BERIGAN

All thrash Metal, all the time, naturally.

Donner Party researchers find no evidence of cannibalism By Betsy Cohen / Lee Newspapers . MISSOULA, Mont. — It’s quite likely that Uno, the Donner family dog, became a desperate feast for the starved, ill-fated pioneers when they were trapped by a relentless snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1846. But Uno may have been the only family member eaten by the Donner Party during the four months they were snowbound in their makeshift mountain camp. Kelly Dixon, a University of Montana anthropology professor, and Julie Schablitsky, a historical archaeologist at the University of Oregon, had the science world buzzing Thursday after they presented their findings at the Society for Historical Archaeology 2006 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Sacramento, Calif. After three years conducting the most comprehensive Donner camp study ever undertaken — a study that included forensic science, DNA testing and collaboration with experts in the field of trauma, psychology and medicine — the researchers’ work led to a startling conclusion. The Donner Party cannibalism legend may be just legend after all. Of the thousands of bone fragments uncovered at the Donner family’s cooking hearth, none were human, Dixon said. There’s plenty of evidence showing the pioneers dined on rabbit, deer, rodents, their horses and cattle — and on Uno — but no evidence of the human bones promised in legend and historical accounts. In 2003 and 2004, Dixon and Schablitsky set out to tackle the cannibalism myth by excavating portions of the party’s Alder Creek camp on the Truckee Ranger District, the place where the 21-person Donner family camped. Six miles up the trail, the rest of the 89-person wagon train, which included the Murphy, Keesberg, Reed and Graves families, camped at a lake, today called Donner Lake. The scientists’ efforts unearthed remnants of the Donners’ day-to-day life, including thousands of pieces of burned bones, when they discovered a cooking hearth at the family’s Alder Creek Camp. Pieces of teacups and plates, musket balls, jewelry, wagon parts, a writing slate and bottle shards were found around the hearth, which told the scientists that despite the Donners’ dire circumstances, they attempted to normalize the situation. A sample of the bone findings bore saw marks, had been chopped and cut, and some were polished, Dixon said. The condition of the bones, and evidence showing they had been boiled in water repeatedly and the marrow scraped out suggest extreme desperation and starvation. Although no human bones were found, the scientists said they aren’t ignoring written accounts and interviews with some survivors who reported the party had resorted to cannibalism. One of the most sensational tellings came from survivor John Baptiste Trudeau, a 16-year-old French immigrant who was a teamster for the Donner family. In 1847, Baptiste claimed: “eat baby raw, stewed some of Jake, and roasted his head, not good meat, taste like sheep with the rot; but sir, very hungry, eat anything." The description helped turn the story into a legend and served as a cautionary tale for other pioneers on the westward trek to California. However, 40 years after sharing his story, Trudeau recanted what he saw to fellow survivor Eliza Donner, who was 4 years old at the time of the tragedy. Because the Donner story is rife with historical inconsistencies, Schablitsky said she’s not convinced cannibalism happened at Alder Creek. “I’m 50-50,” she said. “They may not have cannibalized at all.” Trudeau’s account is less compelling, not only because he recanted his experience, but also because the researchers now have a better understanding of who he was. “He was 16, a French immigrant, nobody knew who he was — he was an orphan,” Schablitsky said. “He was nobody, and then all of the sudden because he’s a survivor and cannibalism was said to have taken place, he’s suddenly elevated to stardom and infamy. He probably made the whole thing sound as sexy and gory and sensational as possible." Jim Reed, a psychologist who specializes in trauma, helped the researchers better understand the mental state of the Donner Party, and the legitimacy of survivor recollections, Dixon said. Individuals who have endured starvation and trauma are plagued by delirium, and a host of negative physiological changes such as the loss of short-term memory. “Dr. Reed’s work opened up a whole new way of looking at this event, and he reminded us that we were studying humans who have cognition,” Dixon said. “I never thought about historical records that way, but his input helped explain what happens to the human mind when someone is exposed to trauma, and that made us more leery about the accuracy of the historic record." The researchers even question the eyewitness accounts of the rescue party, who supported the stories of cannibalism. “The rescue salvage members came to the camps where bodies had been thawing and freezing and torn apart by wild animals for four months,” Schablitsky said. “How could they determine if cannibalism took place? “For me, it’s a question of who are the informers in this story and can we believe them?" “But it doesn’t matter to me if the cannibalism happened or not,” she said. “What the evidence is showing is that it didn’t happen, we don’t have evidence for it." Dixon said she doesn’t rule out that cannibalism happened in the snowbound, desperate camp, but she’d like evidence to prove that it did. “This is such a powerful story, and the thing is there should be blatant archaeological evidence that cannibalism took place — and there’s not,” Dixon said. “The Donners have gone through history with this awful brand, which they might not deserve.“ The duo has no opinion about the Lake Camp, and what the 60-some stranded pioneers resorted to when food got lean and their situation worsened. It could be that the Donner family is guilty by association, Schablitsky said. Lake Camp could have experienced cannibalism. There are still so many unknowns about the details and the day-to-day life of the doomed party, she said, but she now knows one thing for sure: “Be careful what you name your wagon train." Betsy Cohen is a reporter for the Missoulian newspaper in Missoula, Mont. http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/20...ws/01donner.txt

