Category: random

Christopher Chism, born November 5th, 1952, passed away August 16th, 2013. He was 60.

Chris graduated from Fortuna High School in 1971, and upon graduation he relocated to the Bay Area. Chris worked at several restaurants: Star’s, A. Sabellas and Lark Creek all in San Francisco.

Chris is survived by his sister Betty Phelps and brothers Dennis Chism and David Chism; sisters-in-law Rita Chism and Sharon Chism and was preceded in death by his parents Donald and Evelyn Chism; brother William Chism; nephew Barry Phelps; and sister-in-law Eileen Chism.

The Roman Empire in the 6th century was actually Christian, and divided between the Western and Eastern Roman Empire, and they were falling apart from within.  They had an overextended military, debased their currency to pay off their debts,  a bureaucracy living off the entirety of the Roman people and no of control over their borders.

Sounds vaguely familiar.

Because of this, a number of cities that were originally Christian, like Istanbul or Alexandria, were picked off one by one by the first caliphate.  And if you were a non-Muslim, you fell under a separate legal category called, ‘dhimmi.’

‘Dhimmi’ is an agreement, meaning ‘protection,’ and the those who are ‘dhimmis,’ while protected, are a second class citizen. This “custom,” stretches back to the beginning of the Islamic conquest all the way through the Ottoman Empire.

‘Dhimmis,’ sound much like anyone not willing to side with Progressives, i.e. “Tea Party,” “Conservative,” “Libertarian,” “Christian.” However, it got worse for those living in the region during the time period between the 6th century and the late 1930’s.

Eventually, those placed under ‘protection,’ were either forced to accept Islam or live in this legal area where they could be killed or enslaved. And unlike under Roman law, religious minorities were also disarmed to ensure they could not defend themselves, plus they had to pay a “jizya,” a tax for not being Muslim.

Kind of sounds like “Obamacare,” where you have to either purchase a regulated insurance package or pay a ‘fee.’ But it doesn’t end there’s when you consider the concept of “fay,’ meaning all property actually belongs to the umma, the Islamic community, and anyone outside that community can therefore have their property appropriated to wage war.

Don’t believe it?

Recently the City of Richmond, California put forth a plan to seize underwater mortgages through eminent domain to ‘combat blight.’ City leaders claim the purpose is to keep families in their homes and prevent destabilizing impact of foreclosures.

It’s jus’ crazy talk — isn’ it?

The old and fenced-in building next to Carrows Restaurant near Plumb Lane and Kietzke is no more after crews started demolishing it. Olcese Construction began tearing down the building that formerly housed Jeremiah’s Steakhouse, Tuesday.

Jeremiah’s was one of the first place my wife and I visited for dinner after we moved to Reno. We liked the place so much that we even took her parents and my parents there at various times.

One of the unique things about the restaurant was it ‘cowboy boot collection.’ They had some of the best looking, most artfully designed boots on the shelves wrapping the dining room.

Clearing out the remains of the building should take about five days. There are no plans to replace the restaurant at this time.

Even though it closed nearly a decade ago, I hate to see a piece of my memory torn down.

The three of us parked our vehicles, they in the Jeep, me in my Ranger, and we walked across the narrow roadway. It was there that I had one of the most frightening paranormal experiences of my life.

Jus’ two-weeks before, while alone, I was in Six-Mile Canyon, below Virginia City hoping to capture some shots of the sun as it set over Mount Davidson, when I found myself ‘attacked.’ What I at first thought to be an animal, turned out to be a black mass, much like a statically charged, wet blanket drop over me.

By the time I had gathered my wits about me, I was back across the road and struggling to get in my truck. It occurred to me by then that what I thought had happened was something other-worldly.

It left me shaken for a couple of days and I did my best to relate to others what had happened, vowing never to return to the spot. However my friend, Tonya and her husband, Rich wanted to come see if they could experience what I had.

“It’s a little farther back,” I said as I lead the way across the dry creek bed.

Soon we were standing near the spot where I had my experience. I felt a small knot in my gut as Rich continued up the embankment and onto the flat above me and Tonya.

He turned and smiled, “Yeah, there’s a lot going on, here.”

Rich is a ‘sensitive’ and is able to see beyond the dimensions we normally see. Tonya and I climbed up the embankment and joined him.

“There’s a woman standing over there,” he pointed.

Neither Tonya nor I could see anything more than a bush in the place he was indicating. That was nothing new for Tonya as she was still waiting for her first real paranormal experience.

Then Rich added, “She has a husband here and her kids.”

