tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51944212024-03-08T03:34:03.311-08:00archypolitics, fringe watching, and other stuffUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2416125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-61829392158313334282022-04-25T12:25:00.001-07:002022-04-25T12:25:27.103-07:00Feeling Pensive about the French Election<p> The French presidential election was yesterday and Emmanuel
Macron handily beat the right wing Marine Le Pen 58.5 - 41.5%. In many
countries, the US included, that would be considered a blow-out. A week ago,
French pollsters had them closer, at about 44 - 54. That's even better. But
some of us see that margin as uncomfortably close.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Le Pen isn't merely right wing, she's very far right. She's
not Tory right; she's Putinist right. Her party, the National Rally, has only
had that name since 2018. Before that, from the time her father, Jean-Marie Le
Pen, founded it in 1972, it was called the National Front. Any time a European
party calls itself the National Front, you are safe in assuming that they are,
in fact, fascists.* Le Pen père, an accused war criminal during the Algerian
conflict, founded a party that fit most of the requirements: hyper-nationalist,
xenophobic, pro "law and order", natalist, state-capitalist, and
pro-military. Le Pen himself was a Holocaust denier and sold records of old fascist
marching songs.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>France was no stranger to far right politics at the time.
One of the first proto-fascist parties in Europe was Action française, founded
in 1899 during the Dreyfuss Affair. It was militaristic, anti-republican,
pro-church, antisemitic, and corporatist. During the interwar period it faded
in the face of competition from more extreme fascist parties. A splinter of it
still exists. Like most European countries, France has a wide selection of
political parties. There are plenty of parties on the right, but in the
sixties, none of them stood out. Le Pen and his comrades hoped to bring them
all together as a single electoral block. As is often the case with radicals,
they promptly split into two mutually hostile camps. After both factions
bottomed out in 1981, when neither one was able to qualify for the presidential
ballot, Le Pen was able to emerge as a deal maker who could peel off some
voters from the mainstream right without watering down the party's positions
too much.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In 1988, Le Pen was back, getting a respectable 14.4% in the
first round of the presidential election (fourth place). This wasn't entirely
due to his personal appeal or that of his party. There was a general, global
drift to the right happening at the time (Reagan, Thatcher, Kohl, most of Latin
America). In France, the major parties moved to the center, alienating many of
their more enthusiastic supporters on both sides. Le Pen ran again in 1995,
2002, and 2007, garnering first round totals in the teens each time. In 2002,
he shocked the political establishment by squeaking into second place and
advancing into the final round of voting. Fortunately, he was massacred,
garnering less than 18% of the vote. In 2007, he ran one more time, having his
worst showing in twenty years. Soon after he began disengaging from active
politics and turned his party over to his daughter, Marine.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Le Pen fille set about creating a kinder, gentler face for
the party, even though it remained solidly neo-fascist. She regularly expelled
members of the party, including her father, who said the silent part out loud.
Despite that, she was an ally of Putin who supports pulling out of NATO. She
compared Muslims praying in public with the Nazi occupation. As a
representative in the EU parliament, she formed a block of nationalist, far
right parties. She can't help herself.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let's look at how the Le Pens and the Front have done in
presidential elections over the years.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><b>National Front under Jean-Marie Le Pen</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>1974 Less than
one percent in the first round.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1981<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Failed to qualify for the ballot.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1988<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>14.4% in
the first round (fourth place). Jacques Chirac represented the right and lost
the second round.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1995<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>15% in the
first round (fourth place). Jacques Chirac represented the right and won the second
round.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2002<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>16.9% in
the first round (second place). 17.8% in the second round, losing to Chirac.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2007<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10.4% in
the first round (fourth place). Nicolas Sarkozy represented the center-right
and won the second round.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><b>National Front/National Rally under Marine Le Pen</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>2012 17.9% in
the first round (third place). Nicolas Sarkozy represented the center-right and
lost the second round.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2017<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>21.3% in
the first round (second place). 33.9% in the second round, losing to Macron,
representing the center-left.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2022<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>23.2% in
the first round (second place). 41.5% in the second round, losing to Macron.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>A couple of trends are present here. I'll start with the
most obvious. In fifty years, they've gone from less than one percent to over
forty percent of the vote. That's horrifying. It might not be quite as bad as
that. If you separate the first and second rounds, things are a little more
complicated. In the first round, they have risen less than nine percent since
1988. The only reason they even make it to the second round this century is
that there isn't a more robust right or center-right party in the running.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The big shift is in the second round. The only time Le Pen
père made it into the second round, it was because he unexpectedly managed to
beat the center-left candidate by less than one percent. Facing a strong
center-right candidate, he wasn't even able to increase his numbers by one
percent. There is no denying Le Pen fille's increases in the first round since
taking over. No doubt some of that is due to her kinder, gentler image and
some, maybe more, of it is due to the new rightward shift in global politics.
However, I'm arguing that her dramatic increase in second round numbers is as
much due to her being the alternative to the status quo (a protest vote) as it
is to people actually supporting the Rally's positions. Globally, this is what
the right-wing power grab is fueled by: inarticulate anger, frustration, and
fear, not support for their actual positions or solutions.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The silver lining is that the Front/Rally/Le Pen's numbers
in the presidential election are not reflected in the parliamentary elections.
While the presidential system reduces the field to two choices, the National
Assembly is still a free for all. In the current Assembly, the Rally has eight
out of the 577 seats. They not only are not in the majority, they aren't a
significant voice in the opposition. There will be an Assembly election in
June. Le Pen has sworn to form a strong right-wing opposition block. Jean-Luc
Mélenchon has also sworn to form one on the left. His party currently has 17
seats.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>So, while we should be alarmed about Le Pen's showing in the
presidential election, it's too soon to panic. Putin's aggression has made
neo-fascist parties vulnerable on one, um, front, but it's nowhere near enough
to turn back the far right tide. Conservatives, moderates, and progressives
need to present strong visions that counter far-right fear-mongering.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Meanwhile, let's celebrate Macron's victory.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* "Action" in the name is another dead giveaway.
Action Jackson being the exception.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-47185294241834018762022-03-15T17:59:00.011-07:002022-03-15T18:26:11.369-07:00Madison Cawthorn is a Politician (and Doesn't Know It)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2Du_di2NZDKXexaSYFHKGcDdSqzZ3nQLlUop5SR-_memAV_cKE2fZbuIR2z8w-AZ2HPwzRRLsrsObHmDzvz97BHNN73PKaOsA_VHurTfT6MmISR8Yns20nbC2iLa-IQKqQhNo6dMJEzlGkqKmXt6wv9GlhsaZsrrLOhuhlHEy9FG-5NR2Zg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="601" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2Du_di2NZDKXexaSYFHKGcDdSqzZ3nQLlUop5SR-_memAV_cKE2fZbuIR2z8w-AZ2HPwzRRLsrsObHmDzvz97BHNN73PKaOsA_VHurTfT6MmISR8Yns20nbC2iLa-IQKqQhNo6dMJEzlGkqKmXt6wv9GlhsaZsrrLOhuhlHEy9FG-5NR2Zg" width="212" /></a></div><p></p><p>Madison Cawthorn does not like Ukraine on a train, he does not like it in the rain. he is not the meme master he'd like to be. Let's take this apart, shall we?</p><p>"I do not stand with Ukraine<br />"I do not stand with Russia"</p><p>Both-sideserism plays into the hands of the aggressor. Like it or not, Cawthorn, by saying his, you side with Russia.</p><p>"I do not stand with the UN or NATO."</p><p>Interesting. The US was one of the founding members of both the UN and NATO and still plays a leading role in both organizations. You're saying you don't stand with the US in its role as a global leader.</p><p>"I stand with the civilians in each country..."</p><p>This part starts out pretty well. Now, what are you going to do about it. How will you show your support for them. You're very good at getting camera time for yourself; this is your chance to show some leadership.</p><p>"... while politicians and their media play their war and propaganda games."</p><p>Attacking "politicians" and "the media" is just as lazy as both-sideserism. They're anonymous and nonspecific. Which politicians? Which members of the media?* The politician most responsible for the war is Vladimir Putin. Why won't you name him? The American media--news media--that enabled him are OAN and Fox News commentators, assisted by various right-wing bloggers, Tweeters, and pod-casters. Oh, and Cawthorn, you're a politician. When you run for and hold office, you're a politician.</p><p>"Not sure why thats [sic] so offensive to so many people."</p><p>Really? Even before you pressed "send" on this meme and anyone had a chance to express offense, you felt you had to add a whine about being persecuted for being a big brave truth-speaker. There is a war going on that has created almost three million refugees, over ten thousand dead (on both sides), twice that many wounded, tens of billions of dollars in property damage, and several times that in economic dislocation. But we should keep in mind that the real victim here is attention-seeking, Hitler-groupie Madison Cawthorn <span style="background-color: white; color: #141d26; font-family: TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">who might hear some criticism (after desperately seeking it out)</span>.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> *Heck. Which medium? Vinyl records?