The mystery of crooked Aspen

Just outside the small village of Alticane, Saskatchewan in Western Canada lies an unusual botanical phenomena called ‘Crooked Aspen’. Every single tree on this strange patch of land has adopted a contorted corkscrew like shape, though aspens normally grow straight. The trees have been that way as far back to when they were first discovered in the 1940’s. Local folklore has theorised the cause of this anomaly to be everything from UFOs, ghosts, a lightning strike, or even a meteorite crash, though none have ever proved conclusive. Genetic mutation is a known factor and nobody seems to know why. All other trees outside of this approximate 3,000 square feet of forest appear to be growing normally. 

There has been an unusually high occurrence of UFO sightings in the area over the years including a farmer claiming to have been woken up late one night by a bright object in the sky lighting up his bedroom. Another local farmer recalls going to the stand of trees as a child with his family and watching his grandmother pick flowers only to turn around and bring them back having a feeling she was doing something wrong, that she felt a strange presence near her.

Stories about animals and birds refusing to go near the trees or strange light and sounds coming from this area abound. People from all over the world have visited the site and some have even complained about a strange feeling or dizziness upon walking through.

Though I have never been to the site myself, it sounds like an interesting place to visit.

Anyone want to start a cult?*

(*The following article is not meant to be taken seriously, and is for entertainment purposes only.)

Ah, what better time to start a cult following than when fear-mongering is at an all-time high?

I mean Ron Hubbard did it over 60 years ago, all without the help of the internet.

It would appear that the internet has made that possibility an even easier task, all without having to leave the comfort of your home. Throw in some 2012 doom and gloom to scare people while looking for answers as the icing on the cake and you have the perfect recipe.

The number of stories on conspiracy webpages predicting a date in the near future where something big is going to happen has been growing exponentially lately.

The latest addition to this trend is a website by the name of 8-3-11 that claims that, yes you guessed it; something big is going to happen on August 3rd, 2011. They picked a good fear-mongering date since the US is in financial shambles and the debt deadline of August 2 is close at hand. They even went as far as to make a printable poster page so people can spread the word in whatever part of the world they live in. Need a question answered? Ask 175000 here.

The end is nigh you say?

- Harold Camping predicted the end of the world May 21st 2011 (Fail)
- The Church of the SubGenius: July 5, 2011, at precisely 7:00 AM. (Fail)
- Harold Camping taking another shot at it: October 21st 2011. (Soon to fail)
- Mayan prediction: December 24th 2011. (Soon to fail)

Here are five websites you should consult when doing homework in order to start your very own cult:

1. God hates shrimp
2. Church of the Subgenius
3. Unarius
4. Outer Dimensional Forces
5. The Cosmic People of Light Powers

El Dorado (Lost City of Gold)

With the price of gold selling at a ridiculously all-time high of $1,585 per troy ounce, it seemed fitting to write an article about the precious metal.

There is a legend dating back to early 16th century about a lost South-American kingdom of gold by the name of El Dorado that has yet, to this day, been discovered. Early European travelers were told of a Muisca tribe near Lake Guatavita whose ruler would cover himself in gold dust before cleansing himself in the sacred lake to appease the gods.

The Spaniards drained the lake by 3 meters in 1545 using buckets and recovered a small amount of gold. A Bogota businessman cut a deep notch in 1580 and managed to drain the small lake nearly 20 metres at the expense of numerous labourers’ lives and found many pieces of gold jewellery. In 1801, a European explorer by the name of Alexander von Humboldt estimated that the lake could possibly yield as much as $300 million worth of gold.

Many expeditions looking for El Dorado came to grief while venturing into the jungle over the centuries trying to find the elusive gold treasure.

In 1969 two farm workers dug up a small model raft made of solid gold near the town of Bogota. The raft contained eight small rowing figures and a king. This newfound treasure quite possibly linked to the El Dorado legend itself.

Eldorado

Gaily bedight

A gallant knight,

In sunshine and in shadow,

Had journeyed long,

Singing a song,

In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old-

This knight so bold-

And o'er his heart a shadow

Fell as he found

No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength

Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow-

"Shadow," said he,

"Where can it be-

This land of Eldorado?"

"Over the Mountains

Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,

Ride, boldly ride,"

The shade replied-

"If you seek for Eldorado!"

- Edgar Allan Poe, first published in April 1849

Economic collapse 2011

Analyst Dennis Slothower foresaw 2008 collapse; issues new warning.

 Get ready.

