — At age 17, Ann Dunham and her family moved to Hawaii, where she attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, studying mathematics and anthropology. She met Barack Obama, Sr., in a Russian language class.

1961, Feb. 2 — Barack Obama, Sr. (age 25), and Ann Dunham (age 18) married in Maui, Hawaii, after she discovered she was pregnant. The parents on both sides objected to their marriage.

When he married Ann, Obama Sr. was still married to Kezia in Kenya, a fact Ann was unaware of.

1961, Aug. 4 — Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., was born six months after his parents' marriage (reportedly in Honolulu, although his Kenyan grandmother and others claim he was born in Mombosa, Kenya). His mother left school to take care of him while his father completed his degree.

1962, Jun. — Obama Sr. graduated from the University of Hawaii.

1962, fall — Obama Sr. left Ann Dunham and their son Barack Obama, Jr., to do graduate work at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1963 summer — Ann Dunham Obama took one-year-old Barack to join Obama Sr. in Cambridge, stopping on the way for a visit with friends in Mercer Island, Washington. Soon after arriving in Cambridge, she and her son returned to Seattle, where she enrolled in the University of Washington. She then moved back to Hawaii to be with her family.

1964, Jan. — Ann Dunham filed for divorce in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1964, Jan. 17 — Michelle Robinson (Obama) was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Fraser Robinson (who died in 1991) and Marian Shields Robinson.

1965 — Obama Sr. obtained a masters degree in economics at Harvard and met Ruth Nidesand. She followed him to Kenya, and eventually became his third wife and had two children with him (Mark and David), but she later divorced him. She then married a Tanzanian, and they had a son named Joseph Ndesandjo (1980).

Obama Sr. secured a position in the Kenyan government.

1965 — Obama Sr. wrote a paper titled "Problems Facing Our Socialism," published in the East Africa Journal, harshly criticizing the administration of then-President Jomo Kenyatta for moving the Third World country of Kenya away from socialism toward capitalism. "What is more important is to find means by which we can redistribute our economic gains to the benefit of all," said Obama Sr. "This is the government's obligation."

"Theoretically," Obama Sr. wrote, "there is nothing that can stop the government from taxing 100% of income so long as the people get benefits from the government commensurate with their income which is taxed."

As Barack Obama, Jr., notes in Dreams from My Father, the conflict between Obama Sr. and President Kenyatta destroyed his father's career.

1967 — Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro. They met at the University of Hawaii. They moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, with Barack. Lolo worked as a government relations consultant with Mobil Corporation.

1968 — Abo Obama was born to Obama Sr. and Kezia.

1968 — Frank Davis published a hard-core pornography novel, titled Sex Rebel: Black (Memoirs of a Gash Gourmet), which was written under the pseudonym "Bob Greene." In the book, Davis describes a "threesome" relationship he and his wife had with a teenage girl named "Anne."

1969 — William Ayers, son of wealthy Chicago philanthropist Thomas Ayers and future associate of Barack Obama, Jr., created the Weather Underground — a domestic terrorist organization dedicated to promoting communist revolution in the United States.

1970, Aug. 15 — Maya Kassandra Soetoro was born to Lolo and Ann Dunham Soetoro.

1970 — Bernard Obama was born to Obama Sr. and Kezia.

1970 — Frank Davis and his wife Helen divorced.

1970 — Madelyn Dunham became one of the first female vice-presidents of the Bank of Hawaii.

1971 — Barack Obama, Jr., age 10, returned to Hawaii to attend fifth grade at Punahou School, a prestigious preparatory school. Tuition was paid with the aid of scholarships and help from his grandmother.

1971 — Obama Sr. visited Barack Obama, Jr., and his mother Ann in Hawaii. This reportedly was the last time Barack saw Obama Sr. — although his father reportedly corresponded with Barack when Barack was in college.

1971-1979 — Frank Marshall Davis increasingly became an influence in Barack's life — a fact alluded to in Barack's book Dreams from My Father, in which he refers to "Frank" as his mentor and father figure, a friend of the family with whom he often spent his evenings as a teenager.

1973 — Frank Davis made a visit to Howard University in Washington, D.C., to give a poetry reading — the first time he had seen the U.S. mainland in 25 years.

1974 — Ann Dunham returned to graduate school in Honolulu, while also raising Barack and Maya.

1977 — Ann Dunham returned to Indonesia with Maya to do field work. Barack preferred to stay in Hawaii with his grandparents.

1978 — Davis published Awakening and Other Poems.

1979 — Barack Obama, Jr., graduated from high school, moved to Los Angeles, and studied at Occidental College for two years. While at Occidental, he indulged in alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine.