</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-78240981085125265282022-02-11T13:30:00.002-08:002022-02-11T13:30:45.776-08:00 Adulting Week Finale<p>I got up and got ready to go on time. It took me forty minutes and two calls to finally get a cab. When I got to the clinic, they told me I was too late and they had cancelled my appointment. However, they checked with the doctor, and she was able to slip me into the next spot.</p><p>The appointment was productive. We reviewed my medications. That was the whole point of the appointment. My various prescriptions were expiring and Medicaid wouldn't pay for them until I had a review. You may recall, from previous comments on my adulting efforts, that one of my problems these days is that my Medicaid expired last summer and I can't get it restarted. They're not planning on paying for anything, including this appointment, at the moment. The state aid offices are shut down to in-person visits for the duration, but the doctor told me that the office in the clinic is still open and might be able to help. After that, they gave me flu and shingles vaccines.</p><p>The nice lady in the aid office (who spoke softly and very rapidly) just had a few minutes before her next appointment, but in that time she had me sign all the forms to apply for Medicaid yet again. On Monday, she'll call me and get all the information to actually fill out the forms. She was able to show me how to find my Medicare number (and updated my payment info at the clinic with it). She also will take care of restarting my SNAP account and getting me Alaska senior benefits (which will cover about half of my Medicare monthly). If everything works out, I should finally be able to pay my medical bills by the end of next week.</p><p>After I got back downtown, I celebrated by getting a latte. Wordle took me four tries.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-46546631932631583842022-02-06T20:38:00.000-08:002022-02-06T20:38:36.856-08:00Freedom Convoy Foolishness Arrives in Anchorage<p>The usual gang of fools decided to hold a freedom convoy here in Anchorage. They went to the Cabela's parking lot where the city council member from Eagle River, Jamie Allard, welcomed them. She posted a video of herself saying there were hundreds and hundreds of them (it looked more like tens and tens to me) and added, "I don’t know how traffic is going to do with all of these guys, but we don’t really care." A couple of points.</p><p>Last year and the year before, conservatives were saying that blocking traffic was the worst crime ever and that protesters should be run over and killed. Around the country, Republicans proposed laws making vehicular assault legal under "stand your ground laws" as long as you remember to say the magic get-out-of-jail words "I was scared." Now, they are saying blocking traffic and shutting down cities is "legitimate political discourse" or something similar. To be fair, it's not entirely a flip-flop; they were all in favor of blocking traffic with various hysterically unsuccessful "million truck marches" against Obama and with their Trump Trains. I think the difference to them is that drivers are patriots and pedestrians need to be summarily executed.</p><p>Intentionally blocking traffic is already illegal, regardless of your politics. Allard seems to be endorsing law breaking. How do her constituents in Eagle River feel about this? I'm being rhetorical. We all know how they feel. As long as it's inconveniencing the liberals downtown and not happening in their backyard, they approve of the lawbreaking and they approve of their lawmaker approving of the lawbreaking.</p><p>Cabela's is private property. Are they allowing the convoy to use their parking lot because they support them or is the convoy trespassing? If you're not familiar with Cabela's, they sell outdoor gear, including hunting and fishing gear. Guns and ammo make up almost a third of their business. A large part of their natural clientele is going to lean hard right, but it will also include outdoorsy tree-huggers as well. Someone in the press needs to get a statement from them. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-22721488163942725252022-02-04T13:17:00.000-08:002022-02-04T13:17:19.299-08:00Boba Fett<p> Now that six of the seven episodes of <i>#BookofBobaFett</i> have aired, I have thoughts.</p><p>Last summer, I signed up for Disney+ and binge watched <i>The #Manalorian</i> and was pleased to see that I only had a few months to wait before there would be a new related show to watch. In the mean time, Disney announced two more shows; <i>Obi Wan Kenobi</i>, which, of course is set between the first trilogy and his death in the second trilogy; and an Ahsoka Tano show set sometime after the second season of <i>Madalorian</i>. I'm looking forward to both of those because those characters are great and this gives us opportunities to tie up loose ends of plot lines and characters from the animated series'. Almost thirty years pass from the end of the first trilogy to end of the second series of <i>Madalorian</i>.</p><p>This brings us back to <i>the Book of Boba Fett</i>. It begins at the same point <i>Mandalorian</i> S2 ended with he and Fenec Shand arriving at Jabba the Hutt's palace and taking over. </p><p>Episode 1. It's been about eight years since Jabba died at the Sarlac pit and one of his lackeys has been running his turf, badly. Boba meets some of the locals in town and goes into an extended flashback that explains how he survived the Sarlac and lost his armor (regained in the <i>Mandalorian</i>). The episode ends with an homage to Ray Harryhausen that most viewers didn't seem to catch.</p><p>Episodes 2-4. Most of these episodes develop the flashbacks. The short sections of "present time" finally come together in episode four to reveal who the antagonist is going to be and that the overall plot arc is going to be <i>The Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven</i>.</p><p>Episodes 5-6. A sudden digression into the <i>Mandalorian</i>. Yes, he's going to be one of the seven, but most of these two episodes have nothing to do with that, they are setting up the next season of his show. It's nice to see Ahsoka Tano, but her appearance was a gratuitous cameo with no hints about her own show.</p><p><Episode 6 spoiler> There are many characters from the earlier movies and animated series whose fates were left unexplored. The new live-action shows seem to be picking up a lot of those characters. Cad Bane is one I was eager to see. I was excited to see him, but a little disappointed in the role he's going to play. My big hope is that the charming and always treacherous Hondo will show up in Obi Wan or Ashoka. [Fun fact: Cad Bane and young Boba Fett had a duel in a planned, but never produced, episode of <i>Clone Wars</i>. That's supposed to be the source of the dent in Boba's helmet.] </p><p>+Coming up next, the <i>Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven</i> style finale.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-81158772310562474172022-01-31T23:30:00.000-08:002022-01-31T23:30:19.992-08:00 Truckdrivin' perspective<p>The far right has been trying to claim truck drivers as their people for the last dozen years or so. Remember the million trucker ride to Washington to protest "Obama <mumble, mumble> we're not racists!"? Since then, there have been regular trucker protests in Australia, Canada, and the US and they have all been embarrassing failures. They are still failures.</p><p>Not long ago, someone noticed supply chain chaos, inflation, and shortages caused by Covid and started pushing the idea that they were all the fault of Biden's policies, although they couldn't say which policies and how they did that. Now, those same people are calling for trucker strikes, led by Canadian anti-vaxers, which will cause supply chain disruption, inflation, and product shortages because... freedom? </p><p>Because all of the other trucker protests have been failures, they are pointing to some images of the current Canadian protest as signs of how great their movement is. I have to say, these trolls have learned how to manipulate the media. They are packing areas around the home offices of the Canadian broadcast media and national monuments to get the best photo ops. They have dim-witted, has-been comedians like Rob Schneider expressing amazement that their caravan stretches from Ontario all the way to Manitoba, a province it shares a border with (one truck can stretch that far). </p><p>The most generous estimate of the number of drivers involved is on half of one percent of the licensed commercial truck drivers in Canada. It's a stunt, and a fraudulent one at that. Any news out let that treats this story as anything other than an expose of the sad lengths the right will go to to lie to us is nothing more than, in Lenin's famous phrase, useful idiots.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-49937905515132112552020-12-09T00:06:00.005-08:002020-12-10T20:30:52.615-08:00"Deadliest Days In American History" Amended<p> Around December 7, 2020, a meme began to float around the internet comparing the daily death tolls from Covid to to a few other high casualty days in American history. Because of the day it appeared, I assume the point was to draw a contrast to Pearl Harbor, a day that shocked the country into action and our current fickle leadership. The motive behind the meme seemed good. What I disliked about it was the vagueness. The Covid dates were given as "last Thursday" and "last Monday." Knowing how things on the internet live forever, I wanted to put a date on the meme.</p><p>Here is a sample of the meme that I copied off of Facebook.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuRfpSyPk8OjKGy0aMf5m-55ua9u6gZ_M9YD8J_jefS0J5yTU4Dp-bqEQfvBHS0nVDd_uFcZGHHHK7sa80vMVXCcGSS5uN_xD8l0epv1mIkRSz6ZM67cxJeuFkFQqhlqZmCJF/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="526" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuRfpSyPk8OjKGy0aMf5m-55ua9u6gZ_M9YD8J_jefS0J5yTU4Dp-bqEQfvBHS0nVDd_uFcZGHHHK7sa80vMVXCcGSS5uN_xD8l0epv1mIkRSz6ZM67cxJeuFkFQqhlqZmCJF/" width="250" /></a></div><p>A few hours ago, I decided to get off my butt and really do that. I hunted for a set of day-by-day death reporting that I could match to days of the week. I didn't find one that exactly matched the numbers in the meme, but I found a good set of numbers that are close to the same magnitude.</p><p>At the same time, it occurred to me that the San Francisco earthquake should be on this list. This led me to think I should look up other hurricanes, besides the Galveston Monster, and I found some that should be included on the list. Hurricanes are tricky candidates. Many go on for days. Subsequent flooding and crop damage can keep killing for weeks or months. I only used numbers that seemed to limited to the passage of the storm and nothing else.</p><p>Finally, as I was finishing this list, I realized I have no daily statistics for the 1918-19 Spanish Flu. The death numbers for that pandemic in the US were about twice what they are now. In October 1918 alone, 195,000 Americans died of the flu. If I had those daily numbers, they would dominate this chart.</p><p>Here is my amended chart, sans Spanish Flu.</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Galveston Monster (Hurricane), September 8, 1900, 8000+</li><li>Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862, 3675</li><li>Covid, December 10, 2020, 3067</li><li>Covid, December 9, 2020, 3054</li><li>San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906, 3000 *</li><li>Hurricane Maria, September 20, 2017, 2982</li><li>9/11, September 11, 2001, 2977</li><li>Covid, May 7, 2020, 2769 **</li><li>Covid, December 2, 2020, 2733</li><li>Covid, December 3, 2020, 2706</li><li>Covid, April 29, 2020, 2661</li><li>Covid, December 8, 2020, 2622</li><li>Covid, December 4, 2020, 2563</li><li>Covid, April 15, 2020, 2546</li><li>Okeechobee Hurricane, September 17, 1928, 2,511 ***</li><li>D-Day, June 6, 1944, 2500</li><li>Covid, May 5, 2020, 2494</li><li>Covid, April 21, 2020, 2481</li><li>Covid, December 1, 2020, 2473</li><li>Covid, December 5, 2020, 2461</li><li>Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, 2403</li></ol><ol style="text-align: left;"></ol><ol style="text-align: left;"></ol><p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* This is the official number and is at the high end of estimates.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">** Daily Covid deaths are according to https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-daily-deaths.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*** Four days earlier it caused over 300 deaths in Puerto Rico.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-13923263334441383902019-06-14T15:38:00.000-07:002019-06-14T15:38:05.923-07:00I'm not dead yet<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've started researching my next book. It's going to be about permafrost and, yes, there will be mammoths.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-46965758137889363552018-12-23T14:01:00.000-08:002018-12-23T14:01:41.083-08:00A holiday warningThis is a rerun of a post I wrote around this time a few years ago. I think it's still relevant.<br />
