I wrote in my blog post titled ‘Jinn’ of the great loss to humanity from the destruction of important archaeological sites. Fortunately, we have ruins and other evidence in Utah of human culture dating from 8,000 BCE (earlier than most Middle Eastern artifacts). Some are estimated as FAR earlier. While there was no written language of these Paleolithic peoples to inform us, we have hundreds of stone panels with rock art that could be displayed in the great museums of the world.

According to Wikipedia, “Archaeological evidence dates the earliest habitation of Native Americans in Utah to about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Paleolithic people lived near the Great Basin’s swamps and marshes, which had an abundance of fish, birds, and small game animals. Big game, including Bison, Mammoths and Ground Sloths, also were attracted to these water sources. Over the centuries, the mega-fauna disappeared, while Bison, Mule deer and Pronghorn Antelope became more predominant.” To get to a lot of these Petroglyphs and Pictographs, you have to be a seasoned desert rat; otherwise you will die. I happen to qualify for this title, as do some of my friends that have hiked into these sites with me. I have personally seen a panel that has the portrait of a Colombian Mammoth chiseled into its surface in a foreboding place called the Maze (now a part of the Canyonlands National Park).

Probably the last trip I make into this region is taking place next month. It will be only my wife and I on this adventure, and I hope we make it back without incident, especially since I am 75 years old, and have COPD. Many of the local Native American tribes that live in Utah such as the Paiute, Navajo, Ute, and Shoshoni lay claim to the ruins of the ‘Anazazi’ or ‘Ancient Ones. The Hopi tribe of Arizona seem to be the direct ancestors of these people. Indeed, some rock art rightfully does belong to these tribes, but many panels predate them by thousands of years. These are the ones that interest me: the inhabitants that lived here right after the glaciers of the Ice Age melted away. They worshiped different gods from those of the Middle East, and the difficulty of creating these artworks with stone tools and plant-derived dyes suggests that miracles occurred in their daily lives that created profound impressions. Here are a few for the enjoyment and wonder of my readers:

 

                         The Maze; know your stuff or die

                                                 

 

 

Today, I read that the U.S. Military (all branches) plans on conducting a massive drill of their special operations forces in the southwestern USA called, “Operation Jade Helm”, including my home state of Utah. Sadly, I had to learn this fun fact from an article in the British Daily Mail news.  Soldiers armed with blank rounds will operate in and around towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado for 8 weeks
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3013900/Fears-martial-law-special-ops-set-swarm-Southwest-operate-undetected-civilians-ve-deemed-HOSTILE-massive-military-exercise.html#ixzz3Vhd6ZEVx

What alarmed me was that in the exercise, various states have been designated as “Friends, Foes, and Unsure” Here is the map of the exercise and designations:

As a veteran, I am fully supportive of anything we do to sharpen the troops and make them more effective in combat and urban warfare; but I do have a few tongue-in-cheek observations:

It is no surprise to me that Utah, Texas, and part of southern California have been designated as ‘Hostiles’. We have always had bad feelings and sometimes open rebellion toward government land grabs and social control. We are the last reserve of rugged individualists in America, and we seldom take crap from anyone. We particularly despise the IRS, the Bureau of Land Management, and Democrats in general.

While the Texans were suckered into joining the Union early, Utah got pissed off and took on the US Army back in the days of the ‘Old West’. California was largely settled by immigrants from Utah who kicked out the Mexicans, and later evolved into fun-loving surfers. The state is now action central for the Mexican ‘Reconquesta’ movement, who want the place back. Northern California (colored blue in the map) is considered ‘Friendly’ in the exercise, probably due to all of the passivist gay people that live there, and the outstanding vineyards and wineries all over the place. And, I think Nevada is ‘Blue’ because of the legal whore houses everywhere and of course, Las Vegas. Colorado is ‘Blue’ because all of the inhabitants (except cadets at the Air Force Academy) have turned into pot-smoking hippies. Arizona and New Mexico are special cases because they are largely owned by Native Americans who are still licking their wounds from the conquest of the West by white men, and are living on running the concessions at the Grand Canyon or the Lost Dutchman goldmine.