1980 — Ann Dunham and Lolo Soetoro divorce.

1981 — Obama visited his mother and half-sister in Indonesia, then traveled to Pakistan and India with friends from college. Afterward, he proceeded on to Kenya, where he visited his father's family.

1981 — Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations. He maintained communication with his father during this period through letters until his father died in 1982.

1982 — George Hussein Onyango Obama was born to Obama Sr. and his fourth wife, Jael.

1982 — Obama Sr. lost both legs in a car accident, and then lost his job. He died not long afterward at the age of 46 in another car crash in Nairobi.

Obama Sr. was buried in Alego, at the village of Nyang'oma Kogelo, Siaya District, Kenya.

1983 — Barack Obama, Jr., graduated from Columbia University, and then worked for a year at the Business International Corporation, a small newsletter-publishing firm that printed articles relating to global business, and later for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Obama also became an organizer at Harlem's City College, working with student activists.

1985 to 1988 — Obama relocated to Chicago and became associated with black militants and other leftists. He worked as a "community organizer" for the "Industrial Areas Foundation" (IAF), an organization founded by Marxist radical Saul Alinsky. Its activities over the years have included a "Citizens USA" project to obtain citizenship for illegal aliens.

Obama also worked with the Alinsky group "Developing Communities Project" (DCP), of which Obama became director; "ACORN" (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now); and Project Vote. ACORN was founded by Wade Rathke — an associate of Weather Underground founder William Ayers — and is one of the largest and most powerful leftist organizations in the United States.

Barack received funding from the Woods Fund of Chicago for the DCP, with which William Ayers was reportedly connected.

1986 — Madelyn Dunham retired from the Bank of Hawaii.

1987 — Frank Marshall Davis died in Honolulu, Hawaii, of a massive heart attack at the age of 81.

1987 — Lolo Soetoro died of a liver ailment at age 51.

1988 — Barack Obama, Jr., visited Europe for the first time and spent three weeks there, and he then traveled to Kenya, where he spent five weeks with his Kenyan relatives.

1988 — Obama enrolled in Harvard Law School. After his first year, he was selected — on the basis of his grades and a writing competition — as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated in 1991, magna cum laude.

1989, Jun. — Obama met Michelle Robinson at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin (the owner of which was a close friend of William Ayers’ father), when Barack was hired as a summer associate. She was assigned for three months to advise him at the firm.

Also connected with the firm was William Ayers' wife Bernadine Dohrn, who was working there when Michelle Obama was hired. A member of her husband's former terrorist group, the Weather Underground, Dohrn had planted a bomb at a San Francisco police station in 1970 that killed one policeman and partially blinded another, according to an FBI report.

In the late sixties and early seventies, Ayers and his wife were responsible for bombing the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol Building, the New York City Police Headquarters, and other buildings. After being on the run for a decade, they surrendered to authorities in 1980, only to be set free on a technicality involving the way investigators had obtained evidence. In 2001, Ayers — who is currently a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago — told the New York Times he regretted he "didn't do enough" during his days with the Weather Underground.

1990, Feb. — Obama was chosen president of the Law Review, a full-time volunteer position in which he served as editor-in-chief and supervised the Law Review's staff of 80 editors. Obama's election as the first black president of the Law Review was widely publicized and profiled. As a law student, he took his summers off and returned to Chicago, where he worked as a summer associate at the law firms of Sidley & Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990. After graduating with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago.

1990 to 1995 — Public awareness of Obama's election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review resulted in a publishing contract for a book about race relations. To recruit him to join their faculty, the University of Chicago Law School gave Obama a fellowship and an office to work on his book. He initially intended to complete the book in a year, but the project took much longer, as the effort evolved into a personal memoir. So he could work uninterrupted, Obama and his wife Michelle traveled to Bali, where he immersed himself for several months in his manuscript. That's the official version. Recent scientific analysis of the text suggests the manuscript may have been co-authored by William Ayers, by then a nearby neighbor of Barack. The book was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father.

According to one source, Obama initially received a $125,000 advance from publisher Simon and Shuster in 1992 for his book, but failed to produce a manuscript. Although he and his wife did in fact travel to Bali to gain the "peace and quiet" to write, he still produced no publishable draft. Obama was then asked to return part of the advance payment, and the contract was cancelled. He came back to Chicago, signed a new contract (with Times Book) for $40,000, and in time delivered a completed manuscript. This version of the facts reinforces allegations that Obama had a ghostwriter.