<br />
*********<br />
<br />
The men in black (MIB) entered UFO lore in 1956 in a book entitled <i>They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers</i>. The author was one Gray Barker who had been a member of one of the first American UFO groups, the rather ambitiously named International Flying Saucer Bureau (IFSB). Though Barker's book dealt with a number of paranormal topics, the largest part of it dealt with his former boss, IFSB founder Albert Bender.<br />
<br />
In 1953 the IFSB was about two years old with a few hundred dues paying members (called "investigators") who all received the Bureau's newsletter <i>Space Review.</i> The group was doing well enough when, in October 1953, Bender suddenly stopped publication of <i>Space Review</i>, and dissolved the IFSB. The last issue of the news letter gave only <a href="http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1692.htm">this explanation</a>.<br />
<blockquote>
STATEMENT OF IMPORTANCE: The mystery of the flying saucers is no longer a mystery. The source is already known, but any information about this is being withheld by order from a higher source. We would like to print the full story in Space Review, but because of the nature of the information we are very sorry that we have been advised in the negative.</blockquote>
According to Barker, the reason Bender had so abruptly ended the group was that three mysterious men in black had visited Bender and warned him off. But before they did, the MIBs were good enough to explain at least part of the true secret of the flying saucers. UFOs, they said, actually come from Antarctica. They have bases in both polar regions and regularly fly between them. Bender told a different story in his own book in 1963.<br />
<br />
Enough UFO stories end with the craft departing due north or south that Barker's version of Bender's visitors has been adopted by conspiracy theorists who believe in a decidedly terrestrial origin for saucers. My personal favorite version is that saucers and MIBs are Atlanteans from within the hollow earth, but the theory that they are Nazi refugees from super-scientific bases beneath the ice cap has its devotees, too.<br />
<br />
The MIBs are the key to the mystery. The most mundane explanation that has been offered is that they work for the American government and that they are trying to hide the truth about the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs. But that could itself be disinformation. No government has the ability to do what the MIBs do. Think for a moment about the men in black. They have appeared all over the world. They have a special interest in unidentified flying objects and in protecting the polar regions. They seem to actually know what is in the minds of the people they visit. Who has the ability to manage an intelligence network like that? Ask yourself: Who has the ability to travel everywhere, at any time, and even seemingly to appear in two places at once? Who has a special interest in protecting the polar regions? Who knows when you are sleeping? Who knows when you are awake? Who knows if you've been good or bad?<br />
<br />
I think you know the answer.<br />
<br />
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and be good for goodness sake.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-25054618317622580772018-11-27T15:26:00.000-08:002018-11-27T15:26:19.378-08:00Yay! Royalties!I was at the local Barnes & Noble the other day picking up a birthday present for my sister and, while there, decided mosey over to the science section to see if they had any copies of my book. What to my wondering should appear, but a paperback edition of <i>Discovering the Mammoth</i>. It looks very nice. I bought a copy to show people and took it to dinner at my corner brewpub. While I was showing it to some of the regulars, two young women from Seattle asked about it. I ended up selling it to them and autographing it with a cartoon of a mammoth in the snow.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqz_yQTXOQC0nW4YABgUJ0VXZa_zfv5KCP4soDLVCysrSdbKfbh8hHGJR6Bno0pGd32KE3mCD0HAk8tbnhPXnriKv_nkY4pjEOmD6HrL5Thdx3-53ctaML0JfLl3oqKcbCiaU/s1600/Discovering+the+Mammoth-CB1-orange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1060" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqz_yQTXOQC0nW4YABgUJ0VXZa_zfv5KCP4soDLVCysrSdbKfbh8hHGJR6Bno0pGd32KE3mCD0HAk8tbnhPXnriKv_nkY4pjEOmD6HrL5Thdx3-53ctaML0JfLl3oqKcbCiaU/s320/Discovering+the+Mammoth-CB1-orange.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<br />
The hardback was paid for by an upfront advance that was gone by this time last year.* For this edition, I'll be paid with royalties that will come twice a year. I don't expect more than a few hundred dollars per check, but it will be a nice little bonus when each arrives.<br />
<br />
* <span style="font-size: x-small;">That's why I was begging all year, hunting for work, and too depressed to write. Last month, I started receiving Social Security which, while not enough to make me completely independent again, has taken a lot of weight off my shoulders. I've already begun writing again and will have some things for the blogs very soon.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-85401134005697423262018-06-24T14:39:00.002-07:002018-06-24T14:39:55.986-07:00Yet another plea, but with a slight explanationOver the years, I've written many lengthy posts for social media and my blogs discussing my mental health issues, but I've never managed to hit the submit button on any of them. This post won't be any different. Just trust me, it's real. Real enough that the State of Alaska officially qualifies me as handicapped.<br />
<br />
I've been working with caseworkers from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation for a few years now. They make sure I keep sending out resumes and doing job hunting things. My current caseworker is big on mental health things. I need to get out of my room and socialize and I admit that make sense. For a long time she suggested I volunteer at the senior center. At my age, why would I go to the senior center other than to meet chicks?<br />
<br />
"Hey. Do you want to go out for a drink? And by 'a drink' I literally mean one, because that's all I can afford."<br />
<br />
That certainly builds my self esteem.<br />
<br />
Still, I decided I need to do whatever she suggests to see if it will get me out of the hole I'm in. Fortunately, she suggested a government job this time. Like almost every state, Alaska is facing a budget crisis, hiring freeze, and cuts. I did a full formal interview with the group she sent me to and they snapped me up that day. Of course, that's not how state things really work, but it did feel good.<br />
<br />
The deparment is made up of two people, a senior and junior officer. The junior position is an entry level position. For over a year, the only way they have been able to keep up with things has been to have unpaid volunteers like me. Well, three weeks ago the senior person moved up to a new job. Good for her. In the short time I knew her, I became quite fond of her and I'm happy for her for her success. But what does that mean for our little group?<br />
<br />
Actually, it's a fucking mess. I won't go into details, but our group helps real people. It is part of the social safety net. They needed me because they were already several months backlogged in processing payments. And now they're sliding further back. Why?<br />
<br />
As I said, the boss moved up to a better job. But, despite knowing she was moving over up a month ago, the state still hasn't posted her job. Obviously, junior guy should move up to top guy. He's been doing the same job for four years.<br />
<br />
Blah, blah, blah. This is where I return to the story. Junior guy has already said he will hire me as the next junior guy, if the state gets around to hiring anybody. But, as we have seen the state will take forever. If the state finally fills the top job with the junior guy, then there will be another pause while they post the junior job and do interviews. I'm honestly looking at one to two months before this turns into a job.<br />
<br />
I have some ideas to bring in a small income in the interim. I'll tell you about them later in the week. Meanwhile, of course, the bills are late and the end of the month is near. By the end of the week I need to pay the big storage unit bill and my very overdue phone bill. <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/john-mckay-needs-help">Any help is appreciated.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-82309437384511516282018-03-27T16:54:00.000-07:002018-03-27T16:55:14.970-07:00Things are not going well<b>Too long; didn't read version:</b> I'm unemployed, broke, and the storage place is going to auction off all of my belongings in a few days. <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/john-mckay-needs-help">Send money.</a><br />
<br />
When I began blogging, about fifteen years ago, I debated with myself over how personal I wanted to get. Should I talk about my depression and other issues or stick to commenting on the rest of the world? I chose the latter. I'm a fairly shy and private person and just wasn't that comfortable opening up to a bunch of strangers. I've opened up a bit on social media, but I still keep the blogs (when I get around to writing anything) pretty much business only. But, I can't do that anymore. I need help and I don't know where else to turn.<br />
<br />
In 2012, my life imploded somewhat. Among other things, I lost my house, got divorced, and my baby sister died. I tried living by myself for a while, but that didn't work out. I decided to move back to Alaska where my family and oldest friends are. And there I ran into a snag. When I called around to get estimates from movers, I found out it would cost several times more than I thought, about twice as much as I had to my name to ship my stuff. Two tons of books kind of complicates things.<br />
<br />
I haven't been able to get back on my feet up here. My sisters have covered my room and board. I try to cover my other expenses. I sold my comic book collection (which had been at my baby sister's house all these years). I had two jobs, but neither was permanent. I sold my book and lived off the advance. That ran out just before Thanksgiving. At that point I had a few encouraging looking job prospects that might open after the first of the year. My ex, Tessa, set up a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/john-mckay-needs-help">GoFundMe</a> to raise, what we hoped would be, enough tide me through to a first paycheck. One by one they each fizzled out. We begged for enough to get me through another month, and then another after that. And, I'm back where I was in December: I'm broke, my bills are overdue, and I have one good job prospect, but, even if it pans out, the first check won't arrive in time.<br />
