Array I could not discount the possibility that one of the andesitic mudflows, which predated the glaciations of the Pleistocene, had itself swept up this granite boulder, and carried it down here to Moody Ridge.Were I to accept the boulder at face value, as a glacial erratic, I would have to accept that a valley glacier came down Canyon Creek itself, and that this valley glacier was 500 feet thick or more.I hoped to find other erratics, and bodies of till, but I did not.It happens that the upland surface of Moody Ridge resumes to the northeast, on nearby Casa Loma Ridge, less than a mile away. There is, then, a thicker-than-usual section of the Young Volcanics of the Superjacent Series here, filling the old Nary Red valley.It would make sense that a valley glacier, flowing down Canyon Creek, might have helped create this gap, or pass, in the ridge dividing Canyon Creek from the North Fork canyon.But I am a cautious man. This ravine heads up in this same Eocene-age Nary Red Channel.But what mechanism could have brought these huge boulders over a mile from their source, into Green Valley?To me it seemed extremely likely that the rare cliffs of the Cement Stratum, the rare outcrop of the Welded Tuff, and the very very peculiar region of giant tuff boulders in Green Valley, all pointed to glacial ice flowing down Canyon Creek, and breaking out of the creek’s own proper valley to flow south into the North Fork canyon. So, if there is till from this glacier, there could be, and maybe should be, granite boulders in that till.On the other hand, suppose very very few granite boulders were along for the ride, in the Canyon Creek glacier; This Stratum of Big Boulders seems to be, really, just the basal part of the Stratum of Rotten Mudflow, which forms the uppermost lahar in the andesitic sequence, in this immediate area.I had walked this bouldery spine many times since 1975, but yesterday I was very pleased to find something new: a small granite boulder, perhaps two to three feet in diameter, visibly weathered and old-looking, compared to the Tioga-age granite erratics one often sees farther east and higher in elevation, as for instance near Emigrant Gap.So. It was so well covered in moss I could not be sure it was granite, but, kicking away the moss, I was able to break off a dirty flake a foot across, and then break that flake, and I saw that, yes, it is granite.Having observed three granite boulders in the near vicinity of the Nary Red pass, I am not so cautious, now, and I declare that:*******Once, if not many times, a glacier flowed down Canyon Creek, and once or several times this glacier was at least 500 feet thick, or, more pertinently, its top was at least as high as 4100′ in elevation, near Moody Ridge. From the degree of weathering of the granite boulders, and the degree of weathering of the rhyolite boulders in Green Valley, and the degree of weathering of the rhyolite outcrops near Lake Alta, and the degree of weathering of the rhyolite outcrops flanking the Nary Red Pass on Moody Ridge, all of which degrees suggesting age but not great age, I attribute the most recent Canyon Creek glacier to the Tahoe II glaciation, of approximately 65,000 years ago.*******If not Tahoe II, then to Tahoe I, ~130,000 years ago, do I turn. but I cannot accept that either of these older glaciations could have left these fairly sound and only slightly weathered granite boulders.Why, one might ask, was this Canyon Creek glacier so eager to break out of the confines of Canyon Creek? The southern pass connects Canyon Creek to the North Fork American, the northern, Lake Alta pass connects Canyon Creek to the Bear River.After discovering Granite Boulder #3 I walked north to Casa Loma Ridge, and climbed it, searching for more granite erratics, but finding none. If my hypothesis about a Canyon Creek glacier breaking through both passes is correct, there ought to be at least one or two such granite boulders kicking around over that way.I guess it’s time for a fresh look.OK, that’s all for now folks, except, I will provide a limited bibliography, of works I have consulted over the years, below.
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The story is slowly emerging of what happened, out of sight, to the monks and the other Burmese citizens who staged demonstrations against the ruling regime.The hidden crackdown is as methodical as it is brutal. First the monks were targeted, then the thousands of ordinary Burmese who joined the demonstrations, those who even applauded or watched, or those merely suspected of anti-government sympathies. There were about 400 of us in one room. No toilets, no buckets, no water for washing. No beds, no blankets, no soap. Nothing, said a 24-year-old monk who was held for 10 days at the Government Technical Institute, a leafy college in northern Rangoon which is now a prison camp for suspected dissidents. The young man, too frightened to be named, was one of 185 monks taken in a raid on a monastery in the Yankin district of Rangoon on 28 September, two days after government soldiers began attacking street protesters. The room was too small for everyone to lie down at once. We took it in turns to sleep. Every night at 8 oclock we were given a small bowl of rice and a cup of water. But after a few days many of us just couldnt eat. The smell was so bad. Some of the novice monks were under 10 years old, the youngest was just seven. They were stripped of their robes and given prison sarongs. Some were beaten, leaving open, untreated wounds, but no doctors came. On his release, the monk spoke to a Western aid worker in Rangoon, who smuggled his testimony and those of other prisoners and witnesses out of Burma on a small memory stick. Most of the detained monks, the low-level clergy, were eventually freed without charge as were the children among them. But suspected ringleaders of the protests can expect much harsher treatment, secret trials and long prison sentences. One detained opposition leader has been tortured to death, activist groups said yesterday. Win Shwe, 42, a member of the National League for Democracy, the party of the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has died under interrogation, the Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, adding that the information came from authorities in Kyaukpandawn township. However, his body was not sent to his family and the interrogators indicated that they had cremated it instead. Win Shwe was arrested on the first day of the crackdown.I heard on the radio the other day that the Burmese government intended to punish even those who simply watched the march and applauded with two years in jail.Burmese intelligence agents are scrutinising photographs and video footage to identify demonstrators and bystanders. They have also arrested the owners of computers which they suspect were used to transmit images and testimonies out of the country.The United States yesterday threatened unspecified new sanctions against Burma and called for an investigation into the death of Win Shwe. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement: The junta must stop the brutal treatment of its people and peacefully transition to democracy or face new sanctions from the United States.The sanctions from the United States are welcome but the whole world needs to impose sanctions on Burma through the United Nations.When there were demonstrations and soldiers on the streets, the world was watching, said a professional woman who watched the marchers from her office. But now the soldiers only come at night. They take anyone they can identify from their videos. People who clapped, who offered water to the monks, who knelt and prayed as they passed. People who happened to turn and watch as they passed by and their faces were caught on film. It is now we are most fearful. It is now we need the world to help us.The Liberal blogosphere has been generally quiet on this subject with only a few of the smaller blogs, like this one, bothering to comment on what is happening in Burma. I genuinely have no idea why that is.I know that China will resist any attempts to place sanctions on Burma through the United Nations but, as I have said before, that need not be a problem.Nor is Chinas protection enough to make the Burmese regime untouchable. Indeed, the more the Burmese government rely on one trading partner to protect them, the more vulnerable they become.The Chinese government are setting great hope on the Beijing Olympics enhancing their international reputation. Were Western governments to threaten to boycott those Olympics I dont think the Chinese would continue to support the Burmese government.China may be the rising international superstar, but she can still be hit where it matters. In this case, her vanity. We should threaten to boycott until China stops protecting this vile regime.Now more than ever it is imperative that the world acts, as the vile clampdown and punishments start. The excuse that China will use her veto at the UN ignores the fact that the Chinese holding the Olympics gives us an ideal opportunity to make China reconsider her support for this vile regime. Normally the Chinese would be impossible to persuade when it comes to this subject, but the Olympics and the great store that China is setting by them gives us a window of opportunity that should be not be allowed to pass.Click title for full article.Tags: Burma, China, General Than Shwe, Suu Kyi, Beijing Olympics, Win Shwe
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Fighting back tears, Hatfill threw down the gauntlet at Ashcroftâs feet, saying of the attorney general, âIn my view, he has broken the Ninth Commandment: âThou shall not bear false witnessâ!âHatfill indicted the Justice Department, the FBI, and specifically, Ashcroft, of being behind the perpetual motion machine whereby a Justice Department leak would lead to a media feeding frenzy, which would in turn be used by the FBI to justify renewed activity against Hatfill.Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. The shoot-to-kill order, issued by FBI officials Richard Rogers and Larry Potts, violated FBI rules of engagement, and was later ruled illegal by a federal judge.Rather than being prosecuted, dismissed, or suspended, most of the FBI supervisors responsible for Ruby Ridge were promoted.A secret, 1999 report by the Justice Departmentâs Office of Professional Responsibility, cited Harp for having âcommitted misconductâ by âhelping to prepare an incomplete report on the 1992 Ruby Ridge siege that had the effect of protecting high-level FBI officials,â according to reporter Dan Eggen, writing in the August 24 Washington Post. Colgate, then the assistant attorney general, rejected that recommendation in January 2001, sources said.â Colgate protected all higher-level FBI officials who were responsible for the Ruby Ridge fiasco from being brought to justice.Eggen noted that groups such as the National Whistleblower Center have complained — as have FBI agents — that the FBI has a corrupt organizational culture, in which bad agents and officials rise to the top, through covering up each otherâs mistakes, while blaming underlings.Dan Eggen reported that, âIn a written statement, Harp said that leaks about his role in the Ruby Ridge inquiries violate âall sense of proprietyâ and ignore reviews that exonerated him.âAt Steven Hatfillâs Sunday news conference, Harp was hoist on his own petard. I hope itâs not, at any event.âIt doesnât make any sense for the FBI or the Justice Department to have leaked …âWeâre hearing only one side of this.âHe says he wants his privacy, but he keeps calling press conferences, trying to stretch his 15 minutes of fame.âSo, now Hatfill is not only a serial murderer, but his defense of himself proves his guilt, as well as that he is a publicity hound!It appears that the FBI is undergoing some sort of institutional psychosis, due to the pressure it is under to catch someone by the anniversary of 911. doesnât make any sense.â Regarding the anthrax letters, which were written in the style of Islamic terrorists, but which the FBI insists were written by homegrown terrorists to seem like Islamists, Lang observed wryly, âSometimes a cigar really is a cigar.â As for the FBIâs behavior in persecuting Hatfill, Lang noted, âI never served in the FBI, but it is characteristic of large bureaucracies to behave in ways theyâre not used to behaving, when theyâre under pressure.âUnfortunately, in the age of Leviathanâs war against terrorism, the FBI is under constant pressure.
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