I remember some comedian saying a few years ago how terrible it was that we had to pay something crazy like 33 cents to have a letter mailed a lousy 3000 miles!

I have seen Red River, Winchester '73, Night Of The Hunter, and she was quite different in all of them(and there is something really creepy about the Mom in Night of the Hunter) I think people tend to recall the last thing they see people in, and judge accordingly, and that's not fair. Even in something like The Poseidon Adventure( I know Gene Hackman likes to badmouth the film whenever he can) she is very believable for some reason. I guess because you can really sense her character's (and Shelly's) desire to make a difference, to still be relevant well into middle age. I remember reading a few years back where people were going nuts over some oscar winner walking down the street, following her, and Shelly saying something to the effect of hey, I was nominated several times, I won an oscar as well, look at me! And dream on about a nice Oscar tribute...they think it's swell to waste 3-4 hours of our live's with lame actors who have trouble reading lame jokes off of cue cards, lame musical numbers, and even lamer hosts, but quick, get thru the people who died as fast as you can...just show images, no sound....They're dead to hollywood now, in more ways than one. Don't show a clip Donald O'Connor running up a wall, show him mugging in a 10 second clip, that'll make someone young want to check out a Donald O'Connor film! It's been a pet peeve of mine for many years the terrible "tributes" they do on the Oscar shows, in case you can't tell. Rest in Peace Miss Winters.

yormusic

NIKON WILL DROP FILM CAMERAS NEW YORK (AP) - Nikon Corp., which helped popularize the 35 mm camera five decades ago, will stop making most of its film cameras to concentrate on digital models. Headline is a bit misleading, since they are not dropping film cameras, just cutting down to two models.

70 today!!! I wouldn't mind missing just one winter.....Or at least have a short one.....when it is 40 with a 25-30 MPH wind Saturday, today will have seemed like a dream....

"Ruth Gordon was ever so gay as Nibs," wrote influential critic Alexander Woollcott http://allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:92118~C