<br />
The only long-term solution is that I get a job that pays an adult wage so I can be independent again. My ideal is a telecommuting job that I can do in Alaska while I save up enough to go to Washington and get my stuff. But anything that pays my bills with some walking around money left over is good. If you know of anything or have any connections, please let me know.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Meanwhile, this is where I am. <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/john-mckay-needs-help">I need $450</a> by EOD Thursday to save my belongings**, my life. Soon after that, another round of bills hits.<br />
<br />
<b>PS - </b>My hard drive is making funny noises.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* My bills. I's hard to rank them. Obviously the storage unit worries me the most. I have a phone. Everyone needs a phone. I also need mine for data since there is no internet where I live. I have an old credit card that I'm trying to pay off. Medicaid pays most, but not all of my medical and medication bills. That leaves food and walking around money. I'm out of coffee for the first time in about forty years, but the storage unit is more important (see below).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">** About my stuff. I'm clinically a bit of a hoarder. Hence the 110 boxes of books. Just not living with my stuff is a big source of anxiety. But, I'm also the family historian. The storage unit includes about 150 years worth of photographs, family bibles, Masonic paraphernalia, my dad's papers from the Atomic Energy Commission, and a china hutch hand-made in the 1890s. I live 1500 miles away from the storage unit. I can't borrow someone's van and drive over to rescue the best stuff before the unit becomes reality show prop. It's either all saved or all gone.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-61603002309691092652017-09-11T21:01:00.000-07:002017-09-12T14:27:04.601-07:00The mammoth that never was<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the three-hundred-fifty years since Europeans first
received reports of a mysterious creature in Siberia called the mammoth,
nothing has engendered more public fascination about them than the occasional
discovery of nearly intact, frozen carcasses with flesh still attached. At some
point in the nineteenth century, frozen mammoths became a staple of
catastrophist theories. As one of the usual suspects of those theories, frozen
mammoths have regularly been trotted out to prove that Atlantis was real, the Earth's
axis can suddenly change location, a planet-sized comet caused the plagues of
Egypt, or that Noah's global flood was real. Sometimes they prove all of the
above despite the fact that the believers date them thousands of years apart.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Three particular mammoths show up more often that all
of the others combined. The Adams mammoth, named for the person who excavated
it, was discovered in 1799 near the mouth of the Lena River. In 1806, Mikhail
Adams journeyed to the spot and recovered most of the skeleton and several
hundred pounds of skin and hair. This was the first nearly complete mammoth
recovered and scientifically described. It was the basis for all nineteenth
century ideas about what a mammoth looked like in life. I have given an entire
chapter to this mammoth in my book. The Berezovka mammoth, named after the
place where it was found in 1901, was also nearly complete. Since scientists
were able to get to it soon after its discovery, they were able to examine
muscles and remains of some of the internal organs. In between the Adams and
the Berezovka was the Benkendorf mammoth. In 1846 a surveying party, led by a
Lt. Benkendorf, discovered a complete mammoth exposed by a flood of the
Indigirka river. Before the mammoth was carried away, the party was able to
make some measurements and examine the contents of the mammoth's stomach. The
main difference between these three famous mammoths is that the Adams and
Berezovka mammoths are real, while the Benkendorf mammoth is a complete
fiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The fictitious nature of the story hasn't hurt its
popularity. In I<i>n the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood</i>
Dr. Walt Brown cites the Benkendorf mammoth in to prove his version of the
Noachian flood. John Cogan, in <i>The New Order of Man's History</i>, cites the same
mammoth to prove his theory of Atlantis being sunk by a giant asteroid strike.
Robert W. Felix cites the Benkendorf mammoth in<i> Not by Fire but by Ice</i> to prove
his theory that magnetic pole reversals cause sudden and regular ice ages. In
<i>Darwin's Mistake: Antediluvian Discoveries Prove Dinosaurs and Humans
Co-Existed</i>, Hans J. Zillmer calls on the same mammoth to disprove both
evolution and modern geology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It's easy to point and laugh at the creationists and
catastrophists for being suckered into believing that a fictional mammoth would
support their theories. Recycling anecdotes is a well-established tradition
among conspiracy theorists and other purveyors of forbidden knowledge.
Unfortunately, the Benkendorf mammoth has just as long a history of being cited
in textbooks, popular science writing, and even academic papers. Samuel Sharp's
1876 textbook <i>Rudiments of Geology</i> uses the Benkendorf mammoth as a source of
information about the appearance and diet of mammoths as do the authors of the
1902 edition of <i>The Cambridge Natural History</i>, H. H. Lamb's 1977 book <i>Climate:
Present, Past and Future</i>, and a 1983 Time-Life book, <i>Ice Ages</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The story of Benkendorf's discovery originally
appeared in a fairly obscure 1859 German book of science for young people,
<i>Kosmos für die Jugend</i> by an author named Philipp Körber. Why has the Körber
story managed to survive so long? More than anything else, I believe three
elements have come together to turn Benkendorf's mammoth into a nearly
unstoppable zombie. First, the original story was well told, filled with many
plausible details, and included the solutions to some outstanding mysteries
about mammoths. Second, because of the verisimilitude and answers, the story
was adopted and retold in considerable detail by some very influential
scientists. Their credibility led to many retellings in both the popular and
scientific press. Finally, debunkings of the story have been weak, made by not
credible writers, or located in hard to find places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzpFxDq07jm6v78ZFl6JOQMAYOsbmX1X7OIzdMkRuGBV492BYc1Anku8XJKJ2F8QuxhzTmxEOY3KlGL0dkOYTesauRyCvqd4QUpnOjG-d3Y7gLcTyqcAZ4zY7dWhV82DHVjpGVw/s1600/Kosmos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzpFxDq07jm6v78ZFl6JOQMAYOsbmX1X7OIzdMkRuGBV492BYc1Anku8XJKJ2F8QuxhzTmxEOY3KlGL0dkOYTesauRyCvqd4QUpnOjG-d3Y7gLcTyqcAZ4zY7dWhV82DHVjpGVw/s320/Kosmos.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: italic;">Kosmos für die Jugend. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mammoths weren't the only prehistoric animals on </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Körber's book</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Körber's book, Benkendorf is an exemplary
character, the son of a Baltic German schoolteacher, who dedicated himself to
studying the mathematical arts. While serving in the Russian army, he came to
the attention of his superiors who recommended him to the navy where, at the
age of twenty-five, he was attached to a surveying expedition along the
Siberian coast. Körber lets the young lieutenant tell the story in his own
words, supposedly as a letter to a relative in Germany who passed it on to the
author. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After a credible description of permafrost, a still
unnamed and mysterious phenomenon, he describes the setting. The year of his
expedition, 1846, had an unusually warm and early spring. Unseasonable rains
melted away the snow and cleared the rivers while tearing away river banks and flooding
the land. When the rains stopped, they could see that the Indigirka River was
free of ice. He was given charge of a steam launch and sent to explore the new
channels carved by the floods. "There it was," he writes," we
made a strange discovery."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Suddenly our jager, ever on the outlook, called
loudly, and pointed to a singular and unshapely object, which rose and sank
through the disturbed waters.<br /> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I had already remarked it, but not given it any
attention, considering it only driftwood. Now we all hastened to the spot on
the shore, had the boat drawn near, and waited until the mysterious thing
should again show itself. Our patience was tried, but at last a black,
horrible, giant-like mass was thrust out of the water, and we beheld a colossal
elephant's head, armed with mighty tusks, with its long trunk moving in the
water in an unearthly manner, as though seeking for something lost therein.
Breathless with astonishment, I beheld the monster hardly twelve feet from me,
with his half-open eyes yet showing the whites. It was still in good
preservation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDWDFiasZj12tK38ITTMaql8vLD415A5vm8cMYP4_fk2k-Ig8tK52lBsX_u-PkjSSLXm5nPd6UXEmJPX70w92Kunter5cMkAyOPJaiz0VihYl1ZfX3MkhFEqxyrG6J_xG_DYftw/s1600/Benkendorf+by+Korber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="590" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDWDFiasZj12tK38ITTMaql8vLD415A5vm8cMYP4_fk2k-Ig8tK52lBsX_u-PkjSSLXm5nPd6UXEmJPX70w92Kunter5cMkAyOPJaiz0VihYl1ZfX3MkhFEqxyrG6J_xG_DYftw/s320/Benkendorf+by+Korber.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">Körber's illustration of the Benkendorf mammoth. I haven't seen this illustration published anywhere except for </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Körber's book.</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Benkendorf's crew secure the mammoth with ropes and
chains and try to pull it to the shore, but its rear feet are frozen to the
river bottom and they can't budge it. Refusing to give up, Benkendorf has them
tie the ropes to stakes driven into the riverbank and waits for the river to
excavate the mammoth for him. The next day, the Yakuti horsemen arrive and
Benkendorf puts them to work reeling in his catch.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Picture to yourself an elephant with the body
covered with thick fur, about thirteen feet in height and fifteen in length,
with tusks eight feet long, thick, and curving outward at their ends, a stout
trunk of six feet in length, colossal limbs of one and a half feet in
thickness, and a tail naked up to the end, which was covered with thick tufty
hair. The animal was fat and well grown; death had overtaken him in the fulness
of his powers. His parchment-like, large, naked ears lay fearfully turned up
over the head; about the shoulders and the back he had stiff hair about a foot
in length, like a mane. The long outer hair was deep brown, and coarsely
rooted. The top of the head looked so wild, and so penetrated with pitch, that
it resembled the rind of an old oak tree. On the sides it was cleaner, and under
the outer hair there appeared everywhere a wool, very soft, warm, and thick,
and of a fallow-brown colour. The giant was well protected against the cold.
