Small Business Sever

Yahoo Small Business Sever Down?
My Yahoo! hosted Wordpress blog has been down for over 30 hours [http://andfaraway.net/]. It says: "Error establishing a database connection. This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can't contact the database server at mysql. This could mean your host's database server is down." My email is running perfectly fine, and I can access the FTP, but I can't access mysql or any of the other blogs under the same domain. I have tried calling Yahoo! customer service, but they put me on hold for over an hour, and as I live overseas, I can't afford to pay more money on listening to hold music. I have also emailed them and they didn't reply. Any advice..?

unfortunately only yahoo is going to be able to give you the real answer, you might want to contact them one more time and if they don't seem to care check for another place to put your site, good luck/

MS Server 2003 keeps alarming intermittently throughout the day. How can I turn off the alarms?
We are running a MS Small Business 2003 sever. I rebooted the server this morning because the IIS wasn't started. Since then the server has been beeping like crazy every few minutes although everything seems to be working properly. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really just want to know how to cancel the audible alerts.

So when the smoke detector goes off during a real fire, do you just take the battery out or do you try to save yourself? There's a REASON it's beeping... don't you think you might be better off figuring out WHY it's beeping rather than just turning it off? Someone suggested the RAID controller, a good possibility. Another is the UPS you hopefully have connected to it...

How to sever a professional relationship with somebody I must deal with frequently?
In regards to a professional I have been consulting in my business-I am not happy with the results this individual has provided and wish to sever my ties with this individual. However, the business I am in is very small and interlinked and I fear retribution from this person-in a "slur" type way. I am non-confrontational and have a VERY hard time when dealing with a potentially "loose cannon" as this-any advice?

Now,do you have a contract?? What are the terms. If it states " cancellable by giving 30 days 'notice,then this is your "out. " Find someone else, then write a letter simply stating." Please accept this letter as intent not to renew out contract as of >>>>>. Keep a copy, and give your new provider a copy. " Have a lawyer? Give him a copy. Even better, talk to him first.

business partner problems?
i'm in a small restaurant business with my friend. we're co-owners of the restaurant with equal shares. his gf seems to like to think she has a part in this and is always at the restaurant meeting, during business hours, etc. she is constantly using the office and the computer that we keep important documents in, and i've told my partner several times that she shouldn't be here unless he is present at the shop. what shoudl i do? also, my business partner and i used to be pretty good friends, but now i do not want to have anything personal to do with him anymore. i would like to sever all ties and keep it all proffessional. it seems to me that he likes to use personal things against me. a quick example. we had a delivery driver with a suspended license. the driver owes my partner money, and i wanted to fire him. my partner got mad and said i was selfish because i didnt' put him into consideration. basically, i need advice on how to keep it all business from now on.

To quote the old adage, "It's business, not personal." Sometimes though, that idea is a bit more difficult to actually operate by. I would recommend that the two of you sit down, outside of the restaurant - at a neutral location, for instance a Starbucks or something, and work out your differences. Try coming up with a plan that would make both of you happy, including a time schedule when one of you will be in the office, and the other not, if that might be something to help the partnership succeed. Just my 2 cents though, J

