GATES OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, one of the finest wilderness areas in the world, straddles the Arctic Divide in the Brooks Range, America's northernmost chain of mountains. Second only to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in size, Gates of the Arctic covers 13,238 square miles, sprawls 800 miles from east to west and is entirely north of the Arctic Circle. It extends from the southern foothills of the Brooks Range, across the range's ragged peaks and down onto the North Slope. Most of the park is a maze of glaciated valleys and gaunt, rugged mountains covered with boreal forest or treeless slopes of Arctic tundra north of the divide. It is a habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, moose, caribou and wolverines. Fishing is considered superb for grayling and Arctic char in the clear streams and for lake trout in the larger, deeper lakes.

Within this preserve are six Wild and Scenic Rivers, miles of valleys and tundra slopes to hike and, of course, the Gates themselves. Mt Boreal and Frigid Crags are the gates that flank the north fork of the Koyukuk River. In 1929 Robert Marshall found an unobstructed path northward to the Arctic coast of Alaska through these landmark mountains. Marshall's name for the two mountains has remained ever since.

With the exception of the Dalton Highway, the park is far from any roads and is home to only one village, Anaktuvuk Pass. Eight more Native villages dot the perimeter but all have less than 400 permanent residents. In the simplest terms, Gates of the Arctic is a vast wilderness the size as Switzerland that contains no National Park Service facilities, visitor centers or campgrounds. The only trails are those made by the Western Arctic caribou herd, the largest in Alaska at 490,000, the only people passing through are the truly adventurous visitors or subsistence hunters.

The remoteness of the park attracts mostly experienced backcountry travelers for float trips, backpacking treks or base camps set up to enjoy day hiking and fishing. Many visitors join guided trips that a handful of outfitters offer in summer for rafting and hiking or in the winter for dog mushing and cross-country skiing. Either as an independent traveler or as part of guided expedition, a visit to Gates of the Arctic requires careful planning and advance reservations.

GATES OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, one of the finest wilderness areas in the world, straddles the Arctic Divide in the Brooks Range, America's northernmost chain of mountains. Second only to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in size, Gates of the Arctic covers 13,238 square miles, sprawls 800 miles from east to west and is entirely north of the Arctic Circle. It extends from the southern foothills of the Brooks Range, across the range's ragged peaks and down onto the North Slope. Most of the park is a maze of glaciated valleys and gaunt, rugged mountains covered with boreal forest or treeless slopes of Arctic tundra north of the divide. It is a habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, moose, caribou and wolverines. Fishing is considered superb for grayling and Arctic char in the clear streams and for lake trout in the larger, deeper lakes.

Within this preserve are six Wild and Scenic Rivers, miles of valleys and tundra slopes to hike and, of course, the Gates themselves. Mt Boreal and Frigid Crags are the gates that flank the north fork of the Koyukuk River. In 1929 Robert Marshall found an unobstructed path northward to the Arctic coast of Alaska through these landmark mountains. Marshall's name for the two mountains has remained ever since.

With the exception of the Dalton Highway, the park is far from any roads and is home to only one village, Anaktuvuk Pass. Eight more Native villages dot the perimeter but all have less than 400 permanent residents. In the simplest terms, Gates of the Arctic is a vast wilderness the size as Switzerland that contains no National Park Service facilities, visitor centers or campgrounds. The only trails are those made by the Western Arctic caribou herd, the largest in Alaska at 490,000, the only people passing through are the truly adventurous visitors or subsistence hunters.

The remoteness of the park attracts mostly experienced backcountry travelers for float trips, backpacking treks or base camps set up to enjoy day hiking and fishing. Many visitors join guided trips that a handful of outfitters offer in summer for rafting and hiking or in the winter for dog mushing and cross-country skiing. Either as an independent traveler or as part of guided expedition, a visit to Gates of the Arctic requires careful planning and advance reservations.

Aquarium bosses stunned after discovering secretive shark has lived undetected in tank for YEARS

Stunned aquarium staff have discovered that a shark they did not know they had has been living undetected in their ocean tank for years.