The whole appearance of the animal was fearfully strange and wild. It had not
the shape of our present elephants. As compared with our Indian elephants, its
head was rough, the brain-case low and narrow, but the trunk and mouth were
much larger. The teeth were very powerful. Our elephant is an awkward animal,
but compared with this Mammoth, it is as an Arabian steed to a coarse, ugly,
dray-horse. I could not divest myself of a feeling of fear as I approached the
head; the broken, widely-opened eyes gave the animal an appearance of life, as
though it might move in a moment and destroy us with a roar....</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The bad smell of the body warned us that it was
time to save of it what we could, and the swelling flood, too, bid us hasten.
First of all we cut off the tusks, and sent them to the cutter. Then the people
tried to hew off the head, but notwithstanding their good will, this work was
slow. As the belly of the animal was cut open the intestines rolled out, and
then the smell was so dreadful that I could not overcome my nauseousness, and
was obliged to turn away. But I had the stomach separated, and brought on one
side. It was well filled, and the contents instructive and well preserved. The
principal were young shoots of the fir and pine; a quantity of young fir-cones,
also in a chewed state, were mixed with the mass....</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So intent are they in examining the mammoth that no
one notices the river slowly undermining the riverbank. Suddenly, the mammoth
is snatched from Benkendof's hands as the bank collapses taking the mammoth and
five of the horsemen with it. Sailors from the ship manage to rescue the horsemen,
but the mammoth is irretrievably lost.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Besides being a ripping good yarn, Körber's story had
a lot going for it. At the time, only one fairly intact mammoth had been
recovered and described in scientific literature. This was the Adams mammoth.
Adams was able to recover an almost complete skeleton, a large part of the
skin, and several bags of hair. However, most of the soft tissue had been eaten
by scavengers, the tusks had been cut off and sold, and the hair had shed from
the skin. This left the angle of the tusks and the distribution of the hair
open to speculation. With no internal organs present, Adams could provide no
information about what the mammoth ate. This was an area of great interest
since knowing its diet would be a major clue about the past climate of the
Arctic coast. Adams' account of recovering the mammoth was published and
republished in several languages over a decade. Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius
reassembled the skeleton and published a detailed description of it along with
large illustrations. Adams' and Tilesius' papers were the basis for all mammoth
studies in the nineteenth century. Körber's description of Benkendorf's mammoth
stuck closely to their descriptions, even where they made incorrect guesses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Körber describes the tusks as "eight feet long,
thick, and curving outward at their ends." This follows Tilesius' attempt
at reconstructing the placement of the tusks on the Adams' mammoth. The
original tusks had been cut off and sold before Adams reached the mammoth (in
fact, it was the ivory merchant who reported the find). Adams bought a pair of
tusks on his way back from the coast which the merchant claimed were the
originals from his skeleton. These tusks were, in fact, from a younger, smaller
mammoth. Tilesius could only guess at their placement and put them on the wrong
sides of the skull with the points curving out and back over the mammoth's
shoulders. In part, because of Tilesius' incorrect guess and Körber's
confirmation of it, the correct placement of the tusks would still be a topic
of debate into the first decade of the twentieth century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2g6tAq8xFSuz8L5XRcD9MAFFHHXIzGt-lZWODRmmg6TnWM-vHqivyPxeVLxcBAArl1OlSYjzchc6WTMDob-47sER-WZKWRiUu7R0vEKECciznvQIcIa8YX9uUj-WIdZ9gxGSPtg/s1600/Academy+Mammoth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1064" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2g6tAq8xFSuz8L5XRcD9MAFFHHXIzGt-lZWODRmmg6TnWM-vHqivyPxeVLxcBAArl1OlSYjzchc6WTMDob-47sER-WZKWRiUu7R0vEKECciznvQIcIa8YX9uUj-WIdZ9gxGSPtg/s320/Academy+Mammoth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">Tilesius' incorrect tusk placement confirmed by </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Körber.</span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The idea that the hair on the mammoth should be in the
form of a mane, rather than equally distributed about the body, comes from
Adams. Adams described the mammoth, when he first viewed it, as having "a
long mane on the neck." By the time Adams reached St. Petersburg, all of
the hair had fallen off of the skin. Since Adams says most of the hair had
fallen off by the time he reached the mammoth, it might be that the only hair
he saw still attached was around the neck and shoulders. In any case, this was
another incorrect assumption that gained support from Körber's tale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Körber provided two other details about the mammoth's
appearance that were pure speculation and that turned out to be incorrect. The
"tail naked up to the end, which was covered with thick tufty hair"
is a nice detail that goes along with the lion-like mane. On Adams' mammoth,
the tail had been carried off by scavengers; its appearance was anybody's
guess. The "parchment-like, large, naked ears" are a convincing
detail that make his mammoth more elephant-like, specifically like an African
elephant, but badly suited to the Arctic. When Adams began excavating his
mammoth, most of the flesh and the skin of the head had been eaten by
scavengers. However, one side of the head was still buried and had preserved
its skin and ear. Adams mentioned only that ear was "furnished with a tuft
of fur." By the time the skin reached St. Petersburg, the ear had dried
out and was too damaged for Tilesius to draw any conclusions about its original
appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While all of these external details were corrected by
the early years of the twentieth century, Körber's imaginative description of
the contents of the mammoth's stomach is a important bit of misinformation that
persisted almost to this day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I had the stomach separated, and brought on one
side. It was well filled, and the contents instructive and well preserved. The
principal were young shoots of the fir and pine; a quantity of young fir-cones,
also in a chewed state, were mixed with the mass....</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can be fairly certain that Körber didn't set out to
fool the scientific community. His book was intended for young people with an
interest in science. Unfortunately, this one detail, taken as a scientific
observation, had consequences in several fields. At the time, discovering what
the mammoth ate was considered the most important evidence as to the
environment in which it lived. Naturalists were divided between those who
thought elephants in the Arctic meant Siberia had had a warm climate in the
recent past, and those who thought mammoths were adapted to the cold, meaning
Siberia's cold climate had never changed. The answer to that question had great
implications for understanding the nature of the mammoth, the nature of the ice
ages (still a new idea), and whether or not geological and climatological
conditions changed gradually or catastrophically.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As with the physical appearance of the mammoth,
Körber's speculation about the diet of the mammoth was based on solid science.
In one of the earliest attempts at debunking the Benkendorf story, Johann
Friedrich von Brandt pointed out that the description of the mammoth's diet
accorded very closely with his own research into woolly rhinoceroses. He went
on, rather testily, to accuse Körber with stealing his ideas on how mammoths
and rhinoceroses came to be frozen in Siberia. Ten years before Körber's book
came out, Brandt had published an extensive review of woolly rhino remains in
the Russian imperial collection and previous studies on them. Brandt had
examined the head of the first frozen woolly rhino discovered and observed:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have been so fortunate as to extract from
cavities in the molar teeth of the Wiljui rhinoceros a small quantity of its
half-chewed food, among which fragments of pine leaves, one-half of the seed of
a polygonaceous plant, and very minute portions of wood with porous cells (or
small fragments of coniferous wood), were still recognizable.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is very likely that Körber was aware of Brandt's
work. Brandt's first observations were published as a letter in the journal of
the Royal Prussian Academy in 1846 in German, Körber's native language. His
complete paper was published in the journal of the Russian academy. It was also
reported in one of the most influential geology books of the century, Sir
Charles Lyell's </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Principles of Geology</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, from the 1853 edition forward.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Besides Brandt, Körber had another source available to
him. In 1805, a mastodon skeleton was discovered in Virginia by workmen digging
a well. Word of the discovery made it to Bishop James Madison. In a letter to
Benjamin Smith Barton, Madison described the most important part of the
discovery:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is now no longer a question, whether the [mastodon]
was a herbivorous or carnivorous animal. Human industry has revealed a secret,
which the bosom of the earth had, in vain, attempted to conceal. In digging a
well, near a Salt-Lick, in Wythe-county, Virginia, after penetrating about five
feet and a half from the surface, the labourers struck upon the stomach of a
mammoth. The contents were in a state of perfect preservation, consisting of
half masticated reeds, twigs, and grass, or leaves. There could be no
deception; the substances were designated by obvious characters, which could
not be mistaken, and of which every one could judge; besides, the bones of the
animal lay around, and added a silent, but sure, confirmation.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Barton was an influential scientist in his own right
and the publisher of the Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal. Barton not
only published Bishop Madison's letter, he forwarded it to Baron Georges Cuvier
who quoted it in his </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles de quadrupèdes</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Like
Lyell's </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Geology</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Recherches </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">was an enormously influential book that went
through numerous editions. Even before the first edition of </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Recherches </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">was
published, American readers knew that the story was wrong. In 1809, Madison
wrote to several of the American journals that had published his letter to say
that his sources had exaggerated. It was true that the vegetable matter was
found inside the skeleton of the mastodon, but it was no different from the
vegetable matter in the soil surrounding the skeleton. Unfortunately, no one
thought to tell Cuvier and the misinformation was repeated in every edition of
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Recherches</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The story of the Benkendorf mammoth made it into
academic and popular science literature in the early 1860s, just a few years
after the publication of Körber's book. By the end of the century, some of the
details were so well established that they had could stand up against newer,
and more correct, data. A mammoth well enough preserved that it still had its
stomach matter intact wasn't discovered until 1901 when the Berezovka mammoth
was found. Otto Herz recovered thirty-five pounds of plant matter from the
mammoth's stomach and mouth, which turned out to be meadow grasses and not
conifers. This is an important distinction. Although elephants can eat almost
any plant matter, their teeth and guts are specialized as grazers—eaters</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> of
grasses and ground plants--not browsers--eaters of branches and leaves</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">like
mastodons and woolly rhinos. This is a huge distinction in defining what
mammoths were and what their environment was.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Because the Benkendorf story had so much prestige by
the beginning of the twentieth century, it was almost unchallengeable. When the
final analysis of the gut material recovered by Herz was published in 1914, the
author of the study, V. N. Sukachev, even before describing the grasses and
flowering herbs in its gut, almost apologetically wrote that his conclusions
gave "no particular reasons for distrusting Benkendorf's testimony."
The two diets continued side by side almost to the end of the twentieth century
creating confusion about the nature of the mammoth's habitat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How is it that the educated guesses in a children's
science book gained such credibility? For that, the responsibility lies with
two prestigious scientists who reprinted Körber's tale and by the weakness of the
efforts to debunk it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On 26 November 1842, twenty-seven year old Alexander
von Middendorff left St. Petersburg for Siberia. Middendorff had been hired by
the Academy of Sciences to investigate the phenomena of permafrost and conduct
a survey of the flora and fauna of the Taymyr Peninsula. His tiny expedition
included three other scientists, four Cossacks, and a Nenets interpreter. The
expedition was brutal—Middendorff suffered freezing, starving, and severe
depression—but ultimately was successful. Before returning to St. Petersburg,
Middendorff mounted a second expedition to the Sea of Okhotsk and ascended the
Amur River. Leaving one of his companions behind to continue gathering data in
Yakutsk, he returned to the capital in 1845 as something of a scientific
celebrity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alexander von Middendorff spent his entire life documenting everything he knew about Siberia. Was he too complete?</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Middendorff's letters from the field were published in
the journal of the Academy and a short report was written based on the letters.
The Emperor found the report quite interesting and gave all of the scientists
medals and pensions. There is no word whether the Cossacks or the interpreter
received any reward for their parts. Middendorff then settled down to write the
formal analysis of the data they had gathered. It took him thirty years. I'm
sure any graduate student will empathize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Middendorff found the remains of a mammoth while he
was on the Taymyr Peninsula and almost died getting back. Immediately upon
returning to St. Petersburg, he began to collect information about other
discoveries of mammoth carcasses. Lyell included some information from Middendorff
in the 1847 edition of his Geology. Middendorff wrote a long article on
mammoths in 1860 as a warm up to his official report on his own find. This
report appeared in 1867. Along with the details of his own find, Middendorff
included an historical survey of previous finds which included the entire
Benkendorf letter. This is the ultimate source of the transition of Körber's
tale from the realm of educational fiction into the realm of fact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It appears to me that Körber's tale came to
Middendoff's attention because of Brandt's debunking of it. Middendorff and
Brandt were colleagues and friends. At the same time Middendorff was writing
the volume of his researches that included his mammoth, Brandt published, in a
popular Russian magazine, an article on mammoths that concluded with his
debunking of Körber. Brandt was quite emphatic in his rejection of the
Benkendorf story: "[T]he whole story of Benkendorf is pure lie and
invention. The expedition to the Indigirka never took place and could not take
place because of the impenetrable masses of ice of the Arctic Ocean; Benkendorf
is a work of imagination."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If Middendorff learned of Körber's tale from Brandt,
he should also have known of Brandt's objections. For Middendorff, the most
telling evidence of the story's fictitious nature should have been the sheer
magnitude of Benkendorf's expedition. Middendorff's expedition to the Taymyr
was made up of a mere four scientists, four Cossacks, and an interpreter. The
idea that a fully crewed frigate with two steam cutters could have been rounded
the peninsula a mere three years later must have sounded to Middendorff like
fiction, and bad fiction at that. When Middendorff copied the Benkendorf letter
into his report, he added a warning to his readers that they shouldn't put too
much faith in the account:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Since we know the birthday of the enterprising
countryman of mine to whom we owe this extraordinary discovery, because we have
before us his life's story and the story of his expedition down to the minor
details, there would seem to be no doubt about this wonderful discovery. The
real and invented are so cheekily woven together here that it is worthy of a
place along side la Martiniere's fantasy of Novaya Zemlya [a famous seventeenth
century hoax] that persisted for so long. But I do not deprive my readers of
the pleasure of reading this.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is far from Brandt's uncompromising rejection of
the story. Middendorff went further in qualifying his rejection. Following the
account, he wrote:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We can only hope that at some time in the future
the author will publish this episode himself and describe many other adventures
and occurrences experiences seen by him during his travels in Siberia. We are
happy that at least a small grain from his rich store of information has come
down to us.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Middendorff implies that he thought that the
Benkendorf letter, as published, was a generously embellished account of a real
discovery though he, of all people, was in a position to have known better.
Regardless of what he may have thought, such nuance and his various caveats
were completely missed by later authors. Although Middendorff started out as an
unknown teacher on a small research expedition, the quality of the monographs
based on his research made him a well-respected authority within a very short
time after his return. Scientists all over Europe and the Americas eagerly
awaited new papers and carefully studied each one, though, in this case, not as
carefully as they should have.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Middendorff's reports were published in German and
have never been translated into English except in fragments used by English
speaking scientists in their own works. William Boyd Dawkins was one of those
scientists and the person most responsible for introducing Benkendorf to the
English-speaking world and for lending credibility to the story. Dawkins was an
influential British geologist who became involved in debates over the antiquity
of man, labor rights, and the channel tunnel. It was the first of those that
got him interested in mammoths. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">William Boyd Dawkins.</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In 1868, within a few months of Middendorff's
monograph on mammoths being published, Dawkins referred to it in an article
entitled "On the Range of the Mammoth" published in P<i>opular Science
Review</i>. Dawkins included almost the entire text of the Benkendorf letter (in
his own translation). He introduced the letter with "The fourth and by far
the most important discovery of a body is described by an eye-witness of its
resurrection; so valuable in its bearings that we translate it at some
length." Dawkins went on to emphasize the importance of the apocryphal
stomach contents:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This most graphic account affords a key for the
solution of several problems hitherto unknown. It is clear that the animal must
have been buried where it died, and that it was not transported from any place
further up stream, to the south, where the climate is comparatively temperate.
The presence of fir in the stomach proves that it fed on the vegetation which
is now found at the northern part of the woods as they join the low, desolate,
treeless, moss-covered tundra, in which the body lay buried—a fact that would
necessarily involve the conclusion that the climate of Siberia, in those
ancient days, differed but slightly from that of the present time. Before this
discovery the food of the Mammoth had not been known by direct evidence.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For the English-speaking world, this was the moment
that the genie escaped the bottle. Dawkins either didn't notice Middendorff's
qualifications or didn't understand their significance. Because Dawkins was a
scientist of some prominence, other scientists and writers felt safe in
following his lead. During the last part of the nineteenth century, dozens of
writers made reference to the Benkendorf mammoth on Dawkins' authority.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After 1868, the story of the Benkendorf mammoth took
off with a roar while attempts to debunk it, or even to make qualifications, as
Middendorff did, gained no traction whatsoever. Brandt's debunking was
published in a Russian language popular magazine and went almost entirely
unnoticed. It was mentioned in 1867 in the Bulletin de la Société impériale des
naturalistes de Moscou by Alexander Brandt, who wanted to assure his readers
that there was no feud between Middendorff and Johann Brandt, and again in 1958
by B. A. Tikhomirov. I know of no other reference to Brandt's debunking during
the intervening ninety-one years. Neither Middendorf nor Brandt made any
further efforts to correct the misinformation being spread. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There was nothing extraordinary about the paper on
mammoth extinction that Henry H. Howorth read at the 1869 meeting of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science. Howarth reviewed the
unanswered questions about the mammoth and its environment, and proposed a
catastrophic flood to account for both their extinction and the ice age (it was
a common belief, at the time, that the mammoths went extinct before the ice
age, not after). Howarth's flood theory was well within the mainstream of
British geological thought at the time. Over the next decade he established
himself as a solid figure in politics and as an historian. In the early 1880s,
however, he began to develop his flood ideas in a series of articles published
in <i>Geological Magazine</i>. In these, he took a more strident tone and denounced
the uniformist orthodoxy of the geological community and what he called
"the extreme Glacial views of [Louis] Agassiz." In 1887, he organized
his ideas into a book, <i>The Mammoth and the Flood</i>. Two other books on his
catastrophic ideas followed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Howorth did not believe the Benkendorf story. In the
first of his articles of the 1880s, Howorth revealed that he was familiar with
several pieces that referenced Benkendorf, but he ignored the story. In fact,
he went so far as to say, "I am not aware that the contents of the stomach
of any Siberian Mammoth have been hitherto examined." In an article in
1882, Howorth directly took on Benkendorf:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This notice has always seemed to me to be most
suspicious. ... I confess my suspicions were not allayed when I found
[Middendorff] had obtained it ... from a boy's book. ... It is very strange
that if genuine no accounts of this discovery should have reached the ears of
Baer or Brandt, Schmidt or Schrenck, who none of them mention it, and that it
should be first heard of in a popular book for boys in [1859].</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps the most important, and thus frustrating,
semi-debunking of Körber's story came in 1929. I. A. Tolmachoff's
"Carcasses of the Mammoth and Rhinoceros in Siberia" is a classic of
mammoth paleontology. In it, Tolmachoff described all of the finds of mammoths
with flesh still attached up to that date. His count of thirty-nine is still
sometimes repeated, as is his map of their locations. My research brings the
count up to about seventy-five after deducting the four rhinoceroses in his
original count. Tolmachoff tells the story in detail, but is firm in his
rejection of it, saying "Howorth quite correctly considers it a fiction.