As he said this, Rich pointed to where the three children were. He turned slightly to his right and said, “Samuel is over by that low tree branch.”

Without a word, I raised my camera to take a picture of him. I was hoping to capture a shadow, an orb or perhaps a mist-like image.

“He’s got his shot-gun pointed at you,” Rich informed me.

That’s when I decided I best interact with these spirits before I caused something like what had happened to me before to occur again. I raised my hands over my head as if surrendering.

“This is a camera,” I stated, “and it won’t hurt you. I’d like to take your picture.”

Though I couldn’t see this Samuel, I felt as if I had best be respectful. Rich looked at me and said, “He says ‘Go ahead.’”

I quickly lifted the device to my face and pushed the button, releasing the shutter.

“The three kids like to play along the roadway,” Rich continued, “They’re fascinated with the headlights on the cars and trucks.”

Tonya then asked me, “Are there a lot of accidents along Six-Mile?”

“Not a lot,” I answered, “However they do happen – in fact there was an accident along this road the middle of last week.”

“That’s them,” Rich responded, “People see them and try to avoid hitting the kids playing in the street.”

“I still can’t see or hear or feel anything,” Tonya complained.

“Maybe you’re trying to hard,” I chimed in.

Rich stopped our chatter by raising a hand. He moved his head slightly to the left as if listening.

“Hmm…there’s another Samuel here,” he finally announced, “and he recognizes you, Tom. In fact he’s the one who tossed the net over you the last time you were here.”

“A net,” I shot back in surprise, “That’s what it was!”

Then without warning, I felt weak in the knees, as if I had suddenly been drained of energy. I tried to shake the feeling of, but it wouldn’t go away.

It was at that moment that I saw the fuzzy outline of a man in a red shirt standing next to me on my left side I wanted to turn and look directly, but I knew that if I tried, he would be lost to my peripheral vision for ever.

“There’s someone standing next to me,” I calmly stated.

“Yeah, that’s Samuel,” Rich responded. “He’s the stronger of the two and stronger than all of them.”

“Well, now that I know he’s there, I’m feeling weak,” I complained.

No sooner had I said this, than the figure in the corner of my eye disappeared. However the internal vibrating remained.

“Darn it!” Tonya exclaimed, “You guys are having all the fun!”

She turned around and looked up the hillside. It was obvious having never seen or felt a ghost frustrated Tonya.

That was to suddenly change.

As she turned back, her eyes grew large and she whispered loudly, “I feel someone or something touching my right shoulder-blade.”

She smiled.

After a few more seconds, she added, “It’s a hot sensation, but it doesn’t burn.”

“That’s Samuel,” Rich told her. “He wants you to know he’s here and that he’s real.”

We stood there another two or three minutes, taking in the sounds of the wildlife, watching the sun flit through the canopy of cotton woods above our heads. It was Rich who finally voiced what were thinking.

“It’s time to go,” he said. “I’m starting to feel a bit drained.”

Without saying anything the three of us head back down towards the creek bed and out to the road. I was in the lead and suddenly noticed a large segment of grass tramped down as if something or someone had been there.

I stopped in my tracks.

“What is it, Tom?” Tonya asked.

“There are four or five spirits in front of me, crouched,” I answered.

Unbeknownst to me Rich had already seen what I was feeling, and had held up four fingers to his wife. As I answered Tonya, four white butterflies sprang from the matted-down grassy spot.

“Asians,” I stated flatly.

And as I spoke the words, I heard a voice speaking inaudible words in broken-English. It sounded forced and rehearsed.

While I couldn’t hear the words per say, I sensed them.  I couldn’t help but turn and look at Rich with a smile.

He knew exactly what I was feeling.

Without hesitation I stated to whatever presence was confronting me, “You’re an educated man.”

Somehow I knew that spirit I was sensing was not simply a ‘Chinaman’ working in the mines or some other menial labor-intensive position. Well-educated, he could speak English and held a place of some importance within his community.

I looked at Rich and told him what I was sensing.

He already knew as he answered my next question before I could ask it, “He pretends to by ignorant, so the White man doesn’t know that he understands what they’re saying or doing.”

My head felt light, and I became dizzy. I quickly turned and rushed up to the roadway before I found myself collapsing where I stood.

I had never felt that open before – not once had I ever communicated with something I could not explain and agitated, I could hardly control my excitement.

It was obvious that Tonya was feeling the same agitated excitement as me. Her husband, Rich was kind enough to allow us time to revel in what we had jus’ experience.

