If you have been following the war in Iraq as much as I have, then you might already know what I am about to write. With the elections looming it is important to review what has transpired so mistakes will not be repeated, but more importantly, to ensure certain individuals are held accountable.

Certain images from the past few years are burned into my brain. Most notable was the President flying to the air craft carrier with the “Mission Accomplished” banner blowing in the wind and the Iraqis toppling the Saddam statue while wrapping an American flag around the face. This was a happy time; we had over thrown Saddam Hussein and penetrated his palaces. The Iraqi people were supporting and even thanking our troops for delivering them from the tyrant. I remember seeing many images of the US troops celebrating with the Iraqi civilians. So what went wrong? The problem with Iraq can be summed up in two words; Paul Bremer.

Paul Bremer was appointed by President Bush as the President’s special envoy in Iraq. Basically, he was in charge of everything in Iraq; the rebuilding, the re-governing efforts and everything in between. Who is Paul Bremer, and if the President appointed him then he must be qualified, right? Wrong. Bremer was called a control freak- by Henry Kissinger, who is the master of all control freaks. He is a corporate executive, an accountant, another in the unending supply of leaderless people put in a leadership position by an unqualified President.

Bush should have left this decision to Colon Powell or somebody within the administration who is more intelligent and better capable of handling this type of situation. I still think this is the primary reason Colon Powell resigned (taking most of the brain power within the administration with him) because he saw the situation in Iraq spiraling out of control the minute Bremer was hired. So Paul Bremer takes over a situation in Iraq in which he knows nothing about the culture, the religion or the people. He is given a three week training course in Iraqi cultures and religions and then turned loose.

His first (dumb ass) order was to instruct the troops to start shooting Iraqi looters. Luckily, he had no control over the military and they denied his request. FYI, the military is under the control of Rumsfeld. It is difficult to gauge how many more of our troops would have died if these shootings happened and the Iraqi people fought back. Remember we are only 100,000 to their 25 million and there was no “green zone” yet to run into if trouble occurred.

His second (dumb ass) order was the de-Baathification decree in which the Baath Party was dismantled. The Baath Party was formed by Saddam Hussein; they were the leaders of many institutions and respected by the Iraqi people. Driving them underground, removed any hopes we had of stabilizing and controlling an enormous population. So now a military of 100,000 has to control a population of 25 million without any leadership on the inside. In an interview, Bremer claimed this order came right from the top. Although he would not give any names; we must assume he was meant President Bush. It is important to remember that he reported directly to President Bush through Donald Rumsfeld.

The third (dumb ass) order was to dissolve the Iraqi army. The Iraqi army was ready to join the American troops in stabilizing their country. Instead, we cut loose an enormous, well-armed army and left them with no job, no money and plenty of time on their hands. What did they do with all the time Bremer gave them? Well, within 72 house of this decree the first bomb exploded killing an American supply line and the situation has continued to spiral out of control ever since. This was also the time in which the leadership within our military retired and came home. They also saw Bremer as a problem and not a solution. Even worse, they saw another potential Vietnam, where politicians fight the war and use the military as their "special" police.

With the Baath Party dismantled there was no leadership within the country, and a well-armed Iraqi army growing itchy, plus no food, no electricity, no running water for the Iraqi people, the situation quickly turned ugly. Instead of looking like liberators we were now seen as occupiers so the population started attacking our troops. All of this could have been avoided if the President would have let Colon Powell or somebody with any intelligence handle post war Iraq.

Now there were some other failures mixed in with these, such as, inadequate troop levels. If President Bush would have gotten better grades and studied more history in college then he would have realized that in WW2 the military proved an intervening power would need a force of approximately 20 men per 1,000 inhabitants in order to maintain security and prevent the emergence of a resistance movement. Translating that to Iraq, it meant between 400,000 and 500,000 men were needed.

Senior Bush realized this which is why he never invaded Iraq during his presidency. He was intelligent enough to realize without these levels of troops, killing Hussein would only result in destabilizing an already chaotic country, thereby plunging it into a civil war. These statistics were presented to Rumsfeld just before the “Mission Accomplished” debacle and both he and the President ignored them. It is hard to tell who dropped the ball but there is plenty of blame for both men to equally share.

Another critical mistake was the sweeping operations which rounded up young Iraqi men and put them into Abu Ghraib prison just because they were young Iraqi men. Putting innocent men in prison will usually anger many people. Abu Ghraib prison quickly became a training ground for the Iraqi insurgents. These men went into prison as civilians and came out as pissed-off, well-trained terrorists.

Another mistake was the failure to stabilize security for the Iraqi people after the fall of Hussein. Because we did not protect them we never gained their loyalty. This mistake would have been rectified if Bremer would have installed the Baath Party quickly and let them call back the Iraqi military to stabilize the country. We would have been out of there already. If they only would have read the history books; it is all in there how the US handled the occupation of Germany after WW2.

So where do we go from here? The best idea which would save the most American and Iraqi lives would be to install Saddam Hussein back into power. What we have done is created an atmosphere of death and destruction by removing the power structure and causing a civil war. Leaving now would cause the death of hundreds of thousands of more innocent Iraqi civilians. Staying will result in the death of many more American troops. The only way to avoid either of these scenarios would be to let Saddam Hussein rebuild his country. We have already made two terrible mistakes so lets do the right thing now; the thing that will save the most lives.

Before you judge the idea of installing Hussein back into power as being very stupid, it is important to remember what we have created in Iraq. We started an Iraqi civil war which will probably last years and will probably cost tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis their lives. Arising from the ashes of this civil war could be a dictator deadlier than Saddam Hussein ever was.

We owe it to both our troops and the Iraqi civilians to fix this situation as best as we can. Failure to rectify this problem will only result in more bloodshed on this administration’s hands. Will this administration do the right thing? I doubt it.

One more important note regarding Iraqi prisoners; after the Hussein regime was toppled certain “terrorists” were rounded up and sent to Guantanamo Bay. When Iraqis were questioned regarding terrorists, the names that were given to US troops were not necessarily terrorists. The US troops just wanted names, so names were given. Many of the people imprisoned are not terrorists but just not liked by certain individuals who were questioned. The situation with Guantanamo Bay is similar to the Salem Witch trials.

It is possible that some of the detainees are terrorists but most probably are not. If they weren’t terrorists before they went into Guantanamo Bay, they will be terrorists when and if they ever get out. After rotting in a jail for years they will have an enormous grudge against the American government. Will this administration ever do the right thing? I doubt it.