So..who's done more coke in their lifetime....Jack Nicholson, or BarrY? Barry Tested Positive for Cocaine Use In the Fall Drug Check Ordered After Tax Case Plea By Yolanda Woodlee and Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, January 11, 2006; A01 D.C. Council member Marion Barry tested positive for cocaine use in the fall in a drug test ordered by a court after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax charges, according to two sources familiar with Barry's case. Barry, who served four terms as mayor and was elected to the Ward 8 council seat in 2004, has since begun treatment for drug use, the sources said, but Barry's failure to pass the mandatory drug test puts him in legal jeopardy. Because he violated the terms of his release, Barry, 69, faces an increased risk of serving the maximum 18 months behind bars -- rather than probation -- for his failure to file tax returns for six years. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 8, but a federal judge could jail him or sanction him at any time. Barry, interviewed last night in his Howard University Hospital room, where he's being treated for hypertension, said he did not deny accounts of his drug test and treatment but declined to discuss his case. "Write what you want to write," he told a Washington Post reporter. "That's my official quote. No more, no less." Barry pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to the misdemeanor tax charges, and as a condition of being released on his own recognizance, he was required to undergo drug testing soon after, court records show. But, according to two sources close to Barry and an official familiar with his case, the court's probation office notified U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson and prosecutors in or around November that Barry's test result was positive for drug use. Two of the three sources said the drug was cocaine. The sources asked not to be identified because a court case is pending. Robinson has not revoked Barry's bond or ordered him jailed pending sentencing, as she could have because of the drug infraction, court records say. Nor did prosecutors seek to cancel their plea agreement with Barry, in which they had said they would not oppose his effort to seek probation at sentencing. It's not unusual for defendants to fail drug tests and remain free while awaiting sentencing, court officials said. Judges sometimes will order them to undergo treatment or submit to more frequent testing. Barry's attorney, Frederick D. Cooke Jr., sought for Barry to undergo drug treatment to show in the weeks before sentencing that his failed drug test was a relatively minor, one-time infraction of his release terms, according to a law enforcement source. The goal would be to avoid having Barry arrested for failing to comply with his release terms and to avoid tougher sentencing for the tax crimes. The tax case involves Barry's failure to pay most of his federal and D.C. income taxes for six years after his fourth term as mayor ended in January 1999. Prosecutors said he received more than $530,000 in income over the next six years but did not document most of it. Barry's plea agreement also calls for him to make arrangements to resolve his tax debts. Cooke declined to comment yesterday on Barry's status. Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District, said yesterday that he would neither confirm nor deny that Barry had violated a condition of his release. "We will decline to comment until we are back before the court since it is pending sentencing," Phillips said. Barry was in the news last week when he held a news conference to describe an incident in which he was robbed in his kitchen Jan. 2 by two assailants who helped him carry groceries to his third-floor apartment in Southeast Washington. They pointed a gun at Barry's face and stole his wallet, which police said contained more than $200, his driver's license and two credit cards. Drug problems and speculation about drug use have plagued Barry through much of the latter part of his 30-year political career. In 1990, during his third term as mayor, Barry was arrested at the Vista Hotel after being videotaped smoking crack, an image that for years has haunted him and the city he led. Barry's arrest was followed by seven weeks in treatment centers in Florida and South Carolina. He repeatedly invoked God upon his return, in keeping, a spokesman said at the time, with his 12-step, faith-based treatment program. After serving six months for cocaine possession in the Vista incident, Barry led a political comeback in 1992, winning a D.C. Council seat and then a fourth term as mayor two years later. While preparing to run in 2002 for an at-large council seat, U.S. Park Police reported that they found a trace of marijuana and $5 worth of crack cocaine in Barry's Jaguar while he was parked at Buzzard Point in Southwest Washington. Police never charged Barry, who then scrapped his campaign plans. When he campaigned for a Ward 8 seat in 2004, he claimed in interviews that the Park Police planted the drugs in his car. After he was reelected to a fourth term as mayor, Barry said in an interview with Post reporters and editors that he'd made "a remarkable recovery," responding to the criticism by some that he had returned to the rigorous job of mayor too soon. He denied having a relapse with drugs and alcohol. Barry has had numerous health troubles recently. A cancer survivor, Barry has diabetes and high blood pressure and was hospitalized at least three times last year. Still, the former mayor, when well, has kept a regular public schedule of council meetings and community events. Barry was released in late October on his personal recognizance until sentencing under several conditions ordered by Robinson. He had to continue to live at his residence on Douglas Place SE, alert the court if he traveled outside the Washington area and follow instructions of his probation officer. He also had to submit to being fingerprinted, photographed and tested for drugs. Under the plea deal, prosecutors reserved the right to scrap that agreement if Barry failed to comply with all the terms. Judges have considerable discretion in deciding how to handle defendants who violate conditions of their release, court officials said, and they typically weigh the seriousness of the infraction in deciding whether to jail defendants. When defendants are sentenced, however, even minor violations are typically mentioned in open court and considered relevant in assessing the defendant's overall conduct. Staff writer Robert E. Pierre contributed to this report http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1002018_pf.html

Glad you hear you weren't dead! Hope you will stick your neck in once in awhile.

