Phantoms and Monsters

Past Recruits Continue to Drill at Old Fort Hayes
Could...Should Neanderthals Live Again?
Hidalgo, Mexico Crash Confirmed As Russian Cosmos-2421 Satellite Fragment
Michael's Spirit Begs For Forgiveness

Past Recruits Continue to Drill at Old Fort Hayes

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 03:24 PM PST

dispatch - Hard by the edge of downtown Columbus, near Cleveland Avenue, the old post laundry at Fort Hayes appears more than a little down at the heels.

Broken glass and disintegrating floor tiles crunch underfoot. Here and there, unboarded windows stand out like gaps in a pirate's smile. The mere stroke of a palm against a wall wipes away decades of flaked and blistered paint.

"Custodians talk about ghosts in this building," said Dan Mushalko, general manager of WCBE radio (90.5 FM). "One of the custodians is even afraid to come over here because he says the place is haunted by an angry ghost who is always throwing clothing around."

Both the radio station -- an affiliate of National Public Radio -- and the abandoned laundry are on the campus of Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School. Mushalko would like to provide the laundry's irate wraith with a little company and a bit of music by moving his station's operations there, but renovating and refitting the building will require more faith in miracles than in phantoms.

The only visitors the ghost currently receives are the homeless.

"Let's just call it a free hostel," Mushalko said of the shelter some find beneath the laundry's surprisingly intact roof.

"We're running out of space where we are now," he said, explaining why he has fixed his sights on the laundry. "Right now, all we have is master control, one performance studio and one production studio.

"There is nowhere to train students on broadcast-production equipment," he said of WCBE's mission to assist Fort Hayes scholars looking toward careers in radio. "Our ideal at the laundry would be to have five regular production studios, a reconfigured performance space and a dedicated news-production studio."

He also wants to establish a 50-seat cafe where diners could hear performances by groups on the WCBE playlist.

"We play an eclectic mix that includes singer-songwriter, alternative rock, alternative country, blues, jazz, even a little alt-rap. We want to see that the public knows about local artists, local musicians, local bands," Mushalko said.

"There is a lot more artistic activity in this city than some people think. You don't have to go to Cleveland or Cincinnati. We have plenty of brilliant minds right here."

He said the menu of the cafe would include food grown in the space surrounding the laundry. The building would also have a gift shop for the sale of swag and CDs.

He thinks that $5 million will be required to convert the laundry, adding, "We're going to have to launch a grass-roots capital campaign."

Some might say that on the same premises where janitors see ghosts, Mushalko is glimpsing a mirage. The laundry's yellow brick does resemble a bit the paving stones of Oz.

Undaunted, he said, "We're not only going to be using the facility to keep solid information, news, arts and culture flowing into the minds of adults, but will be training the next generation of Columbus leaders and citizens."
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THE HISTORY AND HAUNTING OF FORT HAYES

The Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center, which is made up of The Battelle Youth Science Program, The Career Center, and The Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School, are housed in some 1864- to middle 20th century brick and stone buildings, which were built to last. these older buildings are now put to good use for the students attending The Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School and the Career Center. Other buildings were built in the early 20th century, and newer buildings recently constructed sit on land long used by Fort Hayes over the years.

What is now known as Fort Hayes Army Reserve Base, located on 77 acres, originally began in 1861, as a Civil War armory and arsenal post. There was a great need for a federal arsenal to store and repair Ordinance Corps arms and to equip Ohio regiments called to duty during the Civil War. This post which was called, The Columbus Arsenal, was built on a large field of oak stumps, planned by Captain J. W. Todd and built under the direction of Captain T. C. Bradford, known as "Father" of Fort Hayes. It wasn't fully completed until 1865, though it was receiving, storing and issuing the elements of battle in large amounts. After the war, they received a lot of used guns and other military weapons, which were fixed or used for parts.

After the Civil War, The Fort Hayes Columbus Arsenal was beautified with trees and shrubs, and became more ordered and regulated. From 1875-1890, it's use was expanded when it was transferred to the General Recruiting Service, as a training base for recruits. Four companies of Cadre were organized in 1881.