1992 — Ann Dunham obtained a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hawaii with a dissertation titled Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: surviving and thriving against all odds. Ann then undertook a career in rural development championing women's work and microcredit for the world's poor, with Indonesia's oldest bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation, and Women's World Banking — and also worked as a consultant in Pakistan. She dealt with leaders from organizations involved with Indonesian human rights, women's rights, and grassroots development.

1992 — Stanley Dunham died in Honolulu at age 73 and was buried in the Punchbowl National Cemetery.

1992, Apr. to Oct. — Obama directed Illinois' Project Vote in a voter registration drive that succeeded in registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African-Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama among its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be.

1992, Oct. 3 — Obama and Michelle Robinson were married by Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

1992 — Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, being first contracted as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and then as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004.

1992 — Obama helped found Public Allies, an organization patterned after Alinsky's AIF that recruits young people to perform "public service" while they are indoctrinated in socialist theory. Obama's wife Michelle became the group's Executive Director in 1993. The program later served as the model for Obama's "Universal Voluntary Public Service" plan.

1993 — Obama joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a twelve-attorney law firm that specialized in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development. He was an associate from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004.

1993 to 2002 — Obama was on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project.

1994 — Ann Dunham discovered she had ovarian and uterine cancer. She moved back to Hawaii to live near her widowed mother, who cared for her.

1995 — Ann died at the age of 52. After a memorial service held at the University of Hawaii, Barack and his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, cast Ann's ashes over the Pacific Ocean on the south side of Oahu.

1995 — Obama launched his first run for the Illinois Senate in the home of William Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn — who hosted meetings to introduce Obama to their neighbors. Obama and the couple lived only blocks apart in the Hyde Park section of Chicago, and shared the same liberal-progressive circle of friends.

1995 — Ayers founded the 500-million-dollar education foundation Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a radical "school reform" group that at one point granted more than $600,000 to an organization led by the former head of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of America. At its inception, Ayers appointed Obama the chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a position he held until 1999.

From 1995 to 2002, Ayers and Obama worked as a team to advance the foundation's agenda, write and implement its bylaws, and funnel money to such organizations as ACORN, which later worked in behalf of Obama's presidential campaign.

1996 — Obama was elected to the state senate in Illinois.

1998 — Malia Ann Obama was born to Barack and Michelle.

1998 — Obama was re-elected to the Illinois State Senate.

1999 to 2002 — Obama and Williams Ayers were members of the board together of the Woods Fund of Chicago, an anti-poverty group of which Ayers went on to become Chairman of the Board.

2000 — Obama lost a Democratic primary run for U.S. House of Representatives to Bobby Rush.

2001 — Natasha Obama was born to Barack and Michelle.

2001, Mar. 30 — Obama spoke against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act in the 92nd General Assembly of the Illinois State Senate. The number one reason he gave for voting against the act was that it would potentially undermine Roe v. Wade.

2001 — Obama gave a radio interview to Chicago station WBEZ-FM, in which he discussed the "redistribution of wealth" from whites to blacks.

2002 mid — Obama began considering a run for the U.S. Senate and enlisted political strategist David Axelrod. Barack announced his candidacy in January 2003.

2002 — Obama was re-elected to the Illinois State Senate.

2003, Jan. — Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee after Democrats regained a majority in the state senate. He sponsored bipartisan legislation to track racial profiling, and a bill that made Illinois the first state to require videotaping of homicide interrogations.

2003, Mar. — As chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, Obama blocked passage of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act in the state senate.

2003 — Obama's fundraiser and close friend, Tony Rezko, helped raise the seed money for Obama's U.S. Senate race. In 2008, Rezko was convicted of several counts of bribery and fraud.

2003 — Obama paid special tribute to Rashid Khalidi, professor of Mideast studies at the University of Chicago, during a farewell held for Khalidi. A virulent critic of Israel, Khalidi has justified Palestinian terrorist attacks against the Jewish state. Barack and Michelle frequently were dinner companions of the Khalidis.

Former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn were also in attendance at the farewell for Khalidi.

When Obama and Ayers served together on the left-wing Chicago Woods Fund board, they underwrote the Arab-American Action Network (AAAN) with tens of thousands of dollars. The anti-Israel group was created by Khalidi and his wife Mona.

2004, Jun. 7 — Obama was in socialist billionaire George Soros' New York home for an Obama campaign fundraising event. Soros has reportedly funneled large sums of money to the Obama campaign.

2004, Jul. — Obama keynoted the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.

2004, Aug. — Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act for the reason that it included provisions that "would have taken away from doctors their professional judgment when a fetus is viable." In his logic, Obama was equating a baby who survived an abortion with an unborn fetus.