Remember these important facts when you vote on November 11th. Remember all the incumbent senators and representatives who continuously do the wrong thing or do nothing at all. It is our turn for our voices to be heard, so let’s send a LOUD message to Washington.

Many people have asked how I got started with the paranormal investigations. Well, here is my story:

It all started when I was a little kid about 5 years old. While looking through the records I found this scary album titled The Chilling Sounds of the Haunted House by Disney. The picture on the cover scared the crap out me but I had to have it. So where does a kid go when he really wants something? You guessed it, right to grandma; she hardly ever said no to me. Well I played this record so much I wore the grooves out. Today I own about 5 copies of it. Whenever I am at flea market or an estate sale and I run across one in good condition, I can’t resist paying fifty cents for another copy.



I remembered staring at this cover listening to the scary sounds thinking about how I wished I lived in that house. I always wanted to explore the attic and find out who left that light on. It would be a stormy night and I would cross the graveyard in front of the house while the thunder roared and the lightning danced upon the horizon. The wind would howl with the waist high grass bowing in unison to the unseen horror that waited for me within the house. Incidentally, the house on this album cover resembles the McPike mansion except for the attic room.

The album peaked my interested in all things scary but it was the Chiller Theatre where, as a kid, I honed my paranormal skills. Every Saturday night my little brother and my mom and I would gather under a blanket, pop some popcorn, and watch the Chiller Theatre spooky movie of the week. I was scared to death but I couldn’t look away. When my mom and brother would hide under the covers I would stare at the TV with my heart getting ready to pound out of my chest.

The movie that used to do the most damage was “Die! Monster, Die!” starring Boris Karloff. After watching that one I had to change my routine for getting into bed. I would stop at the edge of the doorway and run towards the bed jumping to avoid any monster hands which attempted to grab me from under the bed.

My mom was awesome and always catered to my fascination with new age stuff. I still enjoy watching a scary movie with her.

Halloween was always a big event when we were kids. Every year my brother and I would attend all of the haunted houses in the neighborhood Churches, schools and where ever. Those used to scare the crap out of me but I would go to them every year. I remember one time I was about nine years old I got so scared I just started running through the house screaming, “I gotta throw up! I gotta throw up!” Needless to say all of the ghouls cleared a path for me to exit quickly.

In second grade I was accused of being possessed by the devil by one of the nuns. It all started during my First Communion when I received the Host for the first time. As soon as it touched my tongue I vomited it back all over the priest along with the Fruit Loops I ate earlier. The nun, which was the principal of the school, called my parents and insisted I was a demon child. It was a good thing the parish priest did not agree with her about me needing an exorcism; that might have gotten ugly.

In high school I read JRR Tolkien, HP Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King books regularly. I listened to bands like Ozzy Osbourne, who was my favorite rock star, also Rush, Triumph, Motley Crew and Black Sabbath.

When I was a freshman in high school, one of the nuns who taught science liked me because I was good with the experiments and got good grades. She asked me what I was going to do when I grew up. My response to her without missing a beat, “I want to solve all the mysteries of the world. I want to find a Bigfoot, live in a haunted house and talk with a ghost. Maybe even take pictures of a UFO too, but I gotta buy a camera first.” She smiled awkwardly at me and only managed to get out an “OOOOHHH!” She didn’t talk to me much after that.

Then in 1999 came my big break. A friend of mine, who was assisting with her sister’s book about the paranormal, invited me to attend an overnight at the Cheney Mansion, one of the local notorious haunted houses. At the time I knew nothing about orbs, EVPs, or any of the actual science. But in the following years I immersed myself in research and investigations. I wanted to find out everything I could from everybody who had ever visited or lived in a haunted house. I showed up with a video camera and filmed as much as I could. Right away I knew this was where I was supposed to be. I had no troubles walking into the dark basement or climbing into the crawl spaces.

This was also when I had my first psychic experience. There was one particular bedroom I refused to enter. When the group asked me why I stayed at the door I confessed to having a feeling like if I entered the door would slam and I would be trapped. The next morning when we met the curator she asked us if we felt anything strange. I told her about that one bedroom. She smiled and said that was the room they would lock PD Cheney into when he came home drunk. He was a mean drunk and would often break things so they choose that bedroom because there was nothing valuable in it. He would pound on the door for hours before passing out.

My second psychic experience came when I took a trip to Bowling Green to do some antiquing. I remember feeling the presence of a very unhappy old lady standing right next to me. She was unhappy because I was in her home. I could actually smell her!! As we were leaving I asked the owner of the store if they had a ghost. They sure did and when I found out it was an old lady, I knew something was going on with me.

We eventually went back to the Cheney Mansion a second time and then other places. I carried my video camera and filmed everything. I was Ghost Hunters before Ghost hunters existed. I wanted us to do a show on the local access cable channel in which we would play back our footage of the investigations. But the team at the time was not as committed to the research as me.

One of the best investigations involved the old funeral parlor at the top of the street where I grew up as a kid. I remembered the place was a big scary mansion and I always seemed to be in the alley when they would bring in the bodies. The old dark garage door screeched opened and the hearse slowly drove through, I knew what was happening and it scared me. It was like having Phantasm at the top of the street. When it was sold by the original family, they allowed us to spend a night investigating it. This house, which terrified me during my entire childhood and now I was going to spend the night there. I’ll post pictures of it later and show you what it looks like today.

In 2004 I started running ads in the local newspapers querying for stories about hauntings. I interviewed people, developed theories and now I ‘m ready to test some of them. I want to take paranormal investigations to the fringe and go places very few investigators want to go. I want to dissect a haunted location and make contact with spirits on a whole new level.

I believe I was “called” to do this work. There are people that need help and protection from bad spirits. I believe I can help them. It could be the “knight in shining armor” complex I have had my entire life or maybe it’s something else. Whatever it is, I know I’m good at this because I feel comfortable in these environments. Just like Steve Irwin was comfortable jumping on a crocodile, I feel quite the same when confronting a spirit.

For more information, I posted the story a while back behind one of my ongoing investigations. It’s called Evil Descends. I live for this!!

Reading many of my posts, paranormal activities excluded, I realized I am breaking from the reason I created this blog. I started writing this blog for two reasons. The first reason was to bring balance to politics by providing both sides to the stories and exposing hidden agendas which can be damaging to us. The second reason was to provide an outlet for my writing both fictional and non fictional. Lately, I am starting to sound like some liberal lunatic and that is not who I am. I have always voted for the candidate and NOT the party affiliation. For the first time in my life, however, I am advocating voting a straight Democrat ticket and I want to explain why I am advocating this.

I actually voted for George Bush in the 2000 election and have been a staunch supporter of Republican candidates for many years. I have always believed we need a 50-50 split in govermnent to keep everybody honest. But my support of Republicans vanished after 9/11 when George Bush started a personal assault on our liberties and freedoms by claiming it was necessary for our “protection”. Then he poisoned Christianity by transforming it from a loving religion into a religion of hatred against gay people. Now the Republican Party has been hijacked by neo-conservatives spreading lies and calling it Christianity.

I live in Missouri and on the ballot this November is Amendment 2 which is for stem cell research. The Right Wing agenda is lying to Missourians by stating these stem cells will be harvested from naïve teenage girls leaving them with cancer. They are also spreading the lie that human cloning is supported by this Amendment.

In reality, Amendment 2 specifically prohibits egg cell harvesting and human cloning, so why all the lies? Because that is the way in which these people operate and I vehemently oppose their methods. Again, Amendment 2 specifically states only the cells from previous fertility treatments will be used. So we can either burn these cells in an incinerator or use them to enhance the quality of life for many Missourians.

These cells can be used to cure Diabetes and a host of other diseases. These cells can be used to help the crippled walk again and the blind see again. They could be a new hope for many people suffering with incurable ailments but these liars who call them selves Christians have a hidden agenda of hate. Until the Republican Party breaks the chain with these liars and hate mongers posing as Christians, I will vote Democrat.

For true Christians, I challenge you to analyze the facts and see through the veil of lies and deceptions. Your religion is not just about abortion and gay marriage but about many important subjects. We must see beyond these topics in order to provide a quality of life for everybody and not allow a small group of people to live the American dream whilst others are excluded. Sometimes sacrifices are necessary but we must remember the Bill of Rights is NEVER negotiable and NEVER to be compromised. Hopefully, you will awaken from your slumber before the weeds of fascism take hold and kill the roots of freedom. Don’t feel bad because many intelligent people have also been fooled by this campaign of hatred and deceit disguised as Christianity.

Another important thing to consider while you are watching these negative campaign adds during this election season. When somebody states a particular politician voted “no” for an obvious bill that was needed, it might not be because he or she disagreed with the headlining law. It might have been because the bill contained so much pork that the bill was contaminated. I remember the bill which called for better armor for the troops in Iraq also contained a HUGE tax break for the wealthiest Americans along with many other expensive pork projects for corporate America. Many politicians voted "no" because of the tax breaks and the pork projects and not because of the armor for the troops. But the ”Evil Empire” would have you believe these people voted “no” because they do not support our troops.

Here are a few more reasons why I am opposed to the new Republicans. Since Bush has been President, the personal fortunes of the extremely rich have grown by at least 40% but the personal wealth of the middle and lower class has barely grown by 1% and in many cases it has plunged into negative numbers if you account for credit card debt. The wealth generated by our economy goes directly to the richest people in the upper class, who continuously work very hard at cutting and eliminating middle class wages and jobs. They have tricked the American middle class into voting and supporting an agenda that is hurting them because they have disguised this pro-big business, anti-labor agenda within an artificial religious flavoring.

It is also important to recognize since Bush has been in office the homeless and very poor in the United States have grown by 5 million and there is no help on the way. To further complicate the matter, with all if the changes in the Estate Tax laws, the richest 1% are no longer giving to the charities to gain tax breaks. Now those tax breaks are built into our laws so the money which used to go to homeless shelters and food pantries is being pocketed.

Republicans like to focus on the low unemployment rate and the 6 million jobs that were created in the last three years of Bush’s Presidency. But if you consider the jobs that were lost in the first three years of Bush’s Presidency then the 6 million jobs total drops considerably. While the unemployment rate is low, the people working have not gained any wealth nor have their wages kept up with the cost of living. So every year the middle class looses ground while the ruling class keeps all the profits for themselves. Can you tell me anywhere in the last three paragraphs where Jesus would approve of the way the Republicans are handling things?

At the core I believe both parties to be corrupt, which is why a 50-50 mixture is needed so they can keep an eye on each other. The reason the Republicans have been involved in so many law breaking antics lately is because they have been in power for too long. When the scales are tilted very far in either direction for any length of time corruption begins. In order to have balance you must have an equal dose of both parties. This is why it is critical to vote in as many Democrats as possible. We must restore balance before this situation gets worse. Power in our government is like the One Ring in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings; it corrupts even when people try to use it for good.

Again, I hate this two party system because in all actuality it is one party system; the elite-class party system. They continuously change the laws to give unfair advantages to themselves while wrapping this poison within an artificially flavored Christian agenda, which is not even Christianity at all, only to appeal the masses. Christianity involves feeding the poor, providing healthcare to the sick, providing homes to the homeless but the Republican Party cares little for these Christian values. The Republican Party values are excessive profits for the wealthy, tax breaks for the wealthy. Their values further aid the wealthy by providing no labor laws for the middle class and supporting of a system which erodes the middle class by sending their jobs overseas for cheaper labor.

They have also eroded the very fabric of what this Country stands for; beginning with the Patriot Act, which allows for unconstitutional searches and seizures, and now with the new Military Commission Act. This law legalizes torture and gives the President the power to seize any American citizen and imprison them for any reason and for any length of time. Again you can see how the Bush Republicans have tilted our Country toward a fascist state for our “protection”. I wonder what Jesus would think about legalized torture and lifetime imprisonment without a trial? All done behind His name.

The Republican Party that I knew would never support laws like these. And the newly Bush-appointed Supreme Court Judges are bigots and fascists too. When laws were passed making the gay life style a crime, Justice Scalia walked out in protest when they were successfully appealed by the vote of the Supreme Court. So I guess in his mind, The Bill of Rights is only for straight people.

Anyway, I just wanted to explain why the shift in the blog. Hopefully you will remain with me on this journey of learning and discovery. I appreciate all of your comments.

I took a trip to the Garden Ridge men’s restroom on Friday night and finally realized I am surrounded by morons. The bathroom was a wreck. As if the graffiti on the walls wasn’t enough, some idiot carved curse words into the actual toilet seat. The toilet paper holder was knocked from the wall, the coat hanger was ripped from the back of the stall door, someone attempted to rip the door from the hinges, and it appeared somebody took a hammer to the wall, door and everything else in the stall.