Financial capitals all around the world are awash with the worst kind of rumours. A second global financial crisis is just around the corner.

The rumours start with the possible exit of Italy’s Finance Minister Guilio Tremonti, whose head is expected to roll over the country’s mounting debt problems.

But that’s just the beginning of what is becoming a disturbing pattern of dominoes falling across the continent.
 
This time, the keyword is ‘contagion’, which literally means flu or a virus. In this case, it’s of an economic nature – and spreading fast.

For instance, the EU today conceded that Greece will default on its debt, leading many to wonder which one of the fragile European economies will be next.

That could be Portugal, Spain or Ireland. All three countries, to put it nicely, are up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Earlier last week, that ‘paddle’ was the prospect of a bailout for Greece.
 
Now, with a dramatically worsening contagion spreading throughout the Eurozone, the focus is shifting on containing a new crisis.
 
Greece, as far as the bigwigs in Brussels are concerned, can wait. Italy is about to experience severe economic turbulence, and that has Europe worried.
 
After all, bailing out Greece is one thing. Bailing Italy out of its $1.8 trillion debt is outright unaffordable.

But wait, what about the US debt ceiling? The prospect of a deal to resolve the world’s largest economy’s debt crisis is equally dim.

To quote US President Barack Obama today, ”I don’t see a path to a deal if they [Republicans Party] don’t budge and compromise on ending loopholes, ending subsidies.”

The irony is that the Republicans secretly favour the US defaulting on its debt.

  Why? Because the default will happen on Obama’s watch and not theirs. Also, it’ll force US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to cut spending whether he likes it or not.

Last but not least, it’ll provide a clear passageway for a GOP victory in next year’s election.

These are the rumours that are circulating from Wall Street to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and they have substance.
 
With the Eurozone in economic paralysis and the debt ceiling talks in Washington stalling, it might pay to avoid risks.
 

The big old creaky wagon we call the global economy has until August before it buckles under its load of debt and the wheels come off.

Is the earth tilting on its axis?

I came across an interesting video by NancyRedStar the other day about the Inuit people claiming to have witnessed numerous changes up in the northern part of our planet. This indigenous culture has been using the sun, stars and wind patterns for over one thousand years to find their way home and is very aware of the environment that surrounds them.

Amongst some of the changes; it would appear that the sun no longer sets where it used to.

Could this be the result of the planet tilting on its axis, or is it related to climate change?

286 Million Year Old Block Wall?

Back in 1928, coal miner Almon Mathis was going about his daily business working two miles deep in shaft number 5 of the Heavener Coal Mine when he made a strange discovery.

Here is his account: “They pumped air down to us, it was so deep. After blasting the miners came across what appeared to be some concrete blocks. These blocks were 12-inch cubes and were so smooth and polished on the outside that all six sides could serve as mirrors. Yet they were full of gravel, because I chipped one of them with my pick, and it was plain concrete inside.

As I started to timber the room up, Mathis continued, it caved in; and I barely escaped. When I came back after the cave-in, a solid wall of these polished blocks was left exposed. About 100 to 150 yards farther down our air core, another miner struck this same wall, or one very similar.”
Shortly after the incident, the miners were moved to the Wilburton mine and told to never speak of this again. They spoke to other miners there who had also claimed to have found similar blocks, though shaped like a barrel and with strange prints on them.

The coal in the mine was carboniferous which, according to standard dating methods, would make the wall at least 286 million years old.

The Heavener region of Oklahama has yet another mystery. The recently closed Heavener Runestone State Park has a strange stone carving believed to be of Viking decent and could possibly date back to 1,300AD. Another less popular theory claims that it was created by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle’s expedition in the 17th century. It was discovered in the early 1900’s and was originally thought to have been carved by the local Choctaw native tribe.

Is the US Preparing for War?

There has been a lot of buzz in the last two weeks from American websites about people from the four corners of the US claiming to have been witness to an increase in military presence with large fleets rolling through their towns. Four mile long convoys have been reported with everything from large numbers of oil trucks to dozens of military hummers to desert tanks. FEMA drills have also been on the increase recently as per various sources.
Assuming this is not the result of an increasingly paranoid society, whatever the cause might be, the American public would appear to be left in the dark at the moment, though awareness of its presence is obviously growing.

Could it be part of drills connected to a new type of home-grown disaster military commander, or be connected to Libya/Syria, or possibly North Korea? Or some kind of large scale terrorist threat? Or marshal law? Or maybe just regular day-to-day military exercise? One can only guess and hope there is no sinister motive behind all of this.