Why Moose! Why did your ears prick up over the word payroll? There's lots of work that needs to be done in BFE, I mean Louisiana! Packing the dirt on the dirt roads, (Gotta have smooth roads for the Moonshiners)re-wickering the lanterns, patching up the tin roofs, and those modern outhouses won't build themselves!

Happy Birthday....Patrish!

A column on who Jason Stark voted for, and why... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...yson&id=2282992

But, not in Italics! Actually, just some gentle ribbing of the way you spelled it on the JFK thread....twice. http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...ndpost&p=455947 http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...ndpost&p=456718 He played trumpet, in case you haven't heard of him before. If you have heard of him....he still played trumpet.

Well, as long as Jim spells Berigan correctly....

Chris, go back to sleep, and try getting up on the other side of your bed! And if Jim wants to move it, that's fine with me! It can still be read.

Mountaineer, Ex-Nazi Heinrich Harrer Dies Staff and agencies 07 January, 2006 By WILLIAM J. KOLE, 2 hours, 27 minutes ago VIENNA, Austria - Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer and former Nazi who became a friend and tutor of the young Dalai Lama, died Saturday. He was 93. Actor Brad Pitt played Harrer in the film "Seven Years in Tibet," which was based on Harrer‘s 1953 memoir of his time in the Himalayan nation. At least nine mountaineers had died trying to scale the sheer wall, long considered Europe‘s greatest mountaineering challenge. Dozens have perished in subsequent attempts. His ascent earned him fame and a handshake from Adolf Hitler: Harrer had joined the Nazi party when Germany took control of Austria in 1938. He also joined the SS, the party‘s police wing associated with atrocities during World War II. Harrer and a colleague were arrested by British troops in India at the end of that expedition as war broke out in September 1939. Harrer taught the Dalai Lama mathematics, English and sports, and became his adviser and friend. Harrer‘s subsequent book about the experience, "Seven Years in Tibet," was translated into 48 languages. His adventures became known to millions worldwide in the 1997 film starring Pitt. It was only a few months before the movie‘s release that his Nazi past caught up with him. While he had said he joined the Nazi party to further his teaching and mountaineering careers, Harrer did not explain why he joined the SA when Nazis still were persecuted in Austria. Harrer was interned at the start of the war and never linked to any Nazi atrocities. Simon Wiesenthal, the famed Nazi hunter who died last year, said Harrer was not involved in politics and was innocent of wrongdoing. A publicity-shy man who divided his time between Austria and Liechtenstein, Harrer told the Austria Press Agency in June 1997 that he had a "clear conscience." He said, however, that "from today‘s view, the former party and SS membership is an extremely unpleasant thing." He also repudiated his Nazi membership as a "stupid mistake" and an "ideological error." Harrer was decorated with numerous high awards and honors during his career, including Austria‘s Golden Humboldt medal and the "Light of Truth" award bestowed by Tibet‘s government-in-exile in India. http://www.heraldnewsdaily.com/stories/news-00121549.html

I remember you writing this a few months ago...that he was still able to perform just 2 months before his death is not bad at all!

Do NOT get me wrong, we need to take all steps necessary to make it as safe as humanly possible for miners here, but check out what has happened in China in the last year!!!! http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=...34045720218B255

and don't forget Ken Griffey Sr. 2143 hits, .296 B.A.

And make Vada Pinson a charter member! Add Willie McGee to that HOTVG I was thinking the very same thing the other day when I saw this thread! 2254 hits, and a .295 B.A. are nothing to be ashamed of! He was about the fastest player in the game in his youth, but I seem to recall he didn't like to steal, for some reason. And how he could hit so well with such a weak looking swing!

so help me, I don't know how I managed to quote myself!