So I started thinking about what it takes to be a complete moron and I realized it takes extra effort. You could just walk into the bathroom, do your business and leave. But a complete moron takes extra time to carve curse words into the toilet seat, a complete moron puts in that little extra effort to rip the coat hanger from the door and then try to rip the entire door from its hinges. A complete moron must also put in a little extra effort to kick the toilet paper, soap and towel dispensers from the wall. By putting in this extra effort the person has established themselves to be a complete moron.

I just read an article stating the US population eclipsed some huge number which I cannot remember or find, and the population increases by another moron every 17 seconds. Has the human gene pool been completely saturated so the moron count increases while intelligent people are becoming extinct? Why are there so many more morons in the world today?

One reason could be because we have created too many safety laws which might be keeping too many idiots alive when, by the process of natural selection, they should be perishing. Like I have written many times on this blog; I am a believer in social Darwinism but when we pass dumb ass safety laws we interfere with Mother Nature.

You want to ride your motor cycle with no helmet while speeding at over 100 mph with your kid tucked within a backpack; then go right ahead. You want to shoot 1000 milligrams of cocaine into your veins per day; then do it. You want to chain smoke twenty packs of cigarettes per day; go for it. You want to drive with your newly born infant on your lap; don’t let me stop you. You want to try to climb the Arch and parachute off the top; go for it. All of these activities will trim the mentally inept from society and make life easier and better for the rest of us.

One day I was returning a movie to Family Video and this old pickup truck comes speeding into the parking lot and slams into a little concrete parking curb. Out pours this guy wearing a VERY dirty white tee shirt, reeking of alcohol with a cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth. While yelling obscenities at his wife he flicks the smoldering butt into the middle of the parking lot, and then manages to stumble into the video store with about 10 kids under 10 years old following him and his wife (or significant other). No car seats or seat belt on any of the kids, they all squeezed into the front seat of the truck. Never once did either parent pay attention to any of the kids to make sure they were safe while walking from the truck into the store.

One of the younger kids wearing only a diaper was picking up rocks and throwing them at the parked cars. If some car had pulled into the lot there was no way they could see this small child and would have definitely hit him if he had not finally walked into the store. But I started thinking, it probably is a good thing this family does not have car seats because in 15 years I don’t want this kid breaking into my house, stealing my car or raping my wife. My only point with this story is to show how natural selection has been squelched with these stupid safety laws. It would be a very good thing for society if this family was downsized, starting at the top with daddy.

Before we leave this story, let's look at the mom for a minute. Does she actually think being with this guy is good for her or her kids? Does she actually lie in bed at night thinking, “Boy I sure am glad he is here, I can't wait to get him in between my legs tonight. Maybe we'll get lucky and I'll get knocked up again.” What is the thought process in dating or marrying a loser like this? At one time, was she actually thinking, “I cannot wait to have kids with this guy, he is a real keeper?” So if not, we must assume she is just as big of a dumb ass as her man. I just wonder if she makes him shower and brush his tooth before screwing him.

You might be thinking, but Darth these kids are innocent and they should be protected. No!!! Dumb ass people have dumb ass kids. The acorn does not fall far from the tree. If they are not intelligent enough to keep their kids safe, then their kids are not going to be responsible in protecting their kids either. Let’s just end this whole mess with one swiftly moving truck containing seatbeltless, drunk, smoking, dirty, meth-munching morons and one concrete barricade or cliff.

Enough about morons now lets move on to cheaters. I believe the little things define a person and their moral fiber. If I get into a person’s car and it’s filled with trash and a thick layer of dirt on the inside of the window, I know this is a dirty person. They might be dressed in a suit and tie but they are still dirty because if their car is dirty, I’ll bet their home is also filthy.

Looking at the baseball game last night, it was discovered Kenny Rogers had pine tar on this pitching hand. What should have happened was his immediate dismal followed by a ten game suspension as stated in the rulebook. Instead the umpires told him to wash his hands. What is happening with baseball?

I’ll tell you what is happening, baseball players, coaches, managers, and umpires condone or at least turn their heads and allow cheating. This has never been clearer than last night. They allow cheating with human growth hormones and now they allow pitchers to use pine tar with no penalties. My first question would be to ask why Tony LaRussa did not say anything. The answer is he and Jim Leyland are good friends. I’m positive if LaRussa knows which Tigers are cheating then Leyland knows which Cardinals are cheating too. So by exposing Kenny Rogers he would then be exposing his own team. That is why none of the Cardinals would say anything on camera, I’m sure LaRussa instructed them to stay silent.

The bigger picture, however, would show baseball as covering up and allowing cheating because the umpires should have thoroughly checked Kenny Rogers, his glove and his uniform. Instead, they send him into the clubhouse to wash his hands thereby giving him a "get out of jail free" card, thus allowing the cheating to continue. As Tim McCarver put it, "It's like catching a bank robber and telling him to put the money back and all will be forgiven." Anyone who has ever played baseball knows the pine tar on the hand comes from the glove. So even though he washed his hands, the glove still had an ample supply.


Even more evidence of cheating was in the first inning when the home plate umpire asked for the ball because the Cardinal hitter complained it was dirty and Ivan Rodriguez quickly threw it into the Tigers dugout. More evidence came before the start of the second inning when an overhead camera clearly showed a group of Cardinal’s players gathered around looking at a pine tar covered baseball and then one of the coaches quickly stashed it into his jacket pocket. Then after the game when Kenny Rogers was interviewed and asked what the umpire said about the “dirt” on his hand, Rogers claimed the umpire never even said anything at all about it, which is clearly a lie. We know this is a lie because in another interview, the chief of the umpires told the home plate umpire to tell Rogers to wash his hands. Why would Rogers lie if it was truly only dirt on his hand? Rogers then lied a second time during the press conference as did Jim Leyland when he was asked about it too.

The most damning evidence of all is when the umpire tells Kenny Rogers to wash his hands. If the substance was not illegal then why require him to wash his hands? And, again, if the substance was not illegal then why did Rogers comply.

Remember me saying earlier the little things define a person’s character. Well if Kenny Rogers has a cheaters personality by putting pine tar in his glove then he would also take performance enhancing drugs too. This explains why at 41 he is able to pitch better than when he was 21. But baseball clearly does not care. They have turned a cheek to steroids and now they are turning their heads and allowing blatant cheaters a safe haven. They also sent a clear message to all the kids watching the game last night, it is alright to cheat.

This has nothing to do with being a Cardinal fan either. I respect the game of baseball and this issue is larger than any one player or any one team. If Jeff Weaver had been caught with pine tar on his hand I would have wanted him and expected him to be thrown out and suspended too. I would also have expected afterward for the Cardinals to give Weaver his walking papers. Our society is ripe and filled with rampant cheaters and baseball is only reflecting this. It makes me sick and it should make you sick too.

This is the third year I have attend the haunted tours of Alton. I attend the tours only to socialize and build a bigger network of friends. These tours are also a good resource for learning a detailed history of each location. I also wanted to run some new theories by a few of the other investigators and try to get into some of the more notorious haunted locations. This year I had an exceptionally awesome time visiting with both touring companies.

First of all I have to say that both tours are run by incredibly talented and professional people. With that being said there are some strengths and weaknesses of both companies. So here is my review of both touring companies.


Antoinette’s Haunted History Tours
Witching Hour Tour: $42 per person

Antoinette started the tours in Alton, and it is important to know this company was the first and undoubtedly still is the best. Antoinette and her daughter Alixandria are very knowledgeable of the history and hauntings of Alton. Their trolley tours offer the best value for your dollar.

The trolley tours give the best history and show you the most interesting places in Alton. The most important aspect of these trolley tours is that they change from year to year. So you get an opportunity to actually get off the trolley and visit at least three different locations every year. Last year was much better than this year as we got to visit the Milton School, a haunted Art Museum and McPike Mansion (three of the best hauntings in Alton). This year was not as good as the best place was a private residence but it was still exciting.

You can opt for a meal with your tour for an additional $13 or forget the meal and just get going. While the meal is excellent quality, I prefer to spend more time visiting the locations and listening about the history; so I prefer tours without the meal.

The only negative thing about the Antoinette Tours is their tour guides are not the best public speakers. They use family members and friends, which is alright as long as the individual is a good public speaker which is not often the case.

While their tour guide Gary is very knowledgeable and does not require a script, our tour guide David was not that good. They have four tour guides: Alixandria, Aurora, David and Gary but I have only heard the two guys. I have had the opportunity to talk with Alixandria and Aurora and find them to be very friendly and very knowledgeable of the area. I also hear they are both very gifted psychics.


Ghosts of The Prairie
Cost: $30 for the expanded tour per person

This group came around after Antoinette. This is still a good tour but it is important to note this is just a walking tour of the general area around their bookstore and is the same tour year after year. So once you see this one, there is not point at seeing it again. The best value for your money is the Antoinette tour.

Another problem with this tour compared with the Antoinette tour is we only got to visit two places with the best being the Unitarian Church. And while I really liked the Unitarian Church it just wasn’t the better value compared with the other tour which offered an additional visit.

The best thing about this tour is Len Adams. Len was our tour guide and although we just walked around the general area of the bookstore, his public speaking and stories are the best. He needed no scripts and added a touch of humor keeping everyone on the tour loose and smiling. He reminds me of my grandpa telling ghost stories around the fire during camping trips. He is just a very entertaining and likeable guy. I recommend this tour just to meet him and hear his stories.

By the way, he just released his first book, “And There I Was….” co written with Troy Taylor. I hear his second book will be entirely containing his exclusive stories. I can’t wait for that one; I know it will be good.

Conclusion

I really do not know how either one of these groups declares a location haunted other than to relay on the information and stories gathered from third parties. Len Adams offered personal accounts of situations and encounters but never offered any scientific data to back his stories. Antoinette’s crew did not offer personal accounts and focused on the stories of individuals actually living or working in a particular location.

While that might be good for the average person attending the tour, I want the scientific data. It doesn’t impress me if somebody feels threatened or hears a noise. That noise could be a loud furnace.

Another reason I like the Antoinette group better than the Ghosts of the Prairie group is Antoinette offers help for people under attack. I realize some people out there are under attack by evil spirits and I want to offer help for these people. This is the reason I felt “called” to be a paranormal investigator, because people often need help. Antoinette’s group offers this service too and I have heard stories of them cleansing locations and trying to help those in need.

Ghosts of the Prairie, on the other hand, is only interested in the investigation and never attempts to take the additional step of helping people. At least I have never heard of them offering or attempting this service. Ghosts of the Prairie is only concerned with selling books and additional tours but I truly believe the Antoinette group is truly concerned with helping people, which is what I believe in too.

So if you are in Alton and have time to attend two tours then attend both. But if you only have time for one, then I would recommend the Antoinette tour. You’ll get the most value for your money by visiting more locations. Plus you will get a chance to actually visit three locations as compared with two by Ghosts of the Prairie.

This third update from Alton will focus on the Underground Railroad with a few words on a couple of other hauntings, and a few more pictures.

The Underground Railroad provided a means for escaped slaves to go north and become free men. The penalty for harboring an escaped slave was death, either by tarring and feathering or hanging. The secret rooms where these escaped slaves were hidden were dark, depressing places. I have visited several of these hiding places consisting mostly of brick, concrete and stone with no toilets.

Men, women and children were hidden in these small rooms and had to remain completely silent. Any noises could lead to their discovery which many times would mean death or at least a severe beating and then being send back to the slave pens. They were fed whatever scraps the host family could spare, which sometimes was not much.


A picture of one of the many Underground Railroad hiding places; this particular one is in the basement of the old Enos Tuberculosis Sanitarium.


The notorious McPike Mansion. The classic looking haunted house. This home is currently condemned so no visitors are allowed to investigate inside the house. The current owners are in the process of renovating the building and converting it into a bed and breakfast. In the wine cellars of this house a smoke cloud followed the current owner and was captured on video. I’ve seen it; it’s incredible!!


518 South. This home is a restaurant today. The strange happenings involve a particular table in the front left side of the house in which I had the privilege of eating dinner. Things disappear from the table which also has been seen levitating. At one time this place was a funeral home and at least one person has committed suicide in the house. Where? You guessed it; right where the levitating table sits today. On the night I was there nothing happened but the food was excellent. Maybe I will get a chance to spend the night here. HINT! HINT!


The Historic Hampton Mansion designed by the famous local architect Lucas J. Pfeiffenberger, who also designed the Fulkerson House, the Cheney Mansion and several other homes in the 1800's.


The William Fulkerson House is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in historic Jerseyville, IL, it is the twin to the Cheney Mansion, in which I have conducted two investigations.


