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Chapter #397: The Ukraine War Explained - 2025 - January 1, 2025


Fodor's Complete Guide to the Soviet Union - 1988-2025

In 1948, English author George Orwell authored his dystopian novel and cautionary tale, “1984.” Thematically, it focuses on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repression of people and behaviors within society. Set in the future thirty-six years hence, it presaged conditions in the Soviet Union, which was then only twenty-two years old. In the Stalinist era, which lasted until 1953, every horror of Orwell’s imagination had come true for the citizens of the Soviet Union (USSR).

The Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Cold War, fell in November 1989. By 1991, the old Soviet Union was in complete collapse. The German Democratic Republic, also known as Eastern Germany, also demised. The Federal Republic of Germany then took full control over both West and East Germany. In Russia, there was an incipient spate democracy. An opening to western ideas, institutions and trade gave great hope to the people of the former Soviet republics. There was a rapid rise in health, wealth, and the general standard of living throughout the former Soviet Union.

Soviet era Russian Doll, with a broken gong inside - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)On December 31, 1999, following the resignation of President Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin became Acting President. He was first elected President of Russia on March 26, 2000, and then re-elected in 2004, 2012, 2018, and 2024. In 2005, Putin told his nation that the collapse of the Soviet empire “was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” Secretly and then more openly as time passed, he sought to reconstitute Russia as a world power. His plan was to regain hegemony over all lands that had ever been under Russian control. Under his direction, Russia conducted warfare in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria, to name a few.

In February 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, then and now an internationally recognized region of Ukraine. In March 2014, Russia officially annexed Crimea. Eight years later, on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, proper, with the goal of reintegrating the entire country as part of Russia. By November of 2024, Russia had gained significant territory, but had lost almost 750,000 men, killed, wounded, or captured. Some analysts put the casualty total closer to one million. The Russian economy was in tatters, with the exchange rate between the Russian ruble and the U.S. dollar falling below one hundred to one. In other words, the Russian ruble was worth less than one U.S. cent.

British actor Anya Major played the title role in Elton John's video, Nakita" - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)On June 27, 2024, the U.S. State Department, issued a travel advisory, which said, in part, “Do not travel to Russia due to the consequences of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces. U.S. citizens may face harassment or detention by Russian security officials, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, limited flights into and out of Russia, and the possibility of terrorism. The U.S. Embassy has limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia.”

Ironically, well before the 1989 fall of the Soviet Union, travel to many parts of the USSR were open to U.S. and European travelers. Although the Beatles never played in the Soviet Union, Elton John received a visa and became the first “out-and-out rock artist” to play there. Sir Elton’s 1985 album, “Ice on Fire” featured the song, Nikita. In the accompanying video, English athlete, actor, and model Anya Major played the role of a beautiful female Russian soldier.

Athlete Anya Major prepares to throw a sledge hammer in the Ridley Scott directed Apple TV ad titled "Big Brother" in 1984 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)Wearing white tank-top and red shorts it is Major who hammer-throws the sledgehammer into the screen of Big Brother in Apple's famous 1984 Macintosh commercial. The unidentified “Big Brother” in the Ridley Scott directed commercial was not the Soviet Union. Rather, it was tech entrepreneur Bill Gates. His company, Microsoft, then held the dominant operating system in the emerging personal computer field. Steve Jobs of Apple fame had commissioned the television commercial as a rallying cry against the perceived tyranny of Microsoft. Orwell, himself died in 1950, so no one knows what he might have thought about themes in his seminal book appearing as black comedy in a later television commercial. My guess is that he would have appreciated the irony.

The travel guide known as Fodor’s issued its “Fodor’s Soviet Union 1988” in English, targeted toward Western travelers. Among other sections, it featured “Ukraine and Moldova – Breadbasket of the USSR.” and “The Crimea and the Black Sea – From Odessa to Batumi.” One example of travel opportunities available to Westerners in 1988, included Ukraine’s regional capital of Kherson. In 1988, Fodor’s said, “Kherson is your final stop on the Dnieper River. Founded as a fortress in 1788, it is both a river and a seaport. From here you can visit the new town of Novaya Lakovka and see the Kakhovka Dam and its hydraulic power plant. This is where you leave the Dnieper River, but you can take a 300-seat hydrofoil to Odessa, which is only two hours’ ride.”