Economics Professor says Obama's plan will further hurt the US, thoughts?
Obamanomics Is a Recipe for Recession By MICHAEL J. BOSKIN WSJ October 16, 2008 What if I told you that a prominent global political figure in recent months has proposed: abrogating key features of his government's contracts with energy companies; unilaterally renegotiating his country's international economic treaties; dramatically raising marginal tax rates on the "rich" to levels not seen in his country in three decades (which would make them among the highest in the world); and changing his country's social insurance system into explicit welfare by severing the link between taxes and benefits? AP The first name that came to mind would probably not be Barack Obama, possibly our nation's next president. Yet despite his obvious general intelligence, and uplifting and motivational eloquence, Sen. Obama reveals this startling economic illiteracy in his policy proposals and economic pronouncements. From the property rights and rule of (contract) law foundations of a successful market economy to the specifics of tax, spending, energy, regulatory and trade policy, if the proposals espoused by candidate Obama ever became law, the American economy would suffer a serious setback. To be sure, Mr. Obama has been clouding these positions as he heads into the general election and, once elected, presidents sometimes see the world differently than when they are running. Some cite Bill Clinton's move to the economic policy center following his Hillary health-care and 1994 Congressional election debacles as a possible Obama model. But candidate Obama starts much further left on spending, taxes, trade and regulation than candidate Clinton. A move as large as Mr. Clinton's toward the center would still leave Mr. Obama on the economic left. Also, by 1995 the country had a Republican Congress to limit President Clinton's big government agenda, whereas most political pundits predict strengthened Democratic majorities in both Houses in 2009. Because newly elected presidents usually try to implement the policies they campaigned on, Mr. Obama's proposals are worth exploring in some depth. I'll discuss taxes and trade, although the story on his other proposals is similar. First, taxes. The table nearby demonstrates what could happen to marginal tax rates in an Obama administration. Mr. Obama would raise the top marginal rates on earnings, dividends and capital gains passed in 2001 and 2003, and phase out itemized deductions for high income taxpayers. He would uncap Social Security taxes, which currently are levied on the first $102,000 of earnings. The result is a remarkable reduction in work incentives for our most economically productive citizens. The top 35% marginal income tax rate rises to 39.6%; adding the state income tax, the Medicare tax, the effect of the deduction phase-out and Mr. Obama's new Social Security tax (of up to 12.4%) increases the total combined marginal tax rate on additional labor earnings (or small business income) from 44.6% to a whopping 62.8%. People respond to what they get to keep after tax, which the Obama plan reduces from 55.4 cents on the dollar to 37.2 cents -- a reduction of one-third in the after-tax wage! Despite the rhetoric, that's not just on "rich" individuals. It's also on a lot of small businesses and two-earner middle-aged middle-class couples in their peak earnings years in high cost-of-living areas. (His large increase in energy taxes, not documented here, would disproportionately harm low-income Americans. And, while he says he will not raise taxes on the middle class, he'll need many more tax hikes to pay for his big increase in spending.) On dividends the story is about as bad, with rates rising from 50.4% to 65.6%, and after-tax returns falling over 30%. Even a small response of work and investment to these lower returns means such tax rates, sooner or later, would seriously damage the economy. On economic policy, the president proposes and Congress disposes, so presidents often wind up getting the favorite policy of powerful senators or congressmen. Thus, while Mr. Obama also proposes an alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch, he could instead wind up with the permanent abolition plan for the AMT proposed by the Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D., N.Y.) -- a 4.6% additional hike in the marginal rate with no deductibility of state income taxes. Marginal tax rates would then approach 70%, levels not seen since the 1970s and among the highest in the world. The after-tax return to work -- the take-home wage for more time or effort -- would be cut by more than 40%. Now trade. In the primaries, Sen. Obama was famously protectionist, claiming he would rip up and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). Since its passage (for which former President Bill Clinton ran a brave anchor leg, given opposition to trade liberalization in his party), Nafta has risen to almost mythological proportions as a metaphor for

We really do not need a professional to tell us that. It's pretty obvious that Obama's plan would hurt the economy more than help it. People that don't see it that way aren't seeing clearly.