A Shrek sighting and a view of the remains of the old Confederate Prison


The Confederate Cemetery


The Enos Tuberculosis Sanitorium. The third floor of this building was added to treat Tuberculosis (TB) patients who died at the rate of 100 per year. During this time the only treatment for TB was plenty of sunshine and food. Needless to say many people lived in agony on this third floor.
This building was also part of the Underground Railroad. On the roof is a turret room in which the residents could signal across the Mississippi River when it was safe to enter the city to hide more people.
Today it is an apartment building where residents hear furniture moving and people talking, moaning and screaming on the third floor, when the third floor is vacant. One night a bottle of wine vanished from a kitchen table only to be found hours later in a different room of the apartment.


A view of the turret rooftop


The infamous "Devil Face Photo" taken at the Milton School in 2004. Upon first viewing this picture within our camera displays, it looked liked a white angry face but when we blew up this picture at home on a large monitor it seemed to be just paint on the back wall. The insert on the lower left shows the picture as we saw it on our camera displays. Special thanks to AndyR for creating the insert.
We sent it to the touring company and asked them to check that wall. After the next tour they checked it out and told us there is no paint or white wash on this back wall. So now we don't quite know what to make of it.
Because of this we now wait to view all photos on a larger monitor at a higher resolution before passing judgement. You be the judge: devil face or something on the far wall?

Stay tuned, more to come tomorrow.........

The Unitarian Church



“We meet again, at last.”

Last year I headed an investigation into the Unitarian Church. While the atmosphere was the best ever, with a severe thunderstorm passing over head, nothing of substance actually happened. During the séance the church rattled as the thunder roared and the lightning pierced the darkness throwing mass amounts of energy into the air. Everybody was on edge but no apparitions appeared.

This time I was anxiously anticipating entering the church again but it would be to help the tour guide handle the large group. I did get the opportunity to take some pictures and more orbs appeared but the EMF flat lined as there was no energy in the old church this time. Maybe I’ll get the opportunity to investigate the church again but this year I want to further investigate the old Meridian Coffee House and the Milton School.

The History and Hauntings

Phillip Mercer was the pastor of the First Unitarian Church in the 1930’s. He was found hanging in the sacristy, dead of an apparent suicide. It is rumored that he lingers behind to keep watch over the church. Church members cannot explain the weird things which take place here.

The old Meridian Coffee House is one of the most spectacular haunted locations in the town of Alton Illinois. The coffee house building was once located on the site of an America Red Cross hospital that was constructed during the influenza epidemic of 1918. Reports of women getting “goosed” and men being pushed have intrigued me. An investigator I know got the opportunity to spend the night alone in the location with some IR motion detectors. He fell asleep on the couch and woke to the IR detectors going crazy but he could not see anybody. He was so freaked out he left, leaving behind all of his equipment. (Not a very good investigator in my opinion.)

People on the first floor have reported hearing footsteps on the vacant second floor. Men have reported to have been grabbed by invisible hands. Women have reported having their hair grabbed and the butt pinched by an invisible assailant. Well I want to be the next investigator to try to find out who this ghost is and why he still haunts this location. Keep your fingers crossed; hopefully more to come.

ORBS

Just for the record, I consider orb pictures to be the worst form of evidence of a haunting unless they are coupled with other evidence. For example, my psychic friend tells me a spirit is in a location and I snap an orb picture. Even better is when an EMF gauge or an IR thermometer is showing some evidence and then I get an orb picture. Orbs alone are not very good evidence but orbs with something else are not too bad. Of course we all want a picture of a full apparition or some type of materialization but those are very rare.

Be wary of cameras below 4 mega pixels because they have a CMOS flaw that can draw artifacts into a picture. Artifacts are types of “noise” where the camera generates images on it own. Because of this I bought a 5 mega pixel camera without this known bug.


This comet appeared during an Antoinette tour of a private residence.




This orb from the Unitarian Church appears and then is seen again closer in the second picture. The EMF gauge was not around me during this time but I did have a PVR running in the back of the church. When I analyze that I’ll let you know if I hear any EVPs.


The old Meridian Coffee House

Stay tuned for Alton Update 3, which will focus on the underground railroad and other haunted locations. Also later this week, I will give a complete review of both tours.

As promised here is the update on the tours and investigation from this year’s trip to Alton. This past weekend I gave this website out to many people I met on the tours so they could see the pictures. For those of you who are new to the page, you will find a collection of past writings on the right side of this page broken into categories. The paranormal writings are between the Political Essays and Funny Stuff.

Since so much happened I want to break the weekend into a few different posts. This first one I want to focus on the remains of the old confederate Prison, The Confederate Cemetery and Sunflower Island.

The History

The Alton prison was originally opened in 1833 as the first Illinois state penitentiary. It remained in service until 1860 when a new facility was built in Joliet on February 9, 1862. The vacant structure re opened as the Alton federal military prison. During the next three years at least 11,764 Confederate soldiers were held in this facility.

By all objective accounts, conditions in the prison were substandard. The mortality rate was high. Hot humid summers and cold damp winters undoubtedly contributed to the high death rate. Overcrowding, inadequate food and clothing and unsanitary conditions further compounded the prisoners misery. Pneumonia and dysentery were common killers bur contagious diseases like smallpox and rubella were the most feared. The smallpox epidemic that began in late 1862 ultimately prompted prison officials to transfer contagious prisoners to a temporary facility a safe distance from civilian residents of Alton. This facility was called Sunflower Island.

In addition to being a tent hospital, when the Confederate cemetery filled with corpses the dead were buried in mass graves on Sunflower Island in trenches. Years later when the Army Corps of Engineers wanted to make the island into a wild bird refuge, they discovered they could only make to make minor changes to the island for fear of releasing hundreds of thousands of bones into the Mississippi River. When the trees were dug up on the edge of the island hundreds of human bones were imbedded within the roots and bark.

The Hauntings

Many residents of Alton report seeing vagrants within the remains of the old prison and within the Cemetery. Only those are not vagrants they are ghosts. One night a gentleman was walking his dog and bent down to tie his shoe when he looked up he saw a homeless man standing in front of him. When he looked away momentarily to make sure his dog was under control the man vanished.

Many of the bodies of the Confederate soldiers never even made it to the Cemetery. The Union soldiers were given the task of burying the dead but they did not want to do this strenuous task. So many times they would just push the bodies off the cart into a ditch along the way to the cemetery. There is an old haunted road called Hop Hollow Road were many of the dead were hidden. To this day when the residents along this road perform yard work they still discover bones.