A small section of the former "Berlin Wall" on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)In 1991, Ukraine declared independence from the USSR. Although uncontested at that time, in 1996 Ukraine agreed to return its entire nuclear arsenal to Russia, including an estimated 1,900 strategic warheads, 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles, and forty-four strategic bombers. In exchange for receiving the third most potent nuclear arsenal in the world, Russia offered debt forgiveness, plus economic and security assurances to Ukraine.

In March 2022, early in the invasion of Ukraine, Kherson fell to Russian forces, without a fight. The fall of Kherson was due to treachery on the part of several local officials. On November 11, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrested control and liberated the city of Kherson from Russian control.

In the early hours of June 6, 2023, the Kakhovka Dam failed, causing extensive flooding along the lower Dnieper River. At that time, the dam was under the control of the Russian military, which had seized it in the early days of the conflict. Although Russian authorities have denied the accusation, many experts agree that Russian forces blew up a segment of the dam to hinder a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive. What resulted was an environmental and human disaster. Hundreds were killed, along with the flooding of towns and agricultural fields.

Cold War rocket test stands at the old Rocketdyne facility near Simi Valley, California and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)Because of its proximity to the active war front, Kherson remains vulnerable to Russian artillery, drone, and missile attacks. For example, on October 1, 2024, Reuters reported that "six people were killed when Russian forces struck the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Another six people were wounded in the artillery strike on a central bus stop, prosecutors said in a statement. Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the strike also hit a central market while residents were shopping." On December 30, 2024, Russian troops shelled thirty settlements in the Kherson region. One person was killed and four were injured, as reported by Prokudin.

In 1988, westerners could travel to the U.S.S.R without fear of harassment or intimidation, and many did. Although the country was not free by Western standards, it was accessible. After 1989, the country was still not a place of free expression, but western tourism and investment were welcome. Western corporations and banking enterprises flocked to Russia and its former vassal states. With a combined total population of 290 million inhabitants, the importation of Western goods and services set off a period of great economic growth.

Decommissioned Cold War era missiles on display at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)In 2014, with the invasion of Crimea, the international political and financial climate soured. Several Russian companies and individuals were sanctioned, but there was no military response from the Western powers. Russian natural gas and oil continued to flow
unabated to Western Europe. Until April 2023, contracts between Russian oil companies and their U.S. counterparts allowed Russian oil deliveries to California refineries. U.S. producer Phillips 66 plans to idle its 139-Mb/d Los Angeles Refinery in late 2025. Although unstated in official announcements, loss of crude oil supplies from Russia was a major factor in reduced output and profits at the refinery.

In an unexpected diplomatic turnabout, on July 18, 2019, the Donald J. Trump administration withheld $250 million of U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Seven days later, President Trump conducted a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which he asked Zelensky to collaborate with his then lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and U.S. Attorney General William Barr. During the call, Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate Ukrainian business dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

A rare Soviet era Peps-Cola, with its contents intact in January 2025 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)By December 2019, after a formal House of Representatives inquiry found that he had solicited foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump's first of two impeachments took place. He was accused of seeking Russian help in his re-election bid and then obstructing the inquiry itself by telling his administration officials to ignore subpoenas for documents and testimony.

The February 2022 the Russian “Special Military Operation” intended to take all of Ukraine under Russian control launched with a thirty mile traffic jam of Russian military equipment. According to reports at the time, the operation was expected to last between three and ten days. Today, as I author this article, we have passed the 1,000th day of an all out and illegal war against the country and people of Ukraine.

I think back now to how naive many Westerners were and continue to be about the threat that Russia represents to world order. In 1988, I could have booked flights, hotels, and an excursion on a 300-hundred seat hydrofoil in Soviet dominated Ukraine. Today, U.S. travel and commerce within Russia or a simple tourist visa to Ukraine are not an option. For as long as the current Czar of Russia rules, he will continue his illegal war in Ukraine. The only person for which the war remains necessary is Mr. Putin, himself.

Slava Ukraini.