... Such an expedition never took place to this part of Siberia. The first
steamer arrived to the Lena River only... in 1881." As often as Tolmachoff
has been read and cited, no one seems to have read beyond his first telling of
the story to catch is rejection of it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Russian scientist B.A. Tikhomirov tried to deal
with both the diet of misinformation and the Benkendorf story in an article
that was published in Russian in 1958 and in English in 1961. The title
"The Expedition That Never Was—Benkendorf's Expedition to the River
Indigirka" should be all that most people need to see to get the point.
Unfortunately, most people didn't see it. He was partly motivated by guilt. He
had cited the Benkendorf letter in an earlier paper and later discovered his
error by reading a paper by Brandt on the history of mammoth discoveries to 1866
with an unqualified rejection of the story. Following this revelation,
Tikhomirov went to the naval archives to confirm that Benkendorf's expedition
never happened. That there is no permission or budget recorded for it should
have provided the most definitive debunking possible for anyone familiar with
the Russian bureaucracy of the time (or an any bureaucracy of any country, for
that matter).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tikhomirov's paper arrived at what should have been a
great time to influence catastrophist narratives and their use of the frozen
mammoth. The fifties had begun to produce a bumper crop of catastrophists
citing frozen mammoths as proof of their theories. The greatest of these was
Immanuel Velikovsky, whose pinballing planets theory jammed all post ice age
history together into a couple thousand years in order to prove the Old
Testament. Charles Hapgood wanted the earth's crust to periodically, abruptly
change location with relation to the poles. Otto Muck though he could explain
the end of Atlantis by the strike of giant comet. The role of mammoths in these
ideas was that they should have lived in temperate forests, as Benkendorf's
diet indicated, and then been thrust into the Arctic and frozen according to
their preferred catastrophe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But, the year before Tikhomirov's paper appeared in a
scientific journal, a much more sensationalist article appeared in the American
popular press. Ivan T. Sanderson was a popular nature writer whose father had
been killed by an angry rhinoceros (a detail that has nothing to do with this
story). During the fifties, his focus gradually moved from topics like a nice
book on elephants to serious endorsement of abominable snowmen. In 1960, he
wrote an article that influences catastrophist narratives about mammoths to
this day: “Riddle of the Frozen Mammoths.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I'll leave Benkendorf here. In my next post. I want to
say a few words about Sanderson's article and one of his most infamous sources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-69152393658381208092017-08-31T20:34:00.000-07:002017-08-31T20:34:28.172-07:00This Is Going to Be So Fun<div class="MsoNormal">
This week the book was reviewed in <i><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/giants-in-the-earth-1503689898">The Wall Street Journal</a></i>.
The reviewer (Richard Conniff) takes a while to get to the book, preferring to
start with wondering who I am.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p><i>Discovering the Mammoth</i> is one of those books that make you
wonder about the author as much as about his topic. John J. McKay writes that
he got started with a single blog post aiming to establish "a chronology
of what was known about mammoths and when." Or rather, he got started
because he noticed, while indulging his "great love of conspiracy theories
and fringe ideas," that "lost history theories"—think Atlantis,
flood geology and rogue planets—" all used frozen mammoths as proof
positive of their ideas."</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>I've written about this before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the most popular contemporary catastrophist writers,
Graham Hancock, has just issued a call to his readers to help him on a new
project. He wants to know if anyone knows anything about mammoth discoveries,
specifically if they know anything about Alaska. Hmmm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do I know anything about mammoth discoveries? Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Am I familiar with catastrophist literature? Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Am I familiar with recent geological literature on the soils
in which late Pleistocene bones are found? Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And other relevant scientific literature? Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do I know anything about Alaska? Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, here's a question, should I invite Mr. Hancock to Alaska
so I can give him a tour of the places where mammoths are found and introduce
him to the experts? It would have to be on his dime, of course, and I would
reserve the rights to document the trip.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In any case, I plan to write about t his a lot.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-23554155525311309052017-08-12T21:27:00.002-07:002017-08-12T21:27:56.864-07:00The book is outAs of Tuesday, my book is officially out. Rush to your local bookseller and demand they sell you a copy. Get your friends and family to buy one. Badger your local library to acquire multiple copies. Donate one to your high school. Nag the school board to design a course based on it. I'm available for interviews. I'm available for signings. I'm available for lunch (if you're paying). Let's sell this thing.<br />
<br />
This is a huge milestone in my life. Actually, several milestones in several aspects of my life, but let me stick to the most obvious. This is a major punctuation point in that project. I came up with the idea, sold it to an agent, who sold it to a publisher, who helped me edit the final copy, which was printed, and officially came out Tuesday. Preordered copies were shipped and my friends have been reporting receiving them all week. Technically, the project isn't over. I need to help sell it; do interviews, readings, and signings; and possibly write some more related mammoth materials.<br />
<br />
This milestone is also a call to start a new project. I've written before how the book grew out of the idea for a single blog post, that became a series of blog posts, to a short book, to a dissertation. The two things I want to write now are the book I've wanted to write for thirty-five years--my history of the aftermath of WWI--and the other is another blog post gone out of control--my interpretation of the psychology and history of American political partisanship. Both have contemporary relevance.<br />
<br />
The WWI book is coming up against marketable centennials. This will be an easier book to write. I've not only been thinking about it for over half of my life, it's the field of history that I specialized in during grad school. I own over a hundred books relevant to the topic. Unfortunately, the books are all in storage in Washington while I'm stuck in Alaska.<br />
<br />
The book on recent partisanship in American politics, is something I've started over and over again as a blog post. I always get stuck at the point where I want to start citing sources. This is where my mammoth book got out of control. Tracking down things I've read over the last twenty years, just for a long-read blog-post that fewer than fifty people will finish was too discouraging to contemplate. It would make a great magazine piece, but I doubt my mammoth book alone is enough credentials sell the idea.<br />
<br />
I'm also tempted to drag out some of my other abandoned, long blog-posts and try out publishing an e-book just for the experience. Unfortunately, many of those posts are on a hard-drive, stored with my books over a thousand miles away.<br />
<br />
Decisions. Decisions.<br />
<br />
<b>PS</b> <b>--</b> Buy my book.<br />
<br />
<b>PPS --</b> I suppose this means I should go back to talking about politics and things unrelated to the book.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-63926633613122876392017-07-24T17:02:00.001-07:002017-07-24T17:02:07.833-07:00A blues mitzvaLately, I've been riding the bus into different parts of town running errands and getting back in touch with my bus rider roots. This morning a cruise ship docked in town so, not only did each segment of my voyages have its own unique flavor, each one was spiced by the addition of curious outsiders surrounded by volunteer tour-guides of every race, age, and degree of sobriety helping (or hindering) them on the way to their destinations. This got me thinking about bus adventures I might not have told since I returned to Alaska. This one is especially for Anthea Rutherford but I can think of many others who will appreciate it.<br />
<br />
While house and animal sitting for sister number one, I was returning home from a doctor's appointment via the store. The young man in the seat behind me was telling a friend on the phone about a concert he had seen over the weekend. Since I can't afford to go out, I never know whose been in town, but the kid's enthusiasm really drew me in.<br />
<br />
"They had this guy with them--I wish I could remember his name--he had white hair and he was really pale, like an albino. When they started to jam, he was the most incredible guitarist I've ever heard."<br />
<br />
He went on like this for several blocks. When he finally hung up, we were almost at my stop. U spun around in my seat: "That guy you heard, was he 'like an albino' or was he really an albino?"<br />
<br />
"I think he was really an albino."<br />
<br />
"Edgar Winter. His name is Edgar Winter." We were almost at my stop and I pulled the signal cord. "He has a brother named Johnny Winter, but he's been too sick to tour lately. I'm sure it was Edgar."<br />
<br />
The bus came to a stop. As I headed for the door, I walked past him and said, "go to YouTube and look up 'Frankenstein'."<br />
<br />
He was typing as I went out the door.<br />
<br />
I think that counts as a blues mitzva.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXab9Bs2tEJTDF-VD7nxgwAWMAuiClXkWE8FwgroBZffmfWlIviHiTPvcGGXJXrU-SZJ3RQDMdyIKnzLOMjV0DOYNPDZcVUv1Y6dbyL7dBisu24f54fKWQaePpO745GyenZxf7/s1600/496px-EdgarWinter06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXab9Bs2tEJTDF-VD7nxgwAWMAuiClXkWE8FwgroBZffmfWlIviHiTPvcGGXJXrU-SZJ3RQDMdyIKnzLOMjV0DOYNPDZcVUv1Y6dbyL7dBisu24f54fKWQaePpO745GyenZxf7/s320/496px-EdgarWinter06.jpg" width="176" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Note:</b> Johnny Winter died a few weeks after that, but Edgar is still boogieing on.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-81105575525891498612017-07-15T21:36:00.001-07:002017-07-15T21:36:26.626-07:00And yet another<span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh look, here's another review. Barnes & Nobel has this one on their page for the book.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Library Journal</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When people first encountered the extinct mammoth remains, opinions varied on what these creatures were. In a thorough look at the beginning of paleontology, especially cultural influence and assumptions, technical writer McKay traces how people interpreted this mystery. The author organized centuries of sometimes messy findings into a coherent report spanning continents. History enthusiasts will appreciate learning how the mammoth and other discoveries were documented or lost. Shipwrecks, fire, and improper preservation destroyed evidence; inaccuracies in maps, sketches, and written descriptions impeded comprehension. Readers will find it humbling that the greatest minds of past centuries were adamantly wrong and will enjoy reading about their rationales: of course, it made sense to believe that mammoths lived underground and couldn't survive upon reaching the earth's surface. Similarly, those who held to a literal interpretation of the Bible assumed that the mammoth skulls belonged to giants who once roamed the land (the concept of a defunct species would have implied a flaw in God's design, a heretical thought).</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">VERDICT For those seeking a scholarly, straightforward examination of paleontology's origins and key players.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">—Elissa Cooper, Helen Plum Memorial Lib., Lombard, IL</span></blockquote>
Damn, this is fun.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-74520104842427518682017-07-12T15:42:00.000-07:002017-07-12T15:47:07.748-07:00Another reviewToday, I have a review on <i><a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/Discovering-the-Mammoth-A-Tale-of-Giants-Unicorns-Ivory-and-the-Birth-of-a-New-Science-John-J-McKay/pid=8903873">Booklist Online</a></i>. It will also go out in their weekly news letter. It's recommended both for adults and teens. Since it's behind a subscription wall, I'll quote the whole thing here:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Discovering the Mammoth: A Tale of Giants, Unicorns, Ivory, and the Birth of a New Science.