Staff at Blackpool Sea Life Centre were baffled when two shark eggs were discovered in a tank occupied by sharks which give birth only to live young.

The centre's marine experts speculate that one of several former curators must have introduced a small tropical carpet shark to the display without recording the fact, and it has been in hiding ever since


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388671/Blackpool-Sea-Life-Centre-shark-living-undetected-tank-years.html#ixzz1MoEgA7AD

To Leftists, Every Woman Looks Like a Hotel Maid

I suppose we'll know the truth when the DNA testing comes back, but close observers of privileged leftist/socialist men are not shocked by the accusations against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the socialist leader of the International Monetary Fund. (And you thought you were getting screwed by YOUR banker!) Maybe he thought I.M.F. really meant...I-f you're a M-aid, you're F-airgame.

Only in Hollywood movies are handsome polo players from nice families seen as likely rapists. In real life, they look more like the 5-foot-2-inch Roman Polanski or pudgy, unathletic Bill Clinton or now the homunculus 5-foot-3-inch Strauss-Kahn. And how could Strauss-Kahn possibly think he could get away with the violent rape of a chambermaid in a $3000-a-night hotel room, booked in his name without trying out the neighbourhood Escort Service first?

First of all, Dominique has evidently gotten away with treating the fairer sex as his playthings for some time. No wonder his nickname among the French is "le grand seducteur," which I believe roughly translates to "the short, tubby serial rapist." The New York Times reports that as far back as 2007, Brussels journalist Jean Quatreme remarked on Strauss-Kahn's troubled behaviour -- "close to harassment" toward women, saying the press knew all about it, but never mentioned it because "we are in France."

Secondly, it's not unheard of that a wealthy socialist would assume the law does not apply to him. Actually, let me restate that: Wealthy leftist/socialists always assume that laws don't apply to them. Let's take Roman Polanski, the legendary director of two good movies and about 100 unbelievably bad ones, who drugged and anally raped an underage girl in Southern California.

Not only did Polanski think he could get away with it, he did get away with it by fleeing the country (to France) when he discovered, to his shock and dismay, that in America, a person can actually be sentenced to prison for drugging and raping a 13 year old. That was in 1977. He has never been brought to justice. And oh how the socialists supported Polanski's evasion of punishment for this child's rape, especially with the Hollywood leftists denouncing his arrest in Switzerland a couple years ago...howling that he had suffered enough! He wasn't even allowed to come to the U.S. to pick up his Oscar in 2003! Maybe someone should shove it up his ass so he knows how it feels!

Here's one for you pinko historians. Karl Marx kept a female slave from the time she was 8 years old, eventually using her not only as a servant but as his mistress, never acknowledging his child with her or paying her at all. She waited on him hand and foot while he explained to the world that profit is the stolen surplus value of the laborer. Like so many leftist icons, including Henrik Ibsen, Bertrand Russell, and the "disgustingly dirty" Jean-Paul Sartre, Marx seldom bathed and left his wife and children in poverty.

The Way I See It....these socialist pond-scum seem driven by their massive insecurities (often based on physical defects, such as their diminutive size or soap allergies) to chose illiterate, servant-class and teenage females as their sex partners. No wonder leftist/socialist women think men are pigs: Their men are pigs! Right Hillary?

Why Scuba Diving is So Popular at the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland in Australia is one of the most sought after diving destinations in the world. It's splendor lies not only in its name but also because of the fact that it is the only living organism that you can view from outer space.

The beauty of the reef from above inspires awe and reverence however when you wear the wet suit and take the plunge you will feel as if you are in an alien in another world. This is because the 2,600 kilometers of corals and coral walls of the Great Barrier Reef are abundant with marine life and underwater marine activity.

There are many water activities that guests can do at the reef, swimming, snorkeling, helmet diving, and scuba diving. Of these scuba diving is the most famous and sought after.

One reason for this is that all sorts of divers from the novice to the advanced who is looking into more training and dive experience certainly have a place in this underwater world. Novices must attend introductory classes on land before they are let into the water.

The Great Barrier Reef consists of 3000 reefs that you can choose to dive into. You can't go to all of them that is why you have to pick the one that suits the kind of diver you are.