2004, Aug. to Nov. — Obama ran against Alan Keyes for the U.S. Senate. Keyes was asked to run late in the election season by the Illinois GOP to fill the vacancy left by Jack Ryan, who stepped down because of a sex scandal. The scandal broke after media who were aligned with Obama pressed to have Ryan's confidential divorce records unsealed.

2005, Jan. 4 — Obama was sworn in as U.S. Senator.

2005 — Obama's family moved from their Hyde Park condo to their $1.65 million house in the Kenwood District of Chicago. The home was purchased on the same day that Tony Rezko's wife Rita purchased the adjoining empty lot.

2006 — Obama visited Kenya to campaign for Raila Odinga, a communist who was running for president to oust the pro-USA incumbent, President Mwai Kibaki. After Odinga lost the election, he incited riots that killed 1,500 Kenyans and displaced more than a half million people from their homes. Christian churches were set on fire, and in one case, 50 parishioners, mostly women and children, were locked inside and burned to death.

2006, Oct. 17 — Obama published The Audacity of Hope.

2006, Dec. 4 — Obama met with George Soros in Soros' Manhattan office. After an hour of discussion, Soros took Obama to a conference room where a dozen people were waiting to talk with Obama. Among them was UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland/Swiss Bank) U.S. chief Robert Wolf. A week later, Robert Wolf had dinner in Washington, D.C., with Obama to map out campaign strategy.

2007, early Jan. — The New York Times announced that Obama had the support of two high-level Democratic fundraisers: George Soros and Robert Wolf. By mid-April, 2007, Wolf alone had raised $500,000 for Obama.

2007, Feb. 10 — Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

2007, Apr. 7 — An Obama fundraising party for elite New Yorkers was held at the home of financier Steven Gluckstern, former chairman of George Soros' Democracy Alliance. A photo of the event — published in New York magazine April 16, 2007 — showed George Soros seated close to Obama.

2007, May 18 — George Soros hosted a party for Obama at the Greenwich, Connecticut, mansion of Paul Tudor Jones, who runs Tudor Investment Corporation. The sponsors collected $2,300 from each of the approximately 300 attendees ($690,000), the local newspaper Greenwich Time reported.

2008, Jun. 3 — Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, after defeating Hillary Clinton in the primaries.

2008, Aug. 25 — Obama won the nomination of the Democratic Party in Denver, Colorado. Just prior to the convention, he chose Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. The ticket has been called the most liberal in modern American history.

2008, Oct. 28 — The Obama campaign reportedly set a record by raising $660 million since the beginning of the 2008 election — much of it alleged to have come from foreign sources.

2008, Oct. 29 — An unprecedented half-hour promotion of Obama was aired on all major U.S. networks except ABC, which declined to broadcast the paid political advertisement.

(Published Oct. 30 at http://www.renewamerica.us/news/081030obama.htm)


Please share this message with all others who might be interested.




Dear Gloria,
I had already received this. I just wanted to pass this letter that I received from my cousin Susan in April. The information in this is frist hand from a friend of hers that is a missionary in Kenya.


Dear friends,
Please share this far & wide! It expresses my concerns from the day Barak Hussein Muhammed Obama announced his cannidacy for President. Deep in my heart I see too much charisma, all platitudes and no substance in what he says & does, yet the multitudes flock to him! He tickles their ears. He says he is a Christian, but cannot or will not explain what that means to him or to us! He knows the words of our founding fathers all too well, but his use of those words is worthless rhetoric! More importantly, his use of those words is just plain dangerous for America & beyond!

Beware America!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More to think about:

(WEBSITE of home page for author of the following letter: http://www.lorendavis.com/index.html

Celeste and Loren Davis are Missionaries in Africa and can shed some light on one of our Presidential candidates.

"Thanks for sending out an alert about Obama. We are living and working in Kenya for almost twelve years now and know his family (tribe) well. They are the ones who were behind the recent Presidential election chaos here. Thousands of people have been displaced by election violence (over 350,000) and I don't know the last count of the dead. Obama under "Friends of Obama" gave almost a million dollars to the opposition campaign who just happened to be his cousin, Raila Odinga, who is a socialist trained in East Germany. He has been trying to bring Kenya down for years and the last president threw him in prison for trying to subvert this country! December 27th elections brought cries from ODM (Odinga Camp) of rigged election. Obama and Raila speak daily. As we watch Obama rise in the US we are sure that whatever happens, he will use the same tactic, cyring rigged election if he doesn't win and possibly cause a race war in America.