The Spanish American War inspired new buildings and more recruits in residence. The Store House or Arsenal or Main Building, was remodeled to house 500 new recruits. New buildings added to the post include: new barracks, officers' houses, reception center, mess building, drill hall, new guardhouse and bandstand.

By 1900, the post gained 8 acres, and continued to grow in importance, becoming The Columbus Recruiting Depot of two infantry companies and six recruiting companies, and a band was stationed there as well. Electricity was installed in 1908, and more new buildings were built, reflecting the depot's growth in population and importance. The old headquarters building was torn down in 1910. A hospital, PX, new officer's quarters, non commissioned officers' quarters, a bakery, a laundry, a warehouse and several more barracks were added to the Columbus Recruiting Depot.

The activity and volume of recruits passing through The Columbus Recruiting Depot began to jump after the Selective Military Conscription Act was signed into law in 1917, during WW1. The old barns and stables were transformed into garages and repair shops.

After WW2, The Columbus Recruiting Depot was renamed Fort Hayes in honor of Governor of Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1922, and it became the home of the Fifth Corps.

During WW 2, there were 2000 officers and men stationed here, until 1944. In 1946, The Ohio National guard began to use Fort Hayes though Fort Hayes continued to be a training and induction center through the Viet Nam War. The Army Reserve and the Guard of Engineers were located here as well. It was used by State and Federal Governments for both military and civilian uses.

In 1976, Fort Hayes sold fifty acres of its base land to the Columbus City Schools for a dollar. In 1988, three new educational programs opened their doors: a career center program, The Battelle Youth Science Program, and an arts and academic high school.

While The Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center inherited and got to make good use of the well-built buildings used during Columbus Arsenal / Fort Hayes history, and newly constructed buildings as well, this seat of learning also inherited the resident ghosts and spirits who were alive during the time these buildings and this land were used by the army / military personnel for a variety of reasons, similar to other historical military forts.

A soldier, Nicholas Hartzel, was killed by an exploding cannon, which was part of a huge cannon salute honoring Abraham Lincoln on the day of his funeral. It is rumored that Nicholas was in love with an officer's daughter. It is suspected that this officer knew that the cannon was defective.

Like a lot of military installations, entities of past soldiers still are enlisted members of the military, despite dying in accidents, suicide, disease, and from wounds received.

The Shot Tower - Many entities haunt this building. Students are scared to go to the top floor, because of what they may see there.

The Old Hospital Building - Used for classrooms

* The living have heard cries of dying and badly injured.

* Entities in nurse uniforms have been seen, going about their business.

* Entities in soldier uniforms also make their appearance known.

The Science Building - The old Mess Hall.

* People has seen entities leaving the building with food, and fade away as they cross the grassy area in front of the Mess Hall.

Many faculty members who have stayed after hours have said they witnessed Civil War entities still wandering around the old buildings and grounds nearby, perhaps going about their business they were unable to finish because of a sudden, unexpected, sometimes unpleasant end.

During the school hours, in the new buildings, students participating in the various programs have witnessed lockers with a mind of their own; swinging open and slamming shut at will.

Footsteps in an empty hallway or staircase have unnerved some of the living.

Still others, sense an unseen presence keeping them company.

People have the feeling that someone is following or watching their activities.

People have heard soft, indistinguishable whispering.

Entities of past military personnel keep an eye on the living, perhaps curious about the wonderful learning activities which take place here. They get their chuckles by slamming and opening lockers, watching the living in all their activities.

Sources:
www.dispatch.com
www.forgottenoh.com
web.mac.com
top-org.net
columbus.bizjournals.com
www.hauntedhoused.com

Could...Should Neanderthals Live Again?