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By James McGillis at 03:35 PM | Travel | Link


Chapter #396: Moab, Utah - Gemini Bridges 2006 - September 8, 2024


A thunderstorm gathering over the Gemini Bridges Road in 2006 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)

Moab Memories - The Gemini Bridges Road 2006

September 26, 2006 - Despite the threat of rain between Dead Horse Point and the La Sal Range in Moab, Utah, we decided to head home via the back-country road past Gemini Bridges. On paper, it would be a shortcut, but in reality, it was a real challenge. In those days, I thought my Nissan Titan truck could tackle any four-wheel drive road. One road was as good as another, or so I thought. I have since learned that nothing could be further from the truth. Some tracks are good for a full-sized truck, others for only a Jeep. As the roughness of a road increases, it takes a specialized rig or even a motorcycle to conquer The Gemini Bridges are spectacular, yet hard to photograph, since the trail approaches from above - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)some paths. As the afternoon wore on into twilight, we learned that this was a road fit for specialized vehicles not for a normal light duty 4X4 truck.

Identified on maps as the Gemini Bridges Road, those romantic sounding land-forms became the object of our attention. The road down from the high plateau at Dead Horse Point started smooth enough. The easy trail lulled us into thinking that this would be an easy jaunt. Soon enough, we spotted signs identifying the Gemini Bridges, just a bit to the east of our dirt track. As we approached the bridges, we could see that rampant use of four-wheel drive vehicles and motorcycles had torn up the land and created a dead zone of denuded rock. All safety barriers and informational signage had fallen prey to marauders.

In the wild, an arch is a continuous sweep of stone that allows passage beneath. A bridge is similar, but requires that a watercourse, either seasonal or permanent, flow
"The Serpent", a stone land-form guards the upper canyon leading to Gooney Bird Rock - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)beneath the land-form. The twin rock bridges (hence the moniker Gemini) are hard to photograph from up top, where the trail led us. In the accompanying photo, I am standing on the first bridge, shooting down through the arch of the second bridge and the dry watercourse below. If you visit there, watch your step.

After visiting the bridges, we realized that the light was fading, and that rain threatened. Still, the topography was so fascinating; we stopped often to capture photos in the late afternoon light. Strange, anthropomorphic shapes seemed to arise from the rocks. Far below us, standing in the late afternoon sunlight, was an enormous stone bird, standing erect by the trail. In the photo below, you can see it standing out against the landscape. More about "him" soon.

Guarding the lower reaches of the canyon was a cold-blooded looking serpent. Standing vertically against one wall of the canyon into which we were descending, it stood as a warning of the rough road ahead. By that time, we were traveling downstream in a long dry wash. Having heard stories of thunderstorms above creating flash floods in such canyons, we began to hurry
Gooney Bird Rock is a unique land-form along the Gemini Bridges Road near Moab, Utah - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)along. Hurrying there was a relative term, since the terrain became rockier and harder to pass.

Soon we came upon what we later learned is “Gooney Bird Rock.” He, for I assumed it was a “he” himself, guarded the lower canyon. In all my research no one has mentioned how tall the Bird is, but he appears to be about 150 feet tall. Later, I learned that it is legal to climb this iconic piece of Wingate sandstone. With the over-climbed demise of the once famous Cobra, farther up the Colorado River, I am amazed that Gooney Bird Rock has not received proper protection from hordes of climbers.

Regardless of erosion and lack of protection, Gooney Bird Rock was a remarkable sight. As the late September sun shone upon its full height, the colors of the sandstone and the filtered light of the sun combined to make him glow in ethereal tones. Realizing that our own light would soon fail, we headed down the trail toward the highway far below.

As I have said before, scale is hard to judge in the canyons. As the Sun set, A Jeep speeds up the Gemini Bridges Road near Moab, Utah in 2006 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)three Jeeps roared by, heading up canyon. Here, in the adjacent photo, the first Jeep is climbing the roughest and the steepest part of the road. To our astonishment, the Jeeps headed up trail as if on a Sunday drive. In 2006, Jeeps were smaller and simpler than the ones we now see in 2024. Those earlier models could easily glide over rough terrain and the small obstacles of the Gemini Bridges Road. In fact, Moab has been the proving grounds for new Jeep models for many years.

When the Sun finally set, the canyons became dark, and photography became secondary to getting safely down to the highway. Near the end of the trail, the road hugged the side of a rocky mountainside, clinging to a narrow rock-ledge. When I say “rock,” there was not a spec of soil or sand to drive upon. Only the shape of a single-track trail was discernible in the headlights of my truck. Since
Fading sunlight at the Gemini Bridges Road near Moab, Utah in 2006 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)there was no turnout, we hoped not to meet any late arrivals traveling up canyon.

After an arduous end to what we thought would be a simple jaunt, we finally approached the gathering point near the railroad tracks at Seven Mile Canyon. By then, twilight had faded behind the massive redrocks canyon walls. By the time we started on the short highway trip back to the Moab Rim CamPark in Moab, nightfall surrounded us.

In those days, the Moab Pile was yet untouched by a massive removal project we now know as UMTRA. As such it completely hid the lights of Moab from our view. In 2024, the removal of the Moab Pile has once again created a full view of Moab as one passes by the entrance to Arches National Park.

The head of Gooney Bird Rock near Moab, Utah (https://jamemcgillis.com)From the red rock canyons near Moab, Utah in the year 2006, the Gooney Bird says, “Bye, bye.”

This is Part Two of a two-part article. To read Part One, click HERE.

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By James McGillis at 04:24 PM | | Link


Chapter #395: Moab, Utah - Dead Horse Point 2006 - September 8, 2024


Author, Moab Jim at Dead Horse Point, with Canyonlands and the La Sal Range in the background  2006 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)

Moab Memories - Dead Horse Point 2006

In the late summer of 2006, I moved my travel trailer from Kanab, Utah to Moab, Utah for a three month stay. At the time, Moab remained “undiscovered” by the hordes of motorized enthusiasts that now tear its out-lands asunder for the sheer pleasure of throwing dust, dirt, and plant life into the air. At that time, most visitors were hikers or bicyclists, with a lesser number of Jeep enthusiasts.

“Side by sides” and “quads” were yet to become the off-road vehicles of choice. Person-power prevailed over horsepower. At that time, no one had heard of an electric bicycle. Yes, there was running water, indoor plumbing, and electricity, but looking back eighteen years ago, Moab felt like it belonged at the turn of the twentieth century, not in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

At that time, wireless telephone and data services relied on the 2-G network, with occasional hints of 3-G speed, but only then during the early morning or late at
My Pioneer travel trailer at the Moab Rim CamPark in 2006 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)night. Since I was running my executive recruiting business from my travel trailer, I was sensitive to data usage. Each afternoon, as the outdoor enthusiasts returned to Moab and the number of emergency-calls for assistance skyrocketed, my computer wireless data would go from slow to zero connectivity.

After much diagnosis with my mobile phone and data provider, I discovered the truth. The entire City of Moab was running from a single wireless transmission tower, situated above the Sand Flats Recreation Area. Even in that era, before the release of the Apple iPhone in 2007, the use of mobile telephone and data networks was exploding, with the various providers falling far behind.

A New Mexico Forest Service Fire Crew heading out of Moab for a fire in Montana in 2015 - Click for full Crew picture (https://jamesmcgillis.com)Additionally, I learned that police and fire agencies took first priority, with mobile telephony in second place and my business lifeblood, mobile data a distant third in priority rankings. With my business connectivity curtailed as each afternoon wore on, I learned to start earlier and to go out and explore the land in the late afternoons.

Following are excerpts of what I wrote about our late afternoon wanderings around the redrocks areas just outside of Moab:

September 26, 2006 - Greetings from Moab Utah… The land of 4-Wheeling and off-road biking. We have been here for about three weeks and there is so much to see and do that we could spend months exploring and not see the same The Monitor and Merrimack Buttes seen from the vista point on Utah Highway 313 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)thing twice.

The first weekend, we set off for Dead Horse Point State Park. Legend has it that cowboys in the 19th Century herded wild mustangs there and then culled the herd, taking only the best. The less capable horses remained to die, corralled on a point overlooking the Colorado River, below. In today’s world, one dead horse might be acceptable, but for men to purposely leave herds of horses to die in the blazing hot desert was indeed cruel and unusual punishment.

After taking the turn from U.S. Highway 191, and on to Utah Highway 313, we were still on the way to the park. Looking for anything of interest, the first vista point held a Civil War battle scene. There, standing tall and proud in the A view of the Potash Ponds below and the Las Sal Range and thunder clouds above - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)desert were two sandstone buttes, resembling the first “ironclads,” the Monitor and the Merrimack (later known as the CSS Virginia). During the opening days of the U.S. Civil War, those two unique ships had fought to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads. The two buttes before us aptly conjured that epic battle, one hundred and forty-four years prior.

From Dead Horse Point itself, we could see no remnants of a corral, fencing or of dead horses. Utah has a way of cleaning up its history and prefers to present itself in the most positive historical context, regardless of the carnage that often occurred in its early days. The most egregious conduct occurred before Utah statehood in 1896. Instead of dead horses, we viewed the potash settling ponds far below and adjacent to the Colorado River. In my previous trip to Moab, in 1965, the potash ponds had not yet come to fruition, since in situ mining of potash in the area was then still to come.
A vast area of Canyonlands stretch to the horizon in this view from Dead Horse Point, near Moab, Utah - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)
The Colorado River itself hid from view in a nondescript trench at the bottom of the Anticline, which encompassed the vast area within our view. In the far distance was the La Sal Range, which remained dry and snow-less in early fall. In less than two weeks, the seasons would change, bringing autumn to canyon country and winter to those mountains.

Turning my camera to the south, you can see the Colorado River in the foreground. It flows to the right of the picture and circles around in what is known as an entrenched meander, or goose-neck. As the river cuts down into the rock, the land itself is uplifting, locking the river into its ever-deepening banks. From there, the river passes to the left in the middle ground of the picture and then again south into Canyonlands National "The Pyramid" is a natural landform, created by eons of erosion in Canyonlands National Park - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)Park. There, at what is known as The Confluence, the Colorado River joins the Green River, which has its origins in Wyoming.

Another shot, to the east, shows the vastness of the river canyon and an interesting pyramid, fooling our eyes, and making us think it was human made. Each layer of strata in this vast area was once an ocean bottom or a an alluvial plain. How, one wonders, could so much material erode from a once great plain and travel down the Colorado River to points south? Did it happen in a million years, or five hundred million years? I like the concept that it happened all in one thunderstorm of proportions unimaginable by today’s standards. As it traveled downstream, such a flood could well indeed cut the entire Grand Canyon in a single episode.

A California Condor soaring above Dead Horse Point State Park near Moab, Utah - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)While we were there, a great bird soared by, and I was able to catch it at full telephoto. I then zoomed in on the picture and cropped it to bring it in even closer. Was it a California Condor, far from its release point in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary or was it an Andean Condor on a hunting trip to the Northern Hemisphere? Either way, it was the largest bird I have ever seen on the wing. El Condor pasa.

This is Part One of a two-part article. To read Part Two, click HERE.

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By James McGillis at 02:28 PM | | Link


Chapter #394: Sliding Down Barham in a Beetle 1965 - August 21, 2024


Image from an original Endless Summer T-shirt, copyright Bruce Brown Films - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)

Sliding Down Barham Blvd. in a Beetle

The endless summer was over and we were back in school. One Friday evening in October 1965, a group of friends and I caravanned from Burbank to Hollywood. There, as underage youth, we could buy cigars without showing identification. The Wolf Bros. Crooks brand, with their, “Rum Soaked, Dipped in Wine” motto, were our favorites. With alcohol-soaked tobacco, we pretended that we were drinking and smoking at the same time; only our lack of access to alcohol kept us sober. That night, I rode shotgun in my friend and classmate Phil Plank’s Volkswagen Bug, which he called his “V-dub.”

The only separation from opposing traffic on Barham Boulevard consisted of a double white line. On the downhill ride toward Burbank, the slope ended at an intersection with Forrest Lawn Drive, better known to us as the River Road. On Wolf Bros. Crooks were the cigar of choice for underage smokers in the 1960s - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)our return trip from Hollywood, the road rose over a hill, and then descended, while acing slowly to the right for about a quarter mile. As Phil held his steering wheel to the right, the camber of the roadway sloped gently to the right, as well.

At Burbank Senior High School, we learned some basic laws of chemistry and physics. For instance, “Oil and water do not mix,” “An object in motion tends to stay in motion,” and “The heavy end of any object will try to lead the parade.” Pushing in the cigarette lighter at the top of the hill, Phil ignored all these laws.

As we crested Barham Boulevard, a slight drizzle began to fall. While waiting for the cigarette lighter to pop out, Phile reached down to tune in the AM radio and activate the windshield wipers. With our friend’s car ahead of us, Phil wanted good music and good visibility for his overtaking maneuver. In his exuberance to overtake, and in steadfast belief in his own immortality, Phil accelerated throughout the long downhill curve. Soon enough, all the laws of chemistry and physics came into play.

The Volkswagen Beetle, known to lose traction and swap ends in a light rain - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)After months of a Southern California drought, oil on the roadway glistened colorfully in the headlights of oncoming vehicles. The emulsion of oil and water on the roadway provided friction like a sheet of ice. As the tires lost traction on the road, I found myself looking straight into the headlights of an oncoming car. With its rear engine design, the V-dub tried to swap ends and thus lead the way with its engine-heavy tail. In a vain attempt to slow down, Phil slammed his foot down on the brake pedal.

As we swung once again towards oncoming traffic, I saw my Maker. Who would believe that God drove a 1958 Cadillac? With unwavering speed, the heavy Caddy struck our little Bug, making contact aft of our driver’s side door. Mercifully, the impact sent us back to our own side of the road. According to one witness, we swung around three times as we descended the hill. Facing uphill, windshield wipers still thumping, we stopped just short of the The 1958 Cadillac was built like a tank and ready to push any VW off the road - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)intersection at Forest Lawn Drive. Less than half a mile from our final resting place that night lay the largest cemetery in Los Angeles.

Staring straight ahead, with both of his hands still clutching the steering wheel, Phil sat in shock. A telltale splatter of blood on the windshield told me that the impact had caused his nose to hit the steering wheel. Still gripping the grab handle on the passenger side of the dashboard, I exclaimed, “Phil, we f---ed your whole car.” When I received nothing more than a blank stare from Phil, I After having his near death experience on Barham Blvd. in the 1960s, author Jim McGillis pauses to have refreshments with an old friend - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)got out and helped direct traffic around Phil and his badly broken Beetle.

The whole event took less than a minute. Although my life did not flash before my eyes, as events unfolded, I knew that my life might end at any moment. That I survived uninjured gave me a startling clarity that only such near-death experiences seem to bring. I was seventeen years old and blessed to be alive.

Excerpted from the 2018 Book, “True Tales of Burbank,” by Wesley H. Clark and the late Michael B. McDaniel (1956-2024). Both authors are Burbank High alumni.

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By James McGillis at 05:37 PM | Personal Articles | Link

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Black Mesa Coal - Water & Power
2013 - The Great Western Drought
Homolovi State Park, AZ - No Ruins
C.Proietto Paints at Lago Maggiore
American Bison Herd Threatened
I-40, Twin Arrows - Both Old & New
Simi Valley Brush Fire - Air Power
I-40: Highway Tax Dollars At Work
Kristi Frazier - World Citizen Award
Sierra Nevada, CA - 2013 Drought
Desolation Canyon Wilderness Area
The Holbrook Basin Potash Project
Moab - Revisit Seven Mile Canyon
Moab - Greater Canyonlands N.M.
Thomas Kinkade - Yosemite Valley
C.Proietto Paints Lugano, Gandria
Paso Robles, CA - Wine Adventure
Colorado River Dine & Unwind Moab
Kodiak 100 --> Moab Charter Flight
The True Cost of Mineral Extraction
Moab Truck - 1950 Chevy 3100
Disappearance --> Reemergence
Edward Abbey - His Spirit Returns
Edward Abbey - Monkey Wrenching
Edward Abbey - Lake Powell 1965
Edward Abbey - Desert Solitaire 65
A New Message From AAMikael
C.Proietto Paints Bad Kreuznach
New Jersey - The New Atlantis?
Moab - A Rare Beech B-45 (T-34A)
Howell Mountain, CA - Winemaking
Oakville, CA - Robt. Mondavi Wines
Crescent Junction, UT - in 1955
Craig Childs - Apocalyptic Planet
Mammoth Lakes, CA - 1st. Snowfall
Mesquite, NV - A Disappearing Act
The Mystery of Hovenweep Road
Moab Airport - Canyonlands Field
Moab, UT - Save Ken's Lake Puddle
Jeeps & Downtown Abbey in Moab
Moab Valley vs. Spanish Valley, UT
Moab, Utah - Go Behind the Rocks
Moab Adventure Xstream Race '12
Face on Mars - Is it John Lennon?
C.Proietto - Paints The Dolomites
Moab Tower - The Wireless Story
Brendel, Utah - A History Mystery
C.Proietto - New Mystery Painting
Tsunami Risks Up in Crescent Bays
"Moab Native" Potash Comments
C.Proietto - And The Glory of Rome
L.A. to Australia, by 34-ft. Sailboat
Interstate I-70 East through Utah
Mesquite, NV - Opportunity Lost?
Las Vegas, NV "Drive-by" - I-15N
Ivanpah Valley, CA - Mega-Solar
Pearblossom Hwy. - Palmdale Road
C.Proietto - Venice Sunset, Sunrise
24-Hours of Moab 2012 to Happen
C.Proietto - A Portrait of the Artist
AOL & Yahoo Mail Getting Hacked
ATM Retail Technology - New & Old
C.Proietto - Solving An Art Mystery
Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles, CA
Hollywood - To The Sign & Beyond
Hollywood - Legendary Paul Pink's
Kokopelli Credit Union - New ATM
#1 Google Ranking & How to Get It
C.Proietto - Two New Oil Paintings
LACoFD Truck 8 at Hollywood Bowl
I-405 Golden Crane Air Hazard
Beware: Hoax/Scam Phishing Sites
A Quantum Leap in Super PAC $$$
I-405 Mulholland Bridge Update
Moab Skydiving Video - May 2011
Tonopah Desert, AZ Thunderstorm
Anticline Overlook - Ancient Spirit
ATM Bank Robbery Now Easier Still
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Chaco Canyon - Kin Klizhin Sunset
Chaco Canyon - Kin Klizhin Ruin
Chaco Canyon, Spirit of Lizard Man
Chaco Canyon, NM - Campground
White Mesa, Utah - Uranium Mill
Hidden Costs in Biofuels Revealed
Arches National Park Threatened
Moab Rail - The U. P. Potash Local
Toxic Purple Dust Covers Moab, UT
U.S. Highway 191 in Moab, Utah
Kindle Fire Tablet vs. Nook Tablet
Ken's Lake 2011 Update, Moab, UT
24-Minutes of Moab Kids Bike Race
24-Hrs. of Moab, The Final Sunset?
24-Hours of Moab 2011 Race Start
24-Hrs. of Moab Race Live Webcam
The Long Run - Eagles Tribute Band
Petrified Forest, Going, Going, Gone
Nuclear Dust Storm Hits Moab, UT
Moab Rainbow - August 1, 2011
C.Proietto - The Man From Amalfi
I-405 UCLA Rampage - 11/22/66
Moab Rim RV Campark - 2011
C.Proietto Paints the Amalfi Coast
C.Proietto - Modern Impressionist
I-405 Mulholland Drive Bridge
Moab Pile - Countdown to Disaster
Wigwam Village - Holbrook, AZ
Kathy Hemenway - World Citizen
Desert View Mobil - Needles, CA
Mojave Desert Transit in May 2011
Colorado River Basin At Risk - Ch.4
Holbrook, AZ Water Crisis - Ch. 3
Holbrook Basin, AZ Potash - Ch. 2
Little Colorado River Basin - Ch. 1
Port Orford, Oregon - Tsunami
Hope for Atlantis - Chapter 4
Future of Atlantis - Chapter 3
The New Atlantis - Chapter 2
Atlantis, Myth or Fact? - Chapter 1
Kevin Rutherford - Freightliner RV
WindSong - Ericson 35 Sailboat
Moab Pile - The Mill Tailings Train
Moab Pile - Here Comes the Flood
24-Hours of Moab 2010 - The Race
24-Hours of Moab 2010 - The Start
24-Hours of Moab 2010 - Pre-Race
Moab, Utah - Winter Snowstorms
Happy New Decade - 2011
Save Ken's Lake, Moab, Utah 2010
UPS Air - Moab, Utah Style
Crescent Junction & Brendel, Utah
Green River to Floy, Utah - Video
Moab Ranch - The Movie & Webcam
An Oregon Cascades Range Sunset
The Port at Port Orford, Oregon
Two New MoabLive.com Webcams
Ave. of the Giants, Humboldt, CA
Port Orford, OR - Of Bears & Deer
Goodbye Arizona - We'll Miss You.
Port Orford, OR - A Forest Home
Sun, Moon and the Chakras of Gaia
2010 Super Bowl Advertising
Navajo National Monument Sunset
California Redwoods Elk Herd
A New Decade - The 2010's Begin
Moab - Could Floods Happen Here?
Spanish Valley, UT - Wine & Water
24 Hours of Moab Race - 2009
CA - Rainforest or Dustbowl?
Edward Abbey House, Moab, UT
Kayenta, AZ to Blanding, Utah
U.S. Highway 89 N. to Navajoland
Quartzsite - Black Canyon City, AZ
Simi Valley, CA to Quartzsite, AZ
Phoenix, Moab, The Grand Canyon
Colorado River - A New Challenge
Moab, Utah - The Shafer Trail
2009 - Moab Live Webcam Update
Moab, Utah - Potash Road, Part 2
Moab, Utah - Potash Road, Part 1
SITLA Deal Threatens Uintah Basin
Moab Wildfire Near Pack Creek, UT
Moab Ranch - Plasma Flow Event
Mill Creek Canyon Hike - Part Two
Mill Creek Canyon Hike - Part One
Memorial Day 2009, Burbank, CA
A Happy Ending for the Moab Pile?
The Old Spanish Trail - New Again
Mesquite, Nevada - Boom or Bust
Larry L. Maxam - An American Hero
Winter Camping in the Desert 2009
Theory of Everything - Part Four
Theory of Everything - Part Three
Theory of Everything - Part Two
Theory of Everything - Part One
Canyonlands Field, Moab, Utah
Access New Energy Now - 2008
The Four Corners States - Part 5
The Four Corners States - Part 4
The Four Corners States - Part 3
The Four Corners States - Part 2
The Four Corners States - Part 1
BC Buckaroos in Panama
Elton John T-shirt, Now Available
Arches National Park Threatened
BC Buckaroos Are Heading South
San Francisco, A New Energy City?
Seven Mile Canyon, Craig Childs
Matheson Wetlands Fire, Moab, UT
24-Hours of Moab Bike Race Finish
24-Hours at Moab Bike Race, Start
New York - The New Atlantis
Translate to Any Language Now
Marina del Rey, Summer Weekend
Seattle Shines in the Summertime
Oregon Battles With Itself - 2008
The Motor Yacht, Princess Mariana
Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park
The Mojave National Preserve, CA
Navajo National Monument, AZ
La Sal Mountains Loop Road, UT
The Moab Rim, Above and Below
Colorado Riverway Recreation, UT
Hovenweep - Twin Towers Standing
Aztec, New Mexico - Ancient Ruins
Kin Klizhin Ruin at Chaco Canyon
The Spirit of Pueblo Bonito, NM
Chaco Canyon, NM Sand and Rain
Homolovi Ruins State Park, AZ
Quartzsite-Salome-Wickenburg
ATM Bank Robbery Made Easy
Outstanding World Citizens, Fiji
Planning an Archetype Party
Sir Elton John - The Lost Concert
Start Writing Your Own Blog
My Unification Theory - 2008
Frito-Lay Beach-Trash Explosion
The Great Attractor, Revealed
Vibrational Thought & String Theory
The Long Run - Eagles Tribute Band
2006 Midterm Elections, Revisited
The Lost Murals of Denis O'Connor
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 10
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 9
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 8
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 7
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 6
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 5
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 4
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 3
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 2
Fiji Islands Paradise 2001 - Part 1
Save Natewa Bay, Fiji Islands
The Fiji Islands - Paradise Lost?
Face on Mars
How Water Helped Make The West
Yahoo! - Fighting Its Last Battle?
Helium Gas, Neither Earth nor Mars
Megatrend vs. Meganiche - 2007
German Hydrogen Bomb Ready
Passing The $100,000 Bill
Google Wins - Microsoft Withdraws
A.Word.A.Day, You Ought to Know
San Fernando Valley Winemaking
Divine Inspiration, Or Nearly So
Japanese Win The Space Race
2007 eCommerce - Made Easy
Discovering The Great Reflector
Navajo National Monument, Arizona
Moab, Utah Memories - 2007
Fall Color, Silverton, Colorado
Autumn Equinox in the Rockies
Hasta la Vista, Taos, New Mexico
Megatrends 2010 - The Book
The Quantum Leap, New Mexico
Chaco Canyon Memories 2007
Flame-Out in Phoenix, Arizona
Annals of Homeland Security '07
Quartzsite, AZ - RV Camping
The Quantum Leap Celebration
Welcome to my new weblog 2007!

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