"What we would like you to know is what the American press has been keeping a dirty little secret. Obama IS a Muslim and he IS a racist and this is a fullfilllment of the 911 threat that was just the beginning. Jihad is the only true Muslim way. We have been working with them for 20 years this July! He is not an American as we know it. Please encourage your friends and associates not to be taken in by those that are promoting him. It is world wide jihad. All our friends in Europe are very disturbed by the muslim infiltration into their countries. By the way, his true name is Barak Hussein Muhammed Obama. Won't that sound sweet to our enemies as they swear him in on the Koran! God Bless you.

"Pray for us here in Kenya. We are still fighting for our nation to withstand the same kind of assult that every nation, including America, is fighting. Takeover from the outside to fit the new world order. As believers, this means we will be the first targets. Here in Kenya, not one mosque was burned down, but hundreds of churches were burned down, some with people in them, burned alive. Jesus Christ is our peace but the new world order of Globalism has infiltrated the church and confused believers into thinking that they can compromise and survive. It won't be so. I will send you a newsletter we sent out in February documenting in a more cohesive manner what I've tried to say in a few paragraphs.

Love, Celeste"

Celeste and Loren Davis
About our Father's business! Luke 2:49b

I have lived through many family tragedies like you have. To see family members (nephews of John's sister) whose eyes are blinded making choices to bring this cancer to my country is heart breaking. Their ancestors and mine have fought for freedom since Plymouth Rock and this is no longer the Godly nation they founded.

We do not that God is Sovereign and we are still here to reach those they may turn to Him during the difficulties we may soon face. My hope is in Christ my Saviour and my Rock.

Yes, I still am praying for a MIRACLE. If tomorrow is different than is predicted I will Praise the Lord for His mighty power and victory.

I will also forward you two email I received recently that are touching. One is from Dr. Ochie. God clearly here the people that love Him are, in this case the Stadium Praying.

The second was sent by the Catholic Church. It is the most gracious powerful statement I have seen all this year. ]]> News, Videos, Free for All oldno7 http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2556 Bruce is Moving On http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2555&goto=newpost Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:46:04 GMT BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Bruce Silliman Retires


Bruce Silliman, the purchase agent for Bryce Canyon, has decided he wants to see a few more canyons and various other locales.

"Bruce from Bryce," as he introduces himself, started his Park Service career as a seasonal park ranger in Moraine Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park in the summer of 1998. The next season, 1999, he migrated north to Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park, then finally moved to Bryce Canyon in 2000, starting as a visitor use assistant (fee collector) and becoming the park's purchase agent in 2004.

Bruce has accomplished much in a relatively short time in the National Park Service and has thrilled many adventurers who have dared to go with him on his canyon exploits in and around southern Utah.

Bruce and Michiko plan to retire, sort of, in Las Vegas. Please Join us in wishing him well on his journey.

A retirement/farewell party will be held on November 5th at noon in the Colorado Plateau Room of the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center/Headquarters. If you plan to attend, please send an RSVP to Colleen Goff NLT November 3rd. Ribs and Dutch oven potatoes, along with salads and deserts, will be available to help "roast" Bruce and prepare him for this transition.

Pictures, stories and anecdotes about Bruce from Bryce may also be mailed/emailed to Colleen Goff and we will include them in a memory book.


Contact Information
Name: Colleen Goff
Phone Number: 435.834.4101
Email: colleen_goff@nps.gov


While I am leaving southern Utah I am not leaving canyoneering. You know my email address and while I may not be available on a moments notice, I will be ready to head this way for what I hope is many years to come.

Keep in touch and if you get to LV, look me up.

bruce from bryce ]]> News, Videos, Free for All brucefrombryce http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2555 Wealth Redistribution Question http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2554&goto=newpost Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:04:36 GMT Since Obama outraised McCain by many millions............
Why didn't he give McCain some of the wealth of his campaign?? ]]> News, Videos, Free for All oldno7 http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2554 11/9 - N. Los Angeles - Bailey redeux http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2553&goto=newpost Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:59:28 GMT Sunday, one day after Jason's Bailey trip. Pretty much the same scenario. If we haven't met, please let me know your level of experience. Here's a taste of mine:
http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/blog.php?b=131

Like Jason, I will cap the trip at 6 or so people, maybe 8 if there is another experienced person on the trip. Rain cancels this outing.

Beta for Bailey is available at Chris Brennen's website:
http://www.dankat.com/advents/bailey.htm

Jason's Standard Disclaimer: This is not a guided trip all who are on it are expected to have at least basic climbing/canyoneering skills, like ones you might learn at the ACA's Intro to Canyoneering Workshop. ]]> Kirk http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2553