</i>McKay, John J. (Author)
Aug 2017. 256 p. Pegasus, hardcover, $27.95. (9781681774244). 569.6. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Humans and mammoths coexisted until 10,000 years ago, but in the intervening years, humans lost that
knowledge, even though they continued to find mammoth bones and trade in their ivory. In the
seventeenth century, the recovery of teeth and bones of giant land mammals validated, for some, the
existence of the mythical creatures described in the Christian Bible and local folklore until a modern
elephant skeleton was first seen in Europe, and observational connections were made. But how could
elephants, hot-weather animals, have gotten to North America and Europe? The great deluge described in
the Bible was one explanation. Giant bones from a similar time frame were found in North America.
Russian expeditions to map routes to Asia led explorers through some of the most fertile areas for
mammoth ivory and bones. A nearly complete mammoth found in Siberian glacial ice helped to fill gaps in
scientific knowledge and place this extinct species in the animal kingdom. McKay masterfully weaves an
intricate story of the events, politics, people, and scientific development associated with the “rediscovery”
of mammoths.
— Dan Kaplan</blockquote>
Heh. "Masterfully."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-53584759950027816972017-07-11T15:01:00.002-07:002017-07-12T15:42:27.217-07:00Book updateThe book has been printed. The printer started shipping to wholesalers last week. It should finally work it's way into your local bookstore the first week in August.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the British science journal, <i>Nature</i>, is planning to review it and the <i>Christian Science Monitor</i> will be interviewing me for their review page.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-62163242033700421322017-07-01T18:24:00.001-07:002017-07-01T18:24:01.587-07:00My answer to a Quora question:<br />
<br />
History is a useful narrative constructed from what we know about the past. Let me unpack that bit by bit.<br />
<br />
"History is a ... narrative..." History is not an accurate reproduction of the past and it is not all of the facts. History is a story (as the word indicates). We know he names and home towns all of the soldiers involved in D-Day. We know what many of them ate that day. We know the technical specs of their weapons, who designed, and who manufactured them. We know the logistics of getting them to the beach, the support efforts, and the casualties. To wrote a history of that day, the historian has to pick and choose through all of the raw data--the facts--to decide what is necessary to tell the story they want to tell.<br />
<br />
"History is ... useful..." No historian is completely random in picking their narrative. Again, look at military history. A narrative based on the same data/facts might describe a glorious victory, a unredeemed tragedy, or illustrate some aspect of the human condition. Facts and interpretation are two different things. This is why conservatives get so upset about how history is taught in the schools. Each new generation of historians reinterprets the same facts in the light of their experiences. Conservatives want history to be carved in stone. Facts are facts. History isn't facts; history is interpretation of facts.<br />
<br />
"History is ... constructed from what we know..." We can't know everything. This is obvious in the far past where we take every tiny data point and try to squeeze as much information as we can from it. Every decade or so we have an earthshaking discovery in ancient history. Here is a city that dominated this trade route for three centuries and this changes everything we thought we knew about the cities on either end of that trade route. Even in something as information rich as the D-Day example, there is an enormous amount we don't know. What were the conversations that led to important decisions. Who knew what and when did they now it.<br />
<br />
It's an historian's cliche to refer to history as a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces, and no box to show us what the picture should look like, and no edge pieces, and a few handfuls of pieces from other puzzles added, and a hyperactive cat in the house, and half the pieces are wet... and that's why we love it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-47044150289386788722017-06-29T16:09:00.000-07:002017-06-29T16:09:07.597-07:00To my journalist and media savvy friends<div>
This is an expanded version of something I just put on Facebook. Most of my Facebook friends know I currently live in Anchorage, Alaska. I hope here to get some advice from a wider audience.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUr5Dg04yl4fiQDy1VH1PJx6Qv3mj90uOvRBj09f9AyO2C-SmAmxi1ScMa5UH8fAn9z7QtrhIKdRkttBvVhjYDlMqpbyvumnJlRr8JDgYpDRT5IK7AFj1aSpry2Hx1Ga9G80dm/s1600/Boltunovs+mammoth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="532" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUr5Dg04yl4fiQDy1VH1PJx6Qv3mj90uOvRBj09f9AyO2C-SmAmxi1ScMa5UH8fAn9z7QtrhIKdRkttBvVhjYDlMqpbyvumnJlRr8JDgYpDRT5IK7AFj1aSpry2Hx1Ga9G80dm/s320/Boltunovs+mammoth.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Here's a gratuitous mammoth picture so you'll stop and read the post.</b></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My mammoth book comes out in six weeks. I need to do what I can to help promote it. My publisher is sending out review copies to some science magazines. I'm thinking more local. Who should I point them to at <i>Alaska Dispatch News</i> for a review? Would any of the columnists be interested in a local author piece (this goes for the whole northwest. I lived in Seattle for twenty-five years)? What about readings and signings now that Titlewave (the main independent bookstore in Anchorage) is no longer selling new books? Podcasts (can be anywhere, not just Anchorage)? Any ideas for local opportunities or further afoot? Events at museums or guest lectures for paleontology classes?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm trying to find some way to move back to the Seattle area. If I do get back, I'd love to arrange events at Elliott Bay Books (where I used to work), the University Bookstore, Powells in Portland, and all points between. Maybe <i>Seattle Times</i> or other regional papers would be interested? Again, does anyone know who would be the best person to query? Bigger papers get lots of unsolicited books to review; as with everything, a contact is infinitely better than a cold call.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>PS</b> - As a writer, I am available to write "what this latest discovery means" pieces. I'm also open to mentoring on how to sell such stories. If you're a writer with experience at this, teaching me would be good exposure (#PleaseDontHurtMe).</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-2858312360362723522017-06-12T12:58:00.000-07:002017-06-12T12:58:38.965-07:00We have a review!<i>Publisher's Weekly</i>, the trade journal of the publishing industry, chose the <i>Discovering the Mammoth</i> to be reviewed this week. They can only review a fraction of the new books each week, so I think this is a good sign.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPaM4QnH6cWYB895ljWhYdOG05K7-UO2v5yiTHMoLODfZB_pjMpS6Fkm0sAD-uhiFzhX58PK811gDhyphenhyphenJDCIiqgA-QQmZ0rAwvf06J1LlsnAsdbprvJqqKQ3041F-hj0qeKdU_2w/s1600/Discovering+the+Mammoth+PW+review.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="271" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPaM4QnH6cWYB895ljWhYdOG05K7-UO2v5yiTHMoLODfZB_pjMpS6Fkm0sAD-uhiFzhX58PK811gDhyphenhyphenJDCIiqgA-QQmZ0rAwvf06J1LlsnAsdbprvJqqKQ3041F-hj0qeKdU_2w/s640/Discovering+the+Mammoth+PW+review.png" width="202" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-2515823738947978522017-05-15T20:00:00.000-07:002017-05-15T20:03:07.536-07:00It's meI don't usually post pictures of myself online. None of my social media avatars are pictures. But, the publisher needed a dust jacket photo, so I may as well share it. After all, it's going to be printed by the millions when my book becomes an international, runaway bestseller.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMi8fBzPyn-EiTSS_wEALYiiEH30iY7kVV__QpZykr6t81C6VbeG2_uZbnkBxzAj3l8DFfdM5bR7O-WrKoDOuyEA99RyDqILGzEXVAkD6bp2uarzeqKOP3ksdnlQF8gcRPj9hF/s1600/McKay+author+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMi8fBzPyn-EiTSS_wEALYiiEH30iY7kVV__QpZykr6t81C6VbeG2_uZbnkBxzAj3l8DFfdM5bR7O-WrKoDOuyEA99RyDqILGzEXVAkD6bp2uarzeqKOP3ksdnlQF8gcRPj9hF/s320/McKay+author+color.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-43437061174828702692017-02-25T11:49:00.000-08:002017-02-25T11:49:00.336-08:00I've been blocked<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">My accomplishment of the day. He can dish out cold-hearted sneers all day, but remind him of his dog-murdering son and he turns all mushy.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn09MsiFgbjHdpUsWBYU_nvhUiPGULyfS8xEtA68i42YCw9iZV8iYKcuJLsaMY4QkimDKABJ1ZpuKjyD7Mo7tRL8yZd2S5gRHjh4fKpoQGIHBGirvuL12unvbQBPbJd6SKOM1/s1600/Huckster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn09MsiFgbjHdpUsWBYU_nvhUiPGULyfS8xEtA68i42YCw9iZV8iYKcuJLsaMY4QkimDKABJ1ZpuKjyD7Mo7tRL8yZd2S5gRHjh4fKpoQGIHBGirvuL12unvbQBPbJd6SKOM1/s320/Huckster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194421.post-16341974803580393482017-02-21T17:37:00.000-08:002017-02-21T17:37:09.937-08:00Book updateLast night, at around midnight, I finished the last revisions on my book and shipped it off to publisher. My editor will be taking it to the London Book Fair next month. She also told me Nature has requested a review copy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2