[see end: A little snowshoe trek*]

GREAT SNOWSHOEING CONDITIONS…FOR NOW ANYWAY -

Wildlife should managed by science because, without the uniform discipline of science to verify and organize information, no one will ever know if policies such as killing wolves and bears should be implemented or if they actually achieved the “success“ claimed. In Alaska the fundamentals of accurate animal population counts are not being observed---never mind the fundamentals of scientific methods.

Recently-resigned Division of Wildlife Conservation director in Alaska, Corey Rossi, admitted to sleazy wildlife violations when he was an assistant big game guide in 2008. Regarding these rather casual and imprudent transgressions by her underling, Fish and Game commissioner Cora Campbell felt compelled to say, "I think there are some people who would like to make this about the department's programs but it isn't…this is about an individual; it's not about our programs."

THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS -

The Kogi Indians of South America once kept exceptional children in a cave (at least during the daytime) for the first nine years of their lives. There they were carefully nurtured, attended and trained to become ceremonial-tribal leaders, medicine-healers and shamans. Sounds cruel but here’s the kicker:

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
- from TS Eliot’s great poem: “The Hollow Men”

[Warning: This is a long piece…it was a long war. If you don’t want to read it, don’t! Books (with worlds like “fiasco” in the title) have been written about this war and many more are to come. The Iraq War helped to speed up the current decline of America and symbolizes its self-inflicted fate. - R.W.]

THE LONGEST WAR -

[Note: I’ll get back to the “WARM” series in a while---it’s time for a little change of pace. - R.W.]

THE WILLFUL UNIVERSE -

A year ago, on December 12, 2010, in a “Parade” article (Anchorage Daily News Sunday magazine) entitled “Personalities of the year,” actress Sandra Bullock had this quote featured: “Everything works out the way the universe wants it to work out.”

After a year of personal triumphs, topped off by winning an Oscar, Ms. Bullock had decisively divorced her straying, and very embarrassing husband---Jesse James of "American Chopper" fame.

[Additional Notes: I am always glad to get helpful comments on the subject of outdoors adaptation and survival. While this series emphasizes survival in extreme cold, a friend from New England with experience in the White Mountains of New Hampshire just sent this response to remind us all that freezing to death is a relative term and that any cold and/or wet conditions can make you dead. She related incidents of rapidly changing conditions on Mt. Washington and Mt. Lafayette---such as sudden snow squalls---for which mountains are notorious (and why I love them).

NOT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE -

We’ve all heard the stories of cold weather “survival”---like the oft-told tale of having to kill a sled dog in order to plunge ones’ frozen hands into the entrails in order to keep them from freezing off and dooming the poor soul who fell through the ice or whatever. You won’t get that from me and I hope you never will.

Staying Warm For Fun And Survival (part one)

IT’S AN INVIGORATING CHALLENGE!

The best way to prepare for extreme cold weather survival is to go outdoors into the weather for long periods of time and come back. Even better is to enjoy it! I derive an extreme satisfaction, fulfillment, sense of excitement, adventure, self-confidence and tremendous personal pleasure from being reasonably comfortable outdoors in the coldest, worst weather and returning to vehicle or cabin unharmed. Not to mention the useful knowledge and practical experience gained.

HAVE FUN WITH THIS! EINSTEIN DID!

It is inevitable that the scientific knowledge gained from busting apart the fundamental particles of matter will have useful functions down the road. But for the moment there are few practical applications involved in revving up subatomic particles and smashing them into each other at ever greater energies using gigantic machines just to see what parts come flying off---but it’s great fun to smash stuff! Same goes for shooting neutrinos at high speeds just to see how they behave and what they are made of.

THE NATURE OF MATERIAL REALITY -

A Little Clarification: It’s A Candy Mint…No, It’s A Breath Mint -

An unrepentant Paul Jenkins sure is earning his pay (“Government is to blame for financial meltdown,“ Anchorage Daily News, October 16, 2011). Wall Street didn’t cause the financial crisis, he insists---it was the government. Regarding those “Occupy” protestors, he adds “suckers” to his name-calling repertoire.

Speeding Up And Slowing Down---What’s The Deal With The Speed Of Light?

The science world is in tentative shock after it was announced that CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) scientists had recorded subatomic particles traveling faster than the speed of light. This finding, if true, could overturn a fundamental law of physics.

SCIENCE IS FUN AS WELL AS EDUCATIONAL -

As the Sleepy Astrologer might say upon reading the Sunday Opinion pages of the Anchorage Daily News on October 2, 2011: “Wha? Is Mercury out of retrograde?“

Every once in a while the Opinion pages of the Anchorage Daily News crackle with passion and clarity.

One by one:

In the “Who’s up Who’s down” segment:

KEVLAR DREAMS -

Something was slapping me on the butt as I lay in a sleeping bag under a shelter tarp in the Talkeetna Mountains---and it was pushing real hard!

RED SKY -

Religion is inserted into politics not to appease the gods…but to appease the religious. That’s what’s behind the “Dominionism” of three leading Republican-Tea Party presidential hopefuls---and the desperate efforts of Republicans to have the public overlook the religious fanaticism of their front-runners as “irrelevant.”

FIRST, WHAT IS “DOMINIONISM?”

CORRECTION (s): The Copy Editor Had It Right! (see below)

Message to Anchorage’s Homeless: The stiffs do give a damn whether you live or die! They hope you will die!

BEAR SURVIVAL SUMMARY:

Learn how to carry and when to use bear spray or repellent. Same goes for your firearm of choice.

If you travel in a group then stay with the group.

If you make noise to warn bears then give the bears time to get out of your way.

If you want to “play dead” as a tactic then at least rehearse the scenario in your mind.

BEAR ATTACKS FOUR OUT OF SEVEN BOYS DURING A SURVIVAL TRAINING COURSE -