This may be a bit off topic but does have an historical tidbit that may 
be of interest to some on the list.

I was very interested to read a small blurb in the news last week whose 
irony really stood out.

It seems that there is a very real possibility that the legendary 
"Northwest Passage" will open up in the next several years due to more 
temperate weather (that's "glabal warming" for the vast majority of 
us!). The article said that the US State department had fired off a 
warning to our Canadian neighbors to the north that if the passage does 
open that it is to be considered international waters and not under 
Canadian juristiction.

For those who are not familiar with our history, the search for the 
Northwest Passage drove a vast amount of the exploration of the North 
American Continent. Lewis and Clark were sent on their famous trip to 
search for such a passage, in addition to the more scientific aspects 
of their journey.

The irony, to me, lies in the fact that a supposedly non-existent 
phenomenon (Global warming) has caused the Bush administration to jump 
up on their Monroe Doctrine soapbox because of the impending 
actualization of what was a lost dream (the Northwest Passage) for so 
much of our history.

We do live in interesting times!

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California, USA

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