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 01:54 PM PST

physorg - The Neanderthal woman died in the Vindija cave in what is now Croatia. Neanderthals are the nearest extinct relative of modern-day humans. Homo sapiens and Neanderthals coexisted for 5-7,000 years, but Neanderthals were gradually forced to retreat to the edges of what is now Europe. The fragments of DNA from the woman's bones were assembled using human and chimpanzee genomes as references. Researcher Gerald Irzyk said putting the fragments in order is difficult because at first it seems a random assemblage of the nucleotide bases, but there are patterns and motifs that are often specific to a group of organisms.

The project to map the genome began in 2005, and is run collaboratively by scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany and 454 Life Sciences at Branford, Connecticut. The work has been made possible by today's powerful computers, which enable scientists to drastically cut the time and cost, but it has still faced many challenges largely through contamination and the breakdown and chemical changes in the biological material over time.

When an organism dies, enzymes break DNA into small fragments of only a few hundred base pairs or less. The DNA is also chemically changed over time, which can lead to incorrect interpretations of the sequence. Not only that, but over 90% of the DNA in the samples came from bacteria or other contaminants rather than the bone.

Creating body parts, organs, and even a complete living individual once the genome is completely sequenced would be difficult but is theoretically possible. The procedure would involve making possibly millions of changes to the DNA in a human stem cell to match the Neanderthal genetic sequence, but there remain problems because even if the Neanderthal genes could be recreated we do not know how they were expressed. Assuming it can be created, the stem cell with Neanderthal DNA would divide to produce a colony of cells that could then be instructed to become any type of cell in the body, theoretically including an entire individual.

Chief science officer of Advanced Cell Technology, Robert Lanza said in Archaeology magazine that "species such as cows and goats are now routinely cloned with few problems," and while there are many more challenges in the case of cloning a Neanderthal, it possibly could be done. The ethics of such a move would be certain to spark a great deal of debate, and not just between paleoanthropologists.

Author of the Archaeology magazine article, Zach Zorich, who has been a keen follower of research on the Neanderthal genome, noted that if created, the Neanderthal would legally deserve the same human rights as we do.

It is likely to be quite some time before we need to deal with the ethical issues. Stephan Schuster, a geneticist from Pennsylvania State University, explained that the first draft of the genome will probably contain many errors due to the age of the sample and the contamination, and he calculates the DNA in five different samples of bone would have to be sequenced, and in all the genome would need to be sequenced 30 times before we could be confident of its accuracy.

Mapping the genome should allow scientists to answer questions about the relationship between us and Neanderthals, such as whether we interbred, and were separate species. It may also be useful in medical research.

Here is a link to an excellent source at Archaeology.org

Hidalgo, Mexico Crash Confirmed As Russian Cosmos-2421 Satellite Fragment

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 01:22 PM PST

Click for video

analuisacid - Prof. Ana Luisa Cid, following up on developments in the story of the "Hidalgo Crash", informed us today at 3:02 pm Eastern Time that the Mexican Space Agency (AEXA) has determined that "Cosmos 2421, a Russian naval reconnaissance satellite placed in orbit on June 25, 2006, broke up in February 2008 leaving 15 fragments. These fragments were catalogued by NORAD as space junk. An analysis of Fragment 33006 of Cosmos 2421 allowed its reentry to be predicted on February 10, 2010...."
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inexplicata - Initial excitement over an "extraterrestrial" event was replaced with more conservative comments about "Soviet-era space junk", "meteorites" and even "an explosion in a local mine"

News items received today read thus: "Meteorite allegedly left a hole 30 meters in diameter and caused houses and buildings to shake in five municipalities of Hidalgo and Puebla.

At 18:30 hours on Wednesday, [February 10, 2010] a light accompanied by a powerful rport caused homes and buildings to shake throughout five municipalities in [the states of] Puebla and Hidalgo. The event was attributed to a meteorite impact.

The thunderous impact was heard in Ahuazotepec and Huachinango, communities in Puebla, as well as in Tulancingo, Cuautepec and Metepec, in the state of Hidalgo.

According to latest reports, the meteorite caused a bridge to collapse in the municipality of Cuautepec (Hidalgo) without any material or human losses reported.