About an hour later, we got in our vehicles and headed back up the canyon towards Virginia City. As we climbed our way out of the valley, I heard the echo of children’s laughter reverberating across the high, rocky walls.

“Did you hear the kids?” I asked Rich as he and Tonya pulled up beside me.

“Yes I did,” he answered, “There playing on the hillside over there.”

He pointed directly to the area from where I’d heard the laughter. Tonya slapped the steering wheel of her jeep, “Dang! What children?”

I heard Rich laughing as I pulled away.

In Nevada, Area 51 is also known as Groom Lake and now the CIA is acknowledging its existence. The top-secret Cold War test site has been the subject of conspiracy theories for decades.

Recently declassified documents not only mention secret installation, they describe some of the activities that took place there as well as place the site on a map. Now, if only the National Security Agency would fess-up to what they’re storing at their new facility in Utah.

Perhaps in another 50-years…

The first recorded flood by settlers in Del Norte happened between December 1861 and January 1862. Heavy rains hammered the area with floods following.

At high tide, the breakers forced themselves over “drift-wood, bulk heads, and break water, into the streets of Crescent City.” Huge logs washed up onto the sidewalks, crashing into Front street buildings, breaking windows and doors, and wreaking havoc.

But the losses in Crescent City were slight when compared with the loss suffered at Klamath. Fort Ter-Waw and the Wau-Kell Agency became inundated by flood waters, and most of the buildings swept away or wrecked.

One large officers’ tent from Fort Ter-Waw eventually washed up on the beach near Crescent City. The damage was so great that the post and agency were eventually abandoned.

A professor of Agriculture in the Sheffield Scientific School, William H. Brewer visited the area in 1863. He found the waters had brought down a large measure of wood, much of which ended up on the beaches between Crescent City and the mouth of the Klamath.

He reported there was enough timber along the shore, south of Crescent City, “to make a million cords of wood. It is thrown up in great piles, often a mile long, and the size of some of these logs is tremendous.”

Debris, 200 yards wide and three to eight feet deep, covered the beach for eight miles. Although worn by water and their bark gone, it was not uncommon to find logs 150 feet long and four feet in diameter at the small end.

The last few days one of our local TV news affiliates has been running stories about road kill that crews, rather than move, have either paved over or painted road-stripes on. This same affiliate spoke to the people in charge of such work crews, and they claimed it was simply an over-sight.

I thought it was jus’ more of Nevada’s Senator Harry Reid’s roadside artwork, he generously paid for using our taxpayer money.

It’s completely American to poke fun at politicians of all stripes. Take for instances, rodeo clown Leon Coffee wearing a Hillary Clinton mask during the 59th Annual Stock Show and Rodeo in 2008 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Now, jump to present day and the fact we have a Black president.

Note, I didn’t say African-American — because to truly qualify for that title, one must have been born in Africa, like say Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Unfortunately, Rabbi Lapin doesn’t fulfill the same-stream media’s bias of what an African-American is — after-all he’s a white guy.

Over the weekend a rodeo clown caused the same-stream media to go nuts once again by wearing a mask resembling President Obama, then asking the audience if they’d like to see him “run down by a bull.” The clown not only has been permanent ban from performing at the Missouri State fair, they voted unanimously to forbid use of ‘Obama masks’ at the venue again in the future.

This is the same same-stream media that tried to paint George Zimmermann as a racist, even after he was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. It’s also the same same-same stream media that gutted Paula Deen’s career and reputation, only to see all the so-called charges tossed out by a judge.

Oh and lest I forget — take off the Hillary mask and face paint and you’ll learn Leon Coffee is Black.

We get some pretty odd mail at the radio station. This is jus’ one of the many examples.

Inquisitive to see where this might lead, the first thing I did was look up Psalm 37:20, which reads, “But the wicked will perish: Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.”

So far, so good.

Next I looked for an overlay of “God’s Temple upon America.” Try as I may, I could not find one.

In the end this piece of strange mail remains jus’ that — strange.

Though I have been in the area of Fourth and Valley several times this year taking pictures, I had never seen the large statuary tucked back against the building I was now photographing. It reminded me of some sort of Egyptian god, but I have no idea which one.

So since I was there, I figured I’d snap a shot or two of the thing and head for home. I had to get close to the relief as it was pushed back under the awning of the building.

Though I was in the shade of the building, there was enough light outside at three in the afternoon that I didn’t require my flash. I took a close up of the face, followed by a picture of the entire statue.

Surprisingly, I found ‘light artifacts,’ around the relief in both frames taken. While I’ve no idea where they came from, but do have some idea what it means.