So, this all make a kind of weird sense to me.  The only problem is that this massive exercise has not been publicized in any newspapers in the region. It starts in July, and runs for eight weeks.

 It could be a disaster if we don’t know about it before hand, and unload our guns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Islam, Jinn are sentient beings with free will that can co-exist with humans, and evil jinn are referred to as the Shayātīn or demons/devils. I think this is a far more appropriate name for the (ISIL, Daish) fighters in the Middle East. It accurately describes them because they are trying to destroy not only established religious minorities, but the glorious history of the entire region. Everyone on Earth is paying the price for their idiocy, and in the propaganda war, names and labels matter. I think it would be beneficial for everyone that is not on the side of these pretenders to empire to ‘call a Spade a Spade’; in language/images/videos that are understood by the less educated practitioners of this religion.

So, as the Shayatin Jinns in Iraq and Syria brag about their laughable ‘Hacker’ Corps, that thinks hacking is a matter of Googling the personal information on US servicemen fighting for the freedom of others in the region, and create videos of the slaughter of innocents, the USA is finally responding with some propaganda of is own. Here are a few examples:

The sign says, “Daish Recruiting Office”

This is a leaflet that was dropped by the thousands in the regions now controlled by the ‘Daish’.  It is indeed a meatgrinder when you take on the USA in combat. The Iranians and Shiite (the party of Ali) militia are finding combat against these Jinn to be a tough proposition in the battle for Tikrit, Iraq; and the new Iraqi government has finally called the Americans for help, because the famed Quds Force General, Qassem Soleimani and his minions have failed miserably in taking back the city. As I write this, the US Air force is once again coming to the rescue, bombing the crap out of identified strongholds of the Shayatin Jinn within the town. And, here is one that the troops fighting there put together in response to a Shayatin Jinn poster:

I hope the effort is expanded, and a major effort is made by Arabic countries in the region to shame them (the Jinn) into savaging only people and not the most important monuments and ruins of human civilization. Without our history to draw upon, our future becomes more obscure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The DEA (Federal Drug Enforcement) is warning Utah residents that if the state legalizes Marijuana, there is a huge risk of the local desert Jack rabbit population becoming terrifying animal junkies. We were warned that there is a no more dangerous wildlife encounter than a stoned rabbit with the munchies.

Well, Utah citizens are not a stupid people; we have evolved a healthy disrespect of the federal government ever since they invaded the Utah territory and started a brutal war with the immigrant Mormons that fled to the region after being persecuted in New York, Illinois, and Missouri (where they finally gave up on the USA and set off for the wilderness of the wild west to practice their religious beliefs, domesticate the Native Americans in the region, and muck about with the practice of plural marriage). And, in the Tooele valley west of Salt Lake City, they started a thriving Hemp industry, but being simple folks, they made cordage and rope out of the stuff.

So, we know all about growing Marijuana. We have also learned that the Mexican drug gangs use our seven national parks to grow the illegal stuff, and in the process trash the place. Every year, hunters and hikers come across these grow patches, as do the deer, Pronghorn (antelope), wild burros, wild horses, Big Horn Sheep etc. Now, I have spent a lot of time in these wilderness areas and have never seen a herd of stoned deer, or other of the above –mentioned ruminants sitting on their haunches, dreamy-eyed. Nor have I seen any stoned and dangerous rabbits, although they were anticipated to exist by the Monty Python players. Check this out:

My own personal opinion is that this warning by the Feds is due in part to a fear that the new NSA spy operation south of Salt Lake City might be compromised if the stuff is legalized, with bad behavior on the part of its employees. I mean, enough pressure is already on these folks to take multiple wives, and ‘Get it on’; and if you add Pot to the mix, they will engage in unauthorized debauchery. I am an expert on the subject of debauchery, having made the mistake of befriending this woman: