Trick-or-Treat  for UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) is a 58-year Halloween tradition beloved by generations across America. This year, I am fundraising for UNICEF online and I hope you'll support me.

Last year, kids with their families, schools and communities raised more than $4.5 million dollars and over $140 million dollars to date.  I hope you will help me make this year a huge success too.

Here are some examples of how a little can go a long way:

• $5 can provide a box of 100 disposable syringes for use during immunization campaigns.
• $15 can buy one carton of high energy protein biscuits to support and rehabilitate three severely malnourished kids for 1 month.
• $44 can provide school supplies to 20 kids.

Below, you will find a link to my own UNICEF fundraising page. It takes seconds to make a donation, and you can give any amount, a small or bigf. Since it's easy to make an impact, I hope you'll support me in this important cause. Because every kid counts.

inside.unicefusa.org/goto/heimermann

Thank you,

Asher Heimermann
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
www.asherheimermann.com
www.twitter.com/aheimermann
www.facebook.com/aheimermann

73 y o ....a Full beautiful Life Lived.

David Carradine passed on to New Life Experiences & Opportunities.

Here's a link to one  Carradine website:

http://david-carradine.com/bio.html

Talk about a Balanced Human Being. Multi-Talented.

Like many of you, I grew up watching the Beloved one Wander & Transform those

around him, with gentle strength, a Bendable Palm in the Wind.

Dodging adversaries with swift counter-attacks.

   The role of Kwai Chang Caine was originally intended for Bruce Lee, however due

to the Rigidity of the Powers that BE,  in Hollywood at the time, [early '70s], there was an epidemic fear

that an Asian man, in a lead role, would not draw the ratings of a predominantly white

American audience.

Hence, David Carradine was given the lead role, and he honored it gracefully.

I remember the smoothness in the way D. C. would dismantle his sudden opposition, often

utilizing a style of Defense & Dodge tactics. Striking opponents with swift defensive

compassion & mercy. To see him move with such Artistic flexibility, as well as focus,

amazed me as a kid. A soul that surrenders, and bends with flexibility.

There is an Artistic Beauty that's apparent in Jeet Kune Do.

Mimicking the Fluidity of the movements of Asian Calligraphy.

An expression of writing I became familiar with in High School Art Class.

Learning the craft of jewelry making, how heat molds the metal, the

way cold clay felt as you applied water to it, spinning the clay to create my  first vase.

Heating it in the oven. The glaze.

The poetic hand movements of  East Asian Calligraphy, and the way the

 it synchronically parallels the artful dance of martial arts.

   Ever try to write with a paint brush?     You don't.

 You feel  the "characters" which are a language of the soul. The rhythm & the way you hold the paint brush.
However, I have come to appreciate the Logic of the English language and alphabet.

The Intuitive- slant of cursive penmanship. Look back at the careful penmanship of

our English ForeFathers, Thomas Jefferson & Ben Franklin, or Abraham Lincoln's

prose, in the Bixby Letter, or even some of your personal acquaintences who have

rather nice penmanship. Yet the expressions of the Eastern languages on paper

mulberry, hemp canvases and parchments fascinate me. Writing styles and

techniques used often in China, Japan, Korea, & Vietnam.

        The Abyss & Deep Blackness of the inks used, all these memories have resurfaced,

 the sensitive pressure on the hairs of the brush, appear quite vivid to me. Water

acting as the Eraser. Even in Junior High School, I loved the trips we used to take

outside in the time of  summer, sitting in a circle, free sketching trees, homes, streets, and each other.

At Milwaukee Tech, I had an art class, one of my favorite study hours.

At the tone of the bell, students would proceed to the next hour class.

I liked most of my classes, but when the Bell Tolled for Art Class.
I stepped into another dimension....

IMAGINATION.

Free roaming imagination. This was something I MASTERED as a little kid.

Here we explored the delicate craft of jewlrey making, molding of clay, and

calligraphy, free style sketching, charcoals, oil paints...etc.
..... and the greatest artform ever created,

...the  masterpiece known as the HUMAN PHYSICALITY. The Human Body.

It is here that I am in a Divine Place. Like Writing. Heaven on earth

....but I humbly compose myself daily.
This is the same teacher, who literally begged me on bended knee to take a career in

Commercial Arts. Commercial mainstream artistry. Creating the advertisements that fight for your attention in the grocery store aisle or on television commercials.

Anyways, I recall  the entire class of  students were required to  purchase  a sketch

book. We added a new entry input at the end of each week. Remember, I was a  painfully shy Black Kid

in an predominantly white High School.  One odd day, my teacher surprises me, by

doing something out of the ordinary.

In a moment of frustration from seeing another students sketch book compilation, 

my male art teacher grabs my sketch book in holds it UP with both hands in front of

the entire class.

And Triumphantly...

 Defiantly!.....Proclaiming....

"Now THIS is how a Sketch Book she BE!"

Black man turning Red again, Embarrassingly SWEET.

Art teacher spontaneity again....

another day he pulls me by the arm out of my chair, walks me to the CENTER of the

entire class, and hoists me on a desk, unto a chair.....

........Fox6Fan Becomes the ART FORM.

Ecstasy.

I remain still while the other classmates DRAW ME.

The Roads & Pathways of Life often take many sudden turns. Occasionally veering

completely off track.
I suppose that dream lives on in an Alternate Reality.
 These pleasant thoughts often bring me comfort & joy.

 Sears the Writer, Poet, the Logical Math Professor,

Computer Graphics designer, Movie Director, the Intuitive High School Art Teacher

....all experiences remain quite valid. Branching off into eternity.

Take for instance, a television news Anchor, who longs to have been a priest,  a left-handed

professional baseball pitcher, or politician/actor, or Tour de France bicyclist...etc.

"The passionate residue remains with the spirit or soul, as hobbies or recreational experiences."

I do not even draw anymore. Nor do I miss it. Or care to.

HOWEVER,   I continue to appreciate any fine piece of art, a tree, a bird, a star even.
Whether it's a chalice of red wine or Angelina Jolie,  a good book on a shelf

or even the ironic COMPLEX simplicity that IS life itself.
might  I add......I would have made a Superb Art Mentor in High School. Isn't that a

darn shame?

Hmm...

Oh well,  ya' know what Erykah Badu says,

.......maybe NEXT LIFETIME? Got thousands of 'em...

{wink&asmile)

Late Tuesday evening, my Grandpa passed away from cancer. Grandpa Joe Mahloch inspired me to to have an interest in golf and the law. He said that I would make a good attorney because I asked the tough questions. I wanted to share an article about my Grandpa.

Joseph F. Mahloch, age 52, of 10628 South Union Road, Newton, died late Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at his residence.

He was born January 4, 1957, in Manitowoc, son of the late John and Anna (Krizek) Mahloch.

Joseph was a graduate of Valders High School, Class of 1975, and recently graduated with honors from Lakeshore Technical College with an Associates Degree in Accounting.

On August 30, 1986, he married the former Bonnie Tyson in Cleveland.

Joseph was owner and operator of M & M Realty with his brother John, and most recently was employed with Tecumseh Power in New Holstein.

Survivors include his wife, Bonnie Mahloch, Newton; a son, a daughter, Sheboygan; three grandchildren, Asher Heimermann, Shawn King, Jonas Heimermann; four brothers and two sisters-in-law, Jerome Mahloch, Manitowoc, Jerald and Kay Mahloch, Cato, John and Jeanette Mahloch, Manitowoc, Jeff Mahloch, AZ; four sisters and three brothers-in-law, GA and Vern Kohlbeck, Manitowoc, Gen and Joe Dyzbalys, St. Nazianz, Karen and Dave Carstens, Manitowoc, Mary Mahloch, Mississippi; and a sister-in-law, Lila Mahloch, Manitowoc. Nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends also survive.

He was also preceded in death by a sister and brother-in-law, Carol and Bob Voss.

A Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 P.M. Monday, May 18, 2009, at The Pfeffer Funeral Home, Manitowoc. Officiating at the Service will be Deacon Paul Kieffer. Cremation has occurred at All-Care Cremation Center, Manitowoc, and Joseph will be laid to rest at a later date. The family will greet relatives and friends at The Pfeffer Funeral Home, Manitowoc, from 10:00 A.M. Monday, May 18, 2009, until the time of service at 1:00 P.M.

The family wishes to send a special thank you to the Cancer Care Center and Holy Family Hospice for their compassionate care and support given to Joseph and his family.

Joseph enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

www.asherheimermann.org/grandpa

Asher Heimermann is a teenager from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. You can learn more information about Heimermann by visiting his official website at www.asherheimermann.com or follow him day-to-day on Twitter at twitter.com/aheimermann.

The downturn in home prices has left about 20% of U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than their homes are worth, according to one new study, signaling additional challenges to the Obama administration’s efforts to stabilize the housing market.

The increase in the number of such “underwater” borrowers comes amid signs that falling prices are making homes more affordable for first-time buyers and others who have been shut out of the housing market. But falling prices also make it more difficult for homeowners who get into financial trouble to refinance or sell their homes, and for others to take advantage of lower interest rates.

For instance, fewer will qualify to take advantage of a key component of the Obama administration’s plan to stabilize the housing market. Under the plan, announced in February, as many as five million homeowners whose loans are owned or guaranteed by government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can refinance their mortgages, but only if the mortgage loan is a maximum of 105% of the home’s value.

Government officials are considering an increase in that limit. “It’s a question that we’re looking at,” said James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie.

Real-estate Web site Zillow.com said that overall, the number of borrowers who are underwater climbed to 20.4 million at the end of the first quarter from 16.3 million at the end of the fourth quarter. The latest figure represents 21.9% of all homeowners, according to Zillow, up from 17.6% in the fourth quarter and 14.3% in the third quarter.

“What’s going on here is that you don’t have any markets that have turned around and you have new markets, like Dallas, that have joined the ranks” of communities where home prices have fallen, said Stan Humphries, a Zillow.com vice president.

Borrowers who owe far more than their home is worth may also be less likely to participate in another part of the government’s housing plan, which provides incentives for mortgage companies to modify loans to make payments more affordable. Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist, said borrowers who owe 30% more than their homes are worth are far more likely to walk away from their property than those who owe just 5% or 10% more and expect prices to rebound. More than one in 10 borrowers with a mortgage owed 110% or more of their home’s value at the end of last year, according to First American CoreLogic.

There are some recent indications that the housing market could be beginning to stabilize. The National Association of Realtors pending home-sales index, for instance, increased 3.2% in March.

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Just how many borrowers are underwater is a matter of some dispute, with the answer depending in part on assumptions regarding home values and mortgage debt outstanding. Variations in home-price estimates can make a major difference in the number of borrowers who are underwater. In addition, borrowers who are already in the foreclosure process may be counted as being underwater if the title to their property hasn’t changed hands.

Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, said underwater estimates can be too high if they use price data that includes a large number of foreclosures. Foreclosed homes tend to sell at a discount, he said, making it appear that prices have fallen more than they actually have.

Moody’s Economy.com estimates that of 78.2 million owner-occupied single-family homes, 14.8 million borrowers, or 19%, owed more than their homes were worth at the end of the first quarter, up from 13.6 million at the end of last year.

Part of the reason Zillow’s numbers are higher may be that it looks at mortgage debt taken out at the time the home was purchased and doesn’t adjust for any payments since made toward the outstanding mortgage balance. It also assumes that borrowers who took out home-equity lines of credit at the time of purchase have fully tapped the amount they can borrow. That approach can overstate the portion of borrowers who are underwater, Mr. Zandi said.

Mr. Humphries of Zillow calls his methodology conservative and said Zillow’s use of pricing for individual homes provides a better measure of home valuations than Mr. Zandi’s approach, which relies on market-level estimates of home values. He adds that Zillow doesn’t include foreclosures in its pricing models.

Write to Ruth Simon at ruth.simon@wsj.com and James R. Hagerty at bob.hagerty@wsj.com

The H1N1 Viral Mutation

Pragmaticism:

"Use common sense and WASH your hands slowly."

Intuitively:

" Diseases are relative to the degree of Rigidity in the Mentality of the Individual."

Balance:

"Be FLexIBle enough to use common sense to wash your hands. All diseases begin in the innermind."

I am currently studying a Pesticide Book on Turf & Landscaping for
an upcoming License Exam,....on June 2ND. That's when i take the exam.

In order to apply pesticides in the state of Wisconsin one must be certified & licensed with the

WDATCP (Wisconsin Dept of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection)

Pesticides are any substance used to directly control pest populations. The active ingredient in the chemical compound is what destroys unwanted plants

There are Avicides(Birds) , Herbicides(Weeds), Fungicides(Fungi), and Rodenticides which are used to control the rodent population.
When utilized, there are deviations in the application, due to overspray & drifting caused by wind conditions and human error.

Not only does this harm the environmnent and humans, yet it affects every facet of life.

So although i will be certified, i will not apply, i need to know this stuff for my pay raise.....but the awareness you gain when you connect the dots is priceless. You see the struggle with humanity attempting to control nature.
The lessons in the book are invaluable indeed.

Here's the link to the invisible. The Flu strains. The H1N1 i will call it.

Pigs are being blamed for everything these days. <sigh!> My Poor Swines. I love pigs.

I tease. But i do love bacon.

Now here's the parallel. THERE ARE ALWAYS MUTATIONS

Roaches for instance.

Pesticide resistance is the inherited ability of a pest to tolerate the TOXIC effects of a particular pesticide.

In Pest Control, roaches have a tendency to MUTATE a STRAIN in their chromosome that becomes RESISTANCE to a particular pesticide application. That susceptible individual. Pests can develop multiple resistances as well.

This mutation benefits the organism.

In other words....the pesticide will FAIL to work any longer. The populational epidemic increases. Through evolution. So to compensate....certified pest applicators
continually diversify and become more flexible in the types of pesticides they apply. They use sprayers, powders, liquids, granules....also taking in consideration of frequency of pesticide use, amount, mixture, and chemical diversity.

Pesticide applicators learning to use FLExiBILity to their advantage. The roach population responds in check. Adaptation. Adjustment.

Now as this relates to the entire H1N1 mental scare.....BECAUSE WHAT YOU RESIST; PERSISTS....

....however speed of recovery and PHYSICAL healing is in DIRECT relation to the RIGIDITY that is clung to so deeply in the mind. Often these rigid ideas are spread from generation to generation, passed on through DNA.

Vaccinations producing resistance. And these are not always reliable. Because some viral intruders have mutated to overcome OLD FIREWALLS OF RESISTANCE.

Many "Rigid Thoughts" will be held on for unique reasons that are uniquely apparent to that particular SOUL

YET ALL DISEASES ARE CREATED IN THE MIND.

It is what YOU ALLOW TO ENTER YOUR MIND OR THAT WAS ALREADY THERE THAT CAUSED THE INITIAL UNALIGNMENT/IMBALANCE IN THINKING.

The outward manifestations just REFLECTS to you what was Obviously Happening Inward.

However flexibility is freedom. Healing and Resistance to outside viral/bacteria/diseases affects each individual differently. That's because no one can truly heal another's dis-ease....that disease is YOUR'S alone........ BUT YOUR SOUL HEALS.......YOUR OWN MIND

...............and YOUR BODY FOLLOWS,

Not ALL viruses and such are "BAD".......there are FRIENDLY alien-symbiotic life-forms as well.

It's all SYNCHRONIC.

PARALLEL

Just connect the dots.

BALANCE IS KEY.

Be {{[[ FL ex I BLE ]]}}

In the mind.
The outward manifestations will follow.

Your collective will FEEL less of a need to spread
MENTAL EPIDEMICS THROUGH THE "AIR" WAVES LIKE WILD-FIRE.

You are behind the controls of your very own life. No one else.

Drive carefully down those many, many diverse roads if you choose.

Take that muddy&rocky&curved& bumpy&pot-holed filled road even slower and more carefully.

Don't forget to enjoy the view, though;)

Peace&Love

I'm up late droppin' this one-

I'm FOCUSED

Like an EAGLE

I've already gotten two offers even before the completion of the  final chapter

 in my first book.

My "baby" will  be complete in August when i visit D.C. and the Lincoln Memorial.

I'm excited.

This is the final leg of my  journey,  the  rough draft. This one practically wrote itself.

It's been rather effortless. The inspirations flow like streams and rivers.

It's FEELS GOOD.

To follow your PASSION.

I am grateful for that. Yet my there are  a small few  family members of mine who seem

 apprehensive of what's exactly inside the new draft. This is understandable.

I tell them to be fearless. I assure them this is will not be a tell all book.

I write with compassion and respect.

It's an UPLIFTING JOURNEY OF A FAMILY OF FOUR WHO SURVIVES DESPITE MOUNTAINOUS OBSTACLES.

From my point of view. The Third Child.

That Third EYE.

Yet the input  is not exclusive, in fact it's quite  mutual.

I've invited those close family members, whom are willing, to submit their talent stories,

 pain, thoughts, journals and takes as well.

Reason is..... family knows you more than anyone else.
They see you at your worst and your best.

And everything in-between.

Yet no one has your back, like family.
 Through the good times and the bad times.

Sometimes love is tough...some time it's blunt...and sometimes it's just
plain confusing....

That's okay too....love is irrational like that.

Something inexpressable....something that you are meant to

 FEEL.

It's a love thang.

That's why I love  FAMILY.

- this one's dedicated to my older brother HANK, 

 love ya BRUH!!

I'm in the middle of reading three books, and i CAN NOT put ither of them down.

One of them is by Esther & Jerry Hicks,

a re-read of "The Law of Attraction" - This BOOK CHANGED MY LIFE, LITERALLY&SPIRITUALLY

In addition, i am deep into "The Tipping Point" - by Malcolm Gladwell

....i "caught" this one through the "air-waves" while listening to WKLH,

a little after 9 AM in morning...last Wednesday.

Finally .....i'm studying a training manual for Turf&Landscape dealing with Pest Control

Basically  the later material  deals with  humanity's  struggles

...... and attempts to control symbiotic life forms,

both natural and unnatural,  domestic & foreign,  labelled wanted and UNWANTED,

Man-made formulations in the form of Pesticidal Applications can be incredibly

 harmful to the environment, animals, and humans etc. 

What's apparent is HOW epidemics are spread, through human mental errors.

How they evolve through perfect environmental conditions,

and how life adapts through

  ::::::::::  MUTATION   ::::::::::::::

A susceptible individual.

 Adjust -  Sustain - Function once again. Becoming a new strain, like a new Flu Strain.

Enter:  H1N1

Pigs always have to play the "Fall-Guy" species here.

This goes waaaay back to Biblical times.

Poor swine. We need more piggylove here. Me?? i vow to put more money into my piggy bank.

Or Adopt a pig as a pet, like George Clooney.

If you're married, and you are female, you probably have one sitting on your couch, with a PBR in tow.

Oink Oink

On the FLIP SIDE.....there is a NATURAL BALANCE in motion

ALWAYS

The  complex web of existence has it's unwanted "VIRAL" intruders...

.....  then there are those  unusual organisms among the species that are deemed

quite beneficial and "FRIENDLY"  to the survival of mankind as both a whole and individual species.

"Good" Bacterial  colonies.

All three Books are FASCINATING MUST READS

....with a CONNECTING PRINCIPLE!

It has become the holy grail for conspiracy theorists, with UFOlogists positing that the Pentagon reverse engineers flying saucers and keeps extraterrestrial beings stored in freezers. Urban legend has it that Area 51 is connected by underground tunnels and trains to other secret facilities around the country. In 2001, Katie Couric told Today Show audiences that 7 percent of Americans doubt the moon landing happened—that it was staged in the Nevada desert. Millions of X-Files fans believe the truth may be “out there,” but more likely it’s concealed inside Area 51’s Strangelove-esque hangars—buildings that, though confirmed by Google Earth, the government refuses to acknowledge.

On May 24, 1963, Collins flew out of Area 51’s restricted airspace in a top-secret spy plane code-named OXCART, built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. He was flying over Utah when the aircraft pitched, flipped and headed toward a crash. He ejected into a field of weeds.

Almost 46 years later, in late fall of 2008, sitting in a coffee shop in the San Fernando Valley, Collins remembers that day with the kind of clarity the threat of a national security breach evokes: “Three guys came driving toward me in a pickup. I saw they had the aircraft canopy in the back. They offered to take me to my plane.” Until that moment, no civilian without a top-secret security clearance had ever laid eyes on the airplane Collins was flying. “I told them not to go near the aircraft. I said it had a nuclear weapon on-board.” The story fit right into the Cold War backdrop of the day, as many atomic tests took place in Nevada. Spooked, the men drove Collins to the local highway patrol. The CIA disguised the accident as involving a generic Air Force plane, the F-105, which is how the event is still listed in official records.

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As for the guys who picked him up, they were tracked down and told to sign national security nondisclosures. As part of Collins’ own debriefing, the CIA asked the decorated pilot to take truth serum. “They wanted to see if there was anything I’d for-gotten about the events leading up to the crash.” The Sodium Pento-thal experience went without a hitch—except for the reaction of his wife, Jane.

“Late Sunday, three CIA agents brought me home. One drove my car; the other two carried me inside and laid me down on the couch. I was loopy from the drugs. They handed Jane the car keys and left without saying a word.” The only conclusion she could draw was that her husband had gone out and gotten drunk. “Boy, was she mad,” says Collins with a chuckle.

At the time of Collins’ accident, CIA pilots had been flying spy planes in and out of Area 51 for eight years, with the express mission of providing the intelligence to prevent nuclear war. Aerial reconnaissance was a major part of the CIA’s preemptive efforts, while the rest of America built bomb shelters and hoped for the best.

“It wasn’t always called Area 51,” says Lovick, the physicist who developed stealth technology. His boss, legendary aircraft designer Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, called the place Paradise Ranch to entice men to leave their families and “rough it” out in the Nevada desert in the name of science and the fight against the evil empire. “Test pilot Tony LeVier found the place by flying over it,” says Lovick. “It was a lake bed called Groom Lake, selected for testing because it was flat and far from anything. It was kept secret because the CIA tested U-2s there.”

When Frances Gary Powers was shot down over Sverdlovsk, Russia, in 1960, the U-2 program lost its cover. But the CIA already had Lovick and some 200 scientists, engineers and pilots working at Area 51 on the A-12 OXCART, which would outfox Soviet radar using height, stealth and speed.

Col. Slater was in the outfit of six pilots who flew OXCART missions during the Vietnam War. Over a Cuban meat and cheese sandwich at the Bahama Breeze restaurant off the Las Vegas Strip, he says, “I was recruited for the Area after working with the CIA’s classified Black Cat Squadron, which flew U-2 missions over denied territory in Mainland China. After that, I was told, ‘You should come out to Nevada and work on something interesting we’re doing out there.’ ”

Even though Slater considers himself a fighter pilot at heart—he flew 84 missions in World War II—the opportunity to work at Area 51 was impossible to pass up. “When I learned about this Mach-3 aircraft called OXCART, it was completely intriguing to me—this idea of flying three times the speed of sound! No one knew a thing about the program. I asked my wife, Barbara, if she wanted to move to Las Vegas, and she said yes. And I said, ‘You won’t see me but on the weekends,’ and she said, ‘That’s fine!’ ” At this recollection, Slater laughs heartily. Barbara, dining with us, laughs as well. The two, married for 63 years, are rarely apart today.

“We couldn’t have told you any of this a year ago,” Slater says. “Now we can’t tell it to you fast enough.” That is because in 2007, the CIA began declassifying the 50-year-old OXCART program. Today, there’s a scramble for eyewitnesses to fill in the information gaps. Only a few of the original players are left. Two more of them join me and the Slaters for lunch: Barnes, formerly an Area 51 special-projects engineer, with his wife, Doris; and Martin, one of those overseeing the OXCART’s specially mixed jet fuel (regular fuel explodes at extreme height, temperature and speed), with his wife, Mary. Because the men were sworn to secrecy for so many decades, their wives still get a kick out of hearing the secret tales.

Barnes was married at 17 (Doris was 16). To support his wife, he became an electronics wizard, buying broken television sets, fixing them up and reselling them for five times the original price. He went from living in bitter poverty on a Texas Panhandle ranch with no electricity to buying his new bride a dream home before he was old enough to vote. As a soldier in the Korean War, Barnes demonstrated an uncanny aptitude for radar and Nike missile systems, which made him a prime target for recruitment by the CIA—which indeed happened when he was 22. By 30, he was handling nuclear secrets.

“The agency located each guy at the top of a certain field and put us together for the programs at Area 51,” says Barnes. As a security precaution, he couldn’t reveal his birth name—he went by the moniker Thunder. Coworkers traveled in separate cars, helicopters and airplanes. Barnes and his group kept to themselves, even in the mess hall. “Our special-projects group was the most classified team since the Manhattan Project,” he says.

Harry Martin’s specialty was fuel. Handpicked by the CIA from the Air Force, he underwent rigorous psychological and physical tests to see if he was up for the job. When he passed, the CIA moved his family to Nevada. Because OXCART had to refuel frequently, the CIA kept supplies at secret facilities around the globe. Martin often traveled to these bases for quality-control checks. He tells of preparing for a top-secret mission from Area 51 to Thule, Greenland. “My wife took one look at me in these arctic boots and this big hooded coat, and she knew not to ask where I was going.”

So, what of those urban legends—the UFOs studied in secret, the underground tunnels connecting clandestine facilities? For decades, the men at Area 51 thought they’d take their secrets to the grave. At the height of the Cold War, they cultivated anonymity while pursuing some of the country’s most covert projects. Conspiracy theories were left to popular imagination. But in talking with Collins, Lovick, Slater, Barnes and Martin, it is clear that much of the folklore was spun from threads of fact.

As for the myths of reverse engineering of flying saucers, Barnes offers some insight: “We did reverse engineer a lot of foreign technology, including the Soviet MiG fighter jet out at the Area”—even though the MiG wasn’t shaped like a flying saucer. As for the underground-tunnel talk, that, too, was born of truth. Barnes worked on a nuclear-rocket program called Project NERVA, inside underground chambers at Jackass Flats, in Area 51’s backyard. “Three test-cell facilities were connected by railroad, but everything else was underground,” he says.

And the quintessential Area 51 conspiracy—that the Pentagon keeps captured alien spacecraft there, which they fly around in restricted airspace? Turns out that one’s pretty easy to debunk. The shape of OXCART was unprece-dented, with its wide, disk-like fuselage designed to carry vast quantities of fuel. Commercial pilots cruising over Nevada at dusk would look up and see the bottom of OXCART whiz by at 2,000-plus mph. The aircraft’s tita-nium body, moving as fast as a bullet, would reflect the sun’s rays in a way that could make anyone think, UFO.

In all, 2,850 OXCART test flights were flown out of Area 51 while Slater was in charge. “That’s a lot of UFO sightings!” Slater adds. Commercial pilots would report them to the FAA, and “when they’d land in California, they’d be met by FBI agents who’d make them sign nondisclosure forms.” But not everyone kept quiet, hence the birth of Area 51’s UFO lore. The sightings incited uproar in Nevada and the surrounding areas and forced the Air Force to open Project BLUE BOOK to log each claim.

Since only a few Air Force officials were cleared for OXCART (even though it was a joint CIA/USAF project), many UFO sightings raised internal military alarms. Some generals believed the Russians might be sending stealth craft over American skies to incite paranoia and create widespread panic of alien invasion. Today, BLUE BOOK findings are housed in 37 cubic feet of case files at the National Archives—74,000 pages of reports. A keyword search brings up no mention of the top-secret OXCART or Area 51.

Project BLUE BOOK was shut down in 1969—more than a year after OXCART was retired. But what continues at America’s most clandestine military facility could take another 40 years to disclose.

ANNIE JACOBSEN is an investigative reporter who sat for more than 500 interviews after she broke the story on terrorists probing commercial airliners. When she isn’t digging into intelligence issues for the likes of the National Review, she’s snapping together Legos with her two boys.

Ok so I have been seeing this new commercial for Alltell and I got to admit I think it's horrible!  If I remember correctly there was and incident with a teenage boys that was killed at an amusement park for being under the roller coasters.  Now there is a commercial showing a family looking for money udner one.  I think it sends out the wrong message, I would hope most people would no better then to do that for real, but what about people that think it might be worth a shot or young kids that don't know any better??  I just don't know who to contact with my concerns or if it would even make a difference, I have 2 young boys and they love when they get money or when they find a quarter on the ground, I'm worried they would see that and get ideas.  I'm pretty sure I've taught them not to do something so foolish but what about the ones that aren't taught that?

I would appreciate any comments back!

thanks!

Danielle

There was just a bit on about a house where kids with Aspergers can go to learn adult social skills and what it is like in the outside world. Are there homes like that in our area? This would be GREAT for my son, living here at home with us and us trying to teach him what it is like is not going the best and I believe that this would be perfet for him.

My name is Asher Heimermann. I am a high school student living in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I am very active in politics and community service. I was a YouthNoise Featured Activist awhile ago.

Today, I have a request. I need your help. I am asking for donations to help me fund my project. This year, I'd like to have a two week community service project in July and August to get middle school and high school students to serve their city.

But I'll need money to get started. I will need money to pay for postage, paper, ink, food, and flyers. I won't need $1,000 or $500. However, I believe I will need to raise anywhere from $100 to $200.

If you can donate $5, $10, or $20, please mail your donation to the mailing address below. You can send cash, checks, or money orders. Checks and money orders can be written out to "Asher Heimermann". You can also donate via PayPal on my website.

Asher Heimermann
823A Georgia Avenue
Sheboygan, Wisconsin 53081

You can also keep up with me and my mission online. You can sign up to receive e-mail updates on my official website at www.asherheimermann.com or you can create an account on my social networking website at www.heimermann.us.

If you have any questions or comments, you are welcome to e-mail me at asher@asherheimermann.com or call me at (920) 918-0879. I'd love to hear from you anytime.

Asher Heimermann is a teenager from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. You can learn more information about Heimermann by visiting his official website at www.asherheimermann.com.

Good Day Friends and businesses.

In this day in age with the economy in turmoil I am pleased to announce I am in the process of starting a business of helping you secure a profitable and secure business of your own.

With over 15 years in the machinery aspect of business I am pleased to say I am your one stop shop when it comes to locating, purchasing, delivering and installing machinery you are in need of to make the next step in business.

Sound like something you could use today? Please send your contact info via a email I will contact you ASAP.

I have been out of commision due to surgery but all will get well in time.  Tonight I made those wonderful Potato Cakes seen on Living with Amy.  I added some Italian seasonings, fresh garlic, and parmesan cheese. Then for a topping I added diced tomatoes, a dolup of sour cream, and I wished I had a sprig of Parsley as a garnish.

My family loves them.  Thanks Amy

P.S. 

I did take a photo but I am having trouble uploading.