State Civil protection reported that emergency phone lines collapsed due to the number of frightened citizens asking for an explanation about what was going on, after the detonation caused windows to shatter.

The agency's director, Miguel Garcia Conde, said that flight logs were checked at airports when the report was received, out of concern for an airplane crash, however "there was no report regarding a loss of communication with any airliner."

Military units cordoned off the area where the 30-meter hole was found - produced by the meteor impact - as oil pipelines belonging to PEMEX cross the area.
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Cosmos-2421 Completes Mission

russianforces - Cosmos-2421 naval reconnaissance satellite of the US-PU/Legenda system (29247/2006-026A), launched on 25 June 2006, stopped performing its regular orbit-correcting maneuvers at after February 10, 2008. According to Philip Clark, a long-time observer of the Soviet and Russian space program, the satellite suffered a breakup during February 15-16. As of March 20, 2008 NORAD registered 15 fragments of Cosmos-2421 (32710, 32715-32728).

The satellite was reported to experience problems with one of its solar panels right after the launch. It was, however, able to operate for more than 20 months - not much less than other satellites of the US-PU system, which usually operate in orbit for about two years.

Fragmentation at the end of the satellite service life is also a common occurrence - of the last five US-PU satellites (Cosmos-2347, Cosmos-2367, Cosmos-2383, Cosmos-2405, and Cosmos-2421) only one - Cosmos-2405 - produced no registered debris.

Cosmos-2421 may be the last satellite of the US-PU system. This system and the Tselina-2 electronic intelligence system are expected to be replaced by a new system, known as Liana. The first launch of a Liana satellite from Plesetsk using Soyuz-U launcher is reportedly scheduled for 2008.

UPDATE 03/29/08: 20 more fragments have been registered - 32732-32748, 32752-32754.

UPDATE 04/15/08: Five more - 32758-32762.

UPDATE 05/21/08: Debris are still being registered - the last one as of today is 2006-026HD.

UPDATE 07/27/08: As of today, 426 pieces of debris were registered - the lat one is 2006-026SV. 270 objects (including the original satellite) are still in orbit.

Michael's Spirit Begs For Forgiveness

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 02:13 PM PST

stuff - Michael Jackson's spirit asked his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley for forgiveness during a seance.

Michael died aged 50 last June, after taking a cocktail of drugs including powerful anaesthetic Propofol. His personal physician Dr Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter on Monday, but has pleaded not guilty.

The pop icon's former make-up artist Karan Faye has revealed she and Lisa Marie visited a psychic last week, and were put in touch with Michael.

"He seemed to be on a mission to reach out to people in his life and be forgiven. Michael spent his time explaining his faults and wanting us to forgive him. He seemed unsettled," she told British newspaper The Sun.

"The psychic turned to me and said, 'Michael is telling me, 'You took such good care of me and I am so sorry I hurt you so much'.' He said he should have listened to me more. It hit me straight in the heart."

Karen claims the medium did not know she used to work with Michael. She is convinced Michael spoke to them, claiming things were said which only the 'King of Pop' could have known.

"There were definite, deep insights that would have been difficult to make up. It was detailed about the inner dynamics of his family and his levels of pain and emotional inability," she explained.

Michael did not talk about the charges against Murray, apparently saying they were not for him to comment on.

Michael and Lisa Marie married in 1994, but they parted ways after 18 months. Following his death, she wrote an entry on her blog saying how sad she was to hear of his passing.

"He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together. I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now," she wrote.
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AUSSIE COUPLE SNAP PHOTO OF ALBINO SALTWATER CROCODILE

A Northern Territory couple had a "one in a million" fishing trip on the weekend, when they caught a glimpse of a rare albino saltwater crocodile.

Belinda Trewartha and her fiance Peter Bellis were fishing with friends at a Top End river when they saw a shadow in the water and a head "popping up near the boat".

"We thought it was a fish, but then realised it was a crocodile head - and it was all white."

"My fiance has been fishing on the river his whole life, we come here at least 20 times a year, but we've never seen anything like this."

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