Standford Professor of Economics says Obama's plan will hurt us, thoughts?
Obamanomics Is a Recipe for Recession By MICHAEL J. BOSKIN WSJ October 16th, 2008 What if I told you that a prominent global political figure in recent months has proposed: abrogating key features of his government's contracts with energy companies; unilaterally renegotiating his country's international economic treaties; dramatically raising marginal tax rates on the "rich" to levels not seen in his country in three decades (which would make them among the highest in the world); and changing his country's social insurance system into explicit welfare by severing the link between taxes and benefits? AP The first name that came to mind would probably not be Barack Obama, possibly our nation's next president. Yet despite his obvious general intelligence, and uplifting and motivational eloquence, Sen. Obama reveals this startling economic illiteracy in his policy proposals and economic pronouncements. From the property rights and rule of (contract) law foundations of a successful market economy to the specifics of tax, spending, energy, regulatory and trade policy, if the proposals espoused by candidate Obama ever became law, the American economy would suffer a serious setback. To be sure, Mr. Obama has been clouding these positions as he heads into the general election and, once elected, presidents sometimes see the world differently than when they are running. Some cite Bill Clinton's move to the economic policy center following his Hillary health-care and 1994 Congressional election debacles as a possible Obama model. But candidate Obama starts much further left on spending, taxes, trade and regulation than candidate Clinton. A move as large as Mr. Clinton's toward the center would still leave Mr. Obama on the economic left. Also, by 1995 the country had a Republican Congress to limit President Clinton's big government agenda, whereas most political pundits predict strengthened Democratic majorities in both Houses in 2009. Because newly elected presidents usually try to implement the policies they campaigned on, Mr. Obama's proposals are worth exploring in some depth. I'll discuss taxes and trade, although the story on his other proposals is similar. First, taxes. The table nearby demonstrates what could happen to marginal tax rates in an Obama administration. Mr. Obama would raise the top marginal rates on earnings, dividends and capital gains passed in 2001 and 2003, and phase out itemized deductions for high income taxpayers. He would uncap Social Security taxes, which currently are levied on the first $102,000 of earnings. The result is a remarkable reduction in work incentives for our most economically productive citizens. The top 35% marginal income tax rate rises to 39.6%; adding the state income tax, the Medicare tax, the effect of the deduction phase-out and Mr. Obama's new Social Security tax (of up to 12.4%) increases the total combined marginal tax rate on additional labor earnings (or small business income) from 44.6% to a whopping 62.8%. People respond to what they get to keep after tax, which the Obama plan reduces from 55.4 cents on the dollar to 37.2 cents -- a reduction of one-third in the after-tax wage! Despite the rhetoric, that's not just on "rich" individuals. It's also on a lot of small businesses and two-earner middle-aged middle-class couples in their peak earnings years in high cost-of-living areas. (His large increase in energy taxes, not documented here, would disproportionately harm low-income Americans. And, while he says he will not raise taxes on the middle class, he'll need many more tax hikes to pay for his big increase in spending.) On dividends the story is about as bad, with rates rising from 50.4% to 65.6%, and after-tax returns falling over 30%. Even a small response of work and investment to these lower returns means such tax rates, sooner or later, would seriously damage the economy. On economic policy, the president proposes and Congress disposes, so presidents often wind up getting the favorite policy of powerful senators or congressmen. Thus, while Mr. Obama also proposes an alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch, he could instead wind up with the permanent abolition plan for the AMT proposed by the Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D., N.Y.) -- a 4.6% additional hike in the marginal rate with no deductibility of state income taxes. Marginal tax rates would then approach 70%, levels not seen since the 1970s and among the highest in the world. The after-tax return to work -- the take-home wage for more time or effort -- would be cut by more than 40%. Now trade. In the primaries, Sen. Obama was famously protectionist, claiming he would rip up and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). Since its passage (for which former President Bill Clinton ran a brave anchor leg, given opposition to trade liberalization in his party), Nafta has risen to almost mythological proportions as a metaphor f

This comes to no surprise at all. None, and I have to repeat that none of our elected officials have NO true knowledge of "economic planning". We'd be fools to think that either one of these guys could help bring stability to the "market". While I am going to vote for Obama, I by no means even listen to him, or any of our officials when it comes to "economics" amongst some other things. Most people aren't voting for Obama, because of his "plan"...it's only a plan, and he didn't even write it. He was only a "pawn" while his "advisers" did all of the numbering...heck, I'm sure he only understands about %10 of his or anybody else' "eco-plan".

Bridge mode - 2wire2701HGV-W and Netgear WGT624?
The voip phone service my small business uses told us that our 2wire modem/router is to blame for all our recent dropped calls. They recommend operating in bridge mode by disabling the router aspect of the 2wire and adding an additional router to our office (as I understand it). So I called our ISP yesterday to get things set up, and their instructions ended up severing our internet connection and thus cutting off our phones as well - which took much of the morning to correct. Does anyone know if the 2wire and Netgear devices we have will be compatible, and if so, how do we set them up in bridge mode to eliminate our dropped calls? Do we install the Netgear first and then go through bridge mode set up? I appreciate all the help you can offer.

Well, I am using the 2wire 2701 with a linksys router behind it and the VOIP attached to the Linksys with no issues at all. VOIP supplied by Vonage. I have connected the Vonage unit directly to the 2wire as well with no issues whatever so it really shouldn't matter where in the circuit your VOIP is attached... (Meaning I question your VOIP suppliers answer!) All that you really need to do is leave the 2wire just as it is NO CHANGES. Assign a static address within the netgear on the wan side, say 192.168.1.10 and set the subnet to 255.255.255.0 and the gateway address to 192.168.1.254 (the 2wire default!) Put in your DNS ips. Then on the 2wire put the 192.168.1.10 into the "DMZ" meaning everything inbound will pass to the Netgear. Be sure that the LAN setting for the netgear are set to a different IP range... use 192.168.0.x or 192.168.10.x anything except the 192.168.1.x that the 2wire is set to use. (Otherwise you will have all sorts of non working issues!) Check the http://2wire.com site for help with DMZ but it is easy to set just open your web browser to http://gateway.2wire.net and go to the FIREWALL settings.. you will see the DMZ listed. Just put the netgears "static" Ip into that and you should be good to go.