Open water diving is done primarily for sightseeing and is easily the most common dive at the reef. Some tour companies take guests on a guided night dive which is a chance for you to see marine life that only come out at night. Most popular island destinations for these dives are the Whitsundays group of islands and Lizard Island.

Certified wreck divers can go to one of the 30 shipwreck sites of the Great Barrier Reef where divers are allowed to explore. An example of such site is the wreck of Captain James Cook's ship named "Endeavor".

In drift diving the diver jumps into the water that has a known current and simply allows himself to drift and watch the whole surrounding float by. Popular dive sites are Herron Island and the Ribbon Reefs along Cairns and Port Douglas.

What You Can See Where

At Cairns particularly the Cod Hole, you will see various fishes such as the Maori wrasse, eels, and the gentle but huge potato cods. At the Far Northern region you can see caves which is the place where green turtle gather.

At the Coral Sea you will see amazing reef mountains where you can see various fishes, gorgonian fans, and of course corals. The best place to go to here is the Osprey Reef where guided tours sometimes hold feed the shark dives.

The walls of Castle Rock at Port Douglas at the Great Barrier Reef are another great diving destination where divers will see stingrays hidden in the sand. The Nursery Bommie is often visited by barracuda, manta rays, sharks, and eels and green sea turtles.

Why Scuba Diving is So Popular at the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland in Australia is one of the most sought after diving destinations in the world. It's splendor lies not only in its name but also because of the fact that it is the only living organism that you can view from outer space.

The beauty of the reef from above inspires awe and reverence however when you wear the wet suit and take the plunge you will feel as if you are in an alien in another world. This is because the 2,600 kilometers of corals and coral walls of the Great Barrier Reef are abundant with marine life and underwater marine activity.

There are many water activities that guests can do at the reef, swimming, snorkeling, helmet diving, and scuba diving. Of these scuba diving is the most famous and sought after.

One reason for this is that all sorts of divers from the novice to the advanced who is looking into more training and dive experience certainly have a place in this underwater world. Novices must attend introductory classes on land before they are let into the water.

The Great Barrier Reef consists of 3000 reefs that you can choose to dive into. You can't go to all of them that is why you have to pick the one that suits the kind of diver you are.

Open water diving is done primarily for sightseeing and is easily the most common dive at the reef. Some tour companies take guests on a guided night dive which is a chance for you to see marine life that only come out at night. Most popular island destinations for these dives are the Whitsundays group of islands and Lizard Island.

Certified wreck divers can go to one of the 30 shipwreck sites of the Great Barrier Reef where divers are allowed to explore. An example of such site is the wreck of Captain James Cook's ship named "Endeavor".

In drift diving the diver jumps into the water that has a known current and simply allows himself to drift and watch the whole surrounding float by. Popular dive sites are Herron Island and the Ribbon Reefs along Cairns and Port Douglas.

What You Can See Where

At Cairns particularly the Cod Hole, you will see various fishes such as the Maori wrasse, eels, and the gentle but huge potato cods. At the Far Northern region you can see caves which is the place where green turtle gather.

At the Coral Sea you will see amazing reef mountains where you can see various fishes, gorgonian fans, and of course corals. The best place to go to here is the Osprey Reef where guided tours sometimes hold feed the shark dives.

The walls of Castle Rock at Port Douglas at the Great Barrier Reef are another great diving destination where divers will see stingrays hidden in the sand. The Nursery Bommie is often visited by barracuda, manta rays, sharks, and eels and green sea turtles.

Mille and Monty

Little Mille runs circles around Monty.....

"Who me?  I am innocent Mum."

"I am a picture of perfection."

"Why that old stuff shirt Monty doesn't know how to have fun?"

"Its not fair, that kid comes in and takes over.

A man gets no peace"

"Hey Monty, I just want to play."

                       "Listen Mille, only if you promise to play fair."

"Young Whippersnapper, I said fair, respect your elders"

"Your going too far...."

"Aw Monty, I love you. Lets kiss and make-up."

Love is Patient

Love is Kind.

1 Corinthians 13