The Pictures


Two orbs rising from the ground at the remains of the old Prison. I don’t put much weight behind orb pictures because they can be dust or bugs, but on this night it was 35 degrees and there were no bugs. In addition, my psychic friend kept telling me there were spirits here.


An Orb at the Confederate Cemetery. My psychic friend told me to take a picture of these trees and I would see a spirit.




Sunflower Island. Here is where the trees were dug up and the bones were imbedded within the bark and roots. Under the ground is a mass grave containing thousands of bodies.


A monument dedicated to the Confederate soldiers buried within Sunflower Island. Only a few names are on it, as we do not know the names of most of the people buried here.

More to come tomorrow..........

This weekend I am off to Alton Illinois for a much needed ghost hunting excursion. I’ll give you all of the details next week. I’ve been developing a few theories on how to manipulate energy to either power up or power down spirits.

We are also going to gather some EVP’s at the old Confederate Cemetery and possible work on another experiment with that technology. Anyway, I probably will not make any significant breakthroughs but I might come closer to being where I want to be.

With any luck I’ll come back with some great photos and maybe some ghostly voices on mp3’s. See you all next week.

An interesting question surfaced at lunch yesterday. A few of my co workers and I were talking about the Foley scandal and about how the Congressional page flirted back with the former Senator. Which led to the point being made that a grown man should not even consider flirting with a 16 year old kid because they are only 16 and not yet an adult. Then somebody raised the question, at what age are we truly adults?

This is a very interesting question because our society sends mixed messages about this. You can drive at 16, drink at 21, vote and fight in a war at 18. Then to further complicate matters, a child of 14 can stand trial as an adult but is still too young to have sex. I am going to give you my opinion about these rites of passage into adulthood and then allow you to tear me up with opposing comments.

How did this get so complicated? You can drive at 16 but cannot drink until 21? This sounds stupid to me; you should drink first and make your mistakes before you can get behind the wheel of a car. Then at 18 you can grab a rifle, kill other people and die for your Country but you’re still not old enough to drink a beer? Then in some States, with parental consent an adult can marry a 14 year old. How ridiculous is that?!! There is no way a 14 year old can understand what it means to make a lifetime commitment such as marriage.

While I realize every child develops at different speeds, we cannot pass laws for individuals so we must pass them for everybody. I am from the KISS (keep it simple stupid) school of thought so the age of adulthood should be set at 18. At that age you can drink, drive, screw, fight in a war, get married and vote. You cannot stand trial as an adult under the age of 18 under any circumstances. I am completely opposed to minors standing trial as adults no matter what the crime. Also, no adult over 18 can have sex with anyone under 18 without jail time (even with parental consent) PERIOD.

But if you are under 18 and you have consensual sex with someone under 18 no charges can be filed. This is going to piss off many fathers with underage daughters that want to punish that 16 year old boy for deflowering their daughter. Let’s face it, the girls like sex too. So the old stereotype that only the boys "want it" is bullshit. I was in high school once and the girls were often more aggressive than the boys but it always seemed to be the boy’s fault when a pregnancy occurred. It was always the boy that was threatened or served jail time. Maybe that has changed today but I doubt it.

Even though I am opposed to children standing trial as adults, I am in favor of criminal records sticking with them through their life. Bad people are bad people and while you can rehabilitate some, most will begin a criminal career which will not end when they turn eighteen. In order to protect the public from these predators, it is important to provide law enforcement and the criminal justice system the tools to recognize patterns so they can take appropriate actions. Therefore, criminal records should follow you from day one.

We should put a statute of limitations on the criminal records of minors. So if they stole a bike at the age of fourteen and now they are twenty four with no more criminal activity, that old charge can be expunged. We should not let one stupid mistake follow good people for the rest of their life.

Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you think the legal age should be from childhood to adulthood.

I should just give up on this because not one of my predictions in the Division Series panned out. But the stubborn German in me just will not let it go so here are my predictions for the Championship Series. Most importantly, lets figure out which National League team the American League will sweep in the World Series.

American League
The Tigers proved their pitching is the best in the League and should beat the A’s. This will be a close series so it will probably go a full seven games.

National League
Well the Cardinals are my team so if I predict with my heart I should pick the Cardinals but I will use my brain and pick the Mets in six. The Cardinals do have a chance at an upset if their feeble lineup can figure out a way to hit. The Cardinal’s pitching staff must all have career starts to win this series and while it is possible, it is very unlikely.

I would like to see long time friends Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland face off in the World Series. But it really doesn’t’ matter which National League team makes it, they will be crushed by either the A’s or the Tigers.

I live for this.

If you live in St. Louis then you know the owners of the Cardinals are required to build a Ball Park Village as an addition to the new stadium. They have three years to do so or face a $3 million dollar penalty per year until this village is completed.

It was initially conceived this add on to the stadium would coast about $60 million dollars but recent developments reveals the actual cost to be more in the neighborhood of $600 million. So now the Cardinals management are crying poor and wanting the tax payers to pick up some of these costs.

They want the tax payers of St. Louis to pay the initial investment and then give them a tax break on the revenues earned. If the city of St. Louis complies, they would assume no ownership role in the business, nor would they get any revenue gaining privileges. This sounds like a bad investment for the tax payers.

Usually when a percentage of the startup costs are paid by an individual or entity, that individual or entity gets ownership in the business and shares in the revenues. Part of the American dream involves risk but I have heard Bill DeWitt will not even personally finance any of his business projects. He prefers to have others take that plunge for him while he collects the revenues without sharing in any of the risks.

What about the businesses that have been operating in the area for years? Why should we give an unfair advantage to the Cardinals owners to dominate this market? The businesses already operating in the area did not start with any public money nor do they get any tax breaks.

It is time we stopped giving out tax money to companies wanting to open a business in a particular community. When local and state governments give these unfair advantages to larger businesses it hurts everybody. First of all, because they do not pay personal property tax, their presence does not benefit the local schools. So the under-funding of education continues. If we would just collect the fair taxes on all of the business in the St. Louis area we would have no education shortages.

Secondly, as I stated earlier, the small business are forced to close because they cannot compete with larger business that don’t pay taxes, get free real estate from the government, and get their start up costs provided by the government.

I have heard some economists say the added tax revenues created by the jobs will pay for the tax breaks. That would be like if I wanted the government to give me $5million to build an addition to my house for the additional personal property taxes they would collect on the enhancement. Ludicrous!!

If the Cardinals owners want to build an extravagant Ball Park Village, then they should pay for it. Stop corporate welfare and stop handing out money to the rich!!

A while back I commented how dangerous it is that George Bush does not have a science advisor. In fact, he is the first President in years not to have a science advisor. It is clear from what I have read about the President, he disregards science and he has a general distrust of science. Maybe he thinks all scientists are liberal Democrats or maybe it’s something else.

When a leader stubbornly ignores something as important as science he does not represent the entire Country. The President of the United States is supposed to represent everybody but if he ignores an important group in our society (scientists) then he lacks important information needed to form an opinion. This “ignorance is bliss” attitude is dangerous.

The President admits he does not even read newspapers or magazines but instead gets his news from a few advisors that interpret the news and present it to him. Again, the President is supposed to represent all people not just a selected few. It is impossible to do this when you get your facts from a “filtered” source rather than from the actual source. Clearly the President has blind faith in his advisors. With this brief essay I want to open up the debate of science versus Faith.

First of all, let’s look at what comprises solid evidence. It doesn’t matter whether a scientist is liberal or conservative, so I don’t even want to go there. It only matters what evidence they collect through experiments to prove their hypothesis. Without getting too technical, evidence is comprised of proven documented experiments capable of producing similar outcomes if conducted by someone else, PERIOD. More importantly, what is NOT considered good evidence are eyewitness accounts and common sense.

Common sense tells us that the earth is flat, that the Sun truly rises and sets, that the surface of the Earth is not spinning at over 1000 miles per hour, that bowling balls fall faster than marbles, that particles don't curve around corners like waves around a floating dock, that the continents don't move, and that objects heavier-than-air can't have sustained flight unless they can flap wings. However, science has been used to demonstrate that all these common sense ideas are wrong.

Science has radically changed our criminal justice system for the better but we still rely on eyewitness accounts when we should not. We now know how bad eyewitness accounts are because of the DNA evidence that constantly proves them wrong. It has been well documented that people have trouble translating what they see and often fill in important details with inaccuracies. Therefore, eyewitness accounts should no longer be allowed in the court room. Only forensic analysis should be allowed into a court room as accurate testimony.

Though science cannot establish absolute truth, it can provide overwhelming evidence in favor of certain ideas. I am not a believer in absolute truth anyway. As soon as you subscribe to absolute truth, you close your mind to other possibilities; this is dangerous. Critical thinking is essential for science to function properly but absolute truths prohibit critical thinking. An important outcome of science is applying what you have learned and building on it through critical evaluations or through other supporting experiments. Absolute truths are an inhibitor in this process.

Faith based systems openly accept absolute truths and common sense ideology. They produce little or no evidence to back a hypothesis and only function properly if you are a “believer”. Critical evaluations are often met with hostility. Faith based systems often label critical evaluations as either too liberal or too conservative and focus on the individual conducting the experiments rather than the evidence collected.

I am not saying that faith based systems are a bad thing because they have their place; religion plays an important role in my life. But Faith and science should be two separate categories and should only be combined when the physical evidence or experimental outcomes support it. When there is no physical evidence or no experiments can support a hypothesis, then you do not have science. If you choose to still believe then you have faith. But again, these are two separate entities and everyone should realize this.

This President blurs the line between Faith and science often giving Faith precedence over all; this is the most dangerous thing of all for a leader. Al Qaeda does this same thing but they use a different Faith based system. I cannot understand how the leader of the free world can completely disregard science when it is such an important part of our society and educational system. But it seems like learning and education have never been this President’s strength.

When I hear phrases like “staying the course no matter what” coming from an individual that never gets his information from real sources, I get very nervous. I would prefer an individual that collects his own information and develops opinions and ideas from his own research. Part of the learning process is applying new information to situations and adapting accordingly. This learning process is the primary thing that separates us from animals.

Every year I like to predict who will go to and ultimately win the World Series. Here are my predictions for the 2006 post season.

Right now the Twins are the best team in baseball. They should beat the A’s in four games.

The Tigers were the best team at one time but right now they are just not winning. They will probably get stomped by the Yankees in three. The Tigers did not set up their pitching staff which will further help the Yankees easily win.

In the National League the San Diego Padres are the hottest team and should beat the Cardinals in 3 or 4 games. With that being said, if Chris Carpenter can win game 1 the Cardinals have a chance. The Padres as a whole are a much better team but the Cardinals have the best pitcher (Carpenter) and the best overall player in Albert Pujols.

The Dodgers should beat the Mets. The Dodgers are hot and the Mets have not played a meaningful game in over two months by easily winning the Eastern Division. This series will probably go a full 5 games.

What do you think?

Blogger was having fits the last two days of my vacation so I could not post anything. The last two days were spent visiting Graceland and the Memphis Zoo. Graceland was too expensive and over hyped. The Hermitage was more beautiful, older and cheaper. Graceland was not what I expected and the over commercialization only added to the frustration. While I am glad I went, I will never go back again.

The Memphis Zoo was a hidden gem as it contained two adorable pandas. LeLe and YaYa are only allowed together a couple of times a month and usually ignore each other. However, on this day they were playing together. So I was lucky to take pictures of two pandas playing and wrestling together.

I like my vacations to be an adventure and a learning opportunity. So with every vacation I like to reflect on what I have learned. This vacation I learned the Stones River Battle was an important win for the Union army. Before this battle the Confederates were winning but this battle changed that. The first monument to the Civil War was erected on this battle field, only six months after the fighting stopped. There are only a few Civil War battlefields preserved, this being one of them.

I learned the home and distillery of Jack Daniels is located in a dry county. They have a special permit to sell sealed bottles of whiskey from the gift shop only but none can be consumed in the county. Also Jack Daniels kicked his safe out of anger and later died when the broken toe turned into gangrene. I took a picture of the safe. The water used to produce this whiskey is collected from the mountain; it is from a stream running through the distillery.

I also learned much about Andrew Jackson and his home. I found it interesting he was a strict disciplinarian but often disobeyed his superiors. He owned 150 slaves and although it hurt his personal finances, he still fought to free the slaves. After the Civil War, many of his slaves elected to stay on the farm; one was buried in honor right next to the former President.

Tennessee was a beautiful place and the people were very friendly and made my vacation very enjoyable. All pictures will be available on my Flickr page shortly.





Graceland