What does FL gun law allow for self defense w/ concealed permit vs. vicious neighborhood dogs when walking?
I went for a walk with my mom, my two children and our dogs. My youngest child is 18 months and both our dogs are very small. One is a Yorkie mix and my dog is a Min Pin. We often go for walks and we have never encountered any problems, except for today. We were minding our own business, walking down the street. We live in a very quiet neighborhood. Out of nowhere came this German Sheppard and he beelined for my dog. He had coaxed his way thru his fence. Needless to say I kept screaming NO! and my poor dog went airborne because it was all I could do to keep the dog from attacking my dog and he almost succeeded in biting her. His jaws were big enough to sever her spine. My mom was trying her best to shield the baby, who was in the stroller and her dog, which she had picked up as all the commotion was going on. In the midst of all the screaming, the dog's owner got his attention and asked for our welfare and deeply apologized. What's to keep that dog from attacking us again?

no concealed weapons, but you are allowed to carry non-concealed weapons.

Which dog breed attacks?
MY QUESTION: WHY? Tony A- I agree, PETA sucks! Don't worry so much tho, if we can agree that all dogs are equally able to attack, and the anti-dog crew starts crying about banning breeds of dogs favored by the wealthy and powerful, then BSL will come to a screeching halt. Like the Salem Witch Trials. They went on and on with lies, accusation, and murder until finally a relative of the governor was accused, and BOOM, no more witch trials! Thanx for yr input!

Why? ... Because those that are anti-dog know they can get the needs of their agenda met (to ban dogs as pets) by having folks like you make the case that all dogs bite, therefore the pitbull terrier should not be singled out. If we can agree that all breeds of dogs bite, then as a matter of public safety ... all breeds should be banned. You just made anti-dog proponents very happy! Good for you. Tony A- Edit - No ... its not the same as the Salem witch hunts - because there never were any real witches. Look, THE best response to BSL are discriminately bred dogs in the custody of responsible people. Find a way to achieve that and we will save the breed.

The money pit?
One can only wonder what would have happened if young Daniel McGinnis had chosen to go exploring somewhere else on that fateful day in the summer of 1795. If he had, perhaps nobody else would have walked the woods on the eastern end of Oak Island for the next ten years. In that time, the clearing McGinnis found might have been reclaimed completely by the woods. In a forest, the thirteen foot-wide depression in the ground might never have been noticed. Thick, leafy branches might have obscured the old tackle block hanging from a branch directly over the pit. Without these markers, there would have been nothing to indicate that this was the work of man. And there might have never been the two-hundred year long treasure hunt that cost several fortunes and many lives. But McGinnis did see the clearing and the depression and the tackle block. Visions of pirate treasure did fill his head. He did return later with two friends, John Smith, age 19, and Anthony Vaughan, age 16. And together, with picks and shovels, they did start perhaps the most famous treasure hunt of modern times. Undoubtedly, the three must have thought they were on the verge of discovering the treasure of Captain William Kidd. Stories that the captain had buried a treasure hoard on an island "east of Boston" had been circulating since the 1600's. Legend had it that a dying sailor in the New England Colonies confessed to being a part of Kidd's notorious crew, but he never named an exact location for the hidden booty. The island McGinnis, Smith and Vaughan were on was one of 300 small isles in the Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was peanut-shaped and about three-quarters of a mile long and 1,000 feet wide. Cutting away the smaller trees, the three young men started digging in the depression. After two feet they hit a floor of carefully laid flagstones. This type of slate was not found on the island and the group figured it had been brought there from about two miles north. Below the stones they saw that they were digging down a shaft that had been refilled. The walls of the shaft were scored with the marks of pick axes, more evidence that this structure was the work of men. At the ten foot level they hit wood. At first the group figured they'd hit a treasure chest, but quickly realized that they had found a platform of oaken logs sunk into the sides of the shaft. Pulling up the logs they discovered a two-foot depression and more of the shaft. Continuing to dig, they finally reached a depth of twenty-five feet. At that depth they decided they could not continue without more help and better planning. Covering the pit over, they left. One thing the three were sure of, though, was that something must be at the bottom of the pit. They concluded that nobody would have gone to the trouble of digging a shaft deeper than 25 feet unless he had something very valuable to hide. Nineteenth Century Excavations Not much more was done with the pit until around 1802. While stories differ, it seems likely that the three spent the previous years searching for a financial backer to provide assistance for a more sophisticated dig. Simeon Lynds visited the money pit that year, was impressed by the story, and formed a company to support the excavation. The work was started in the summer of 1803. After cleaning out the old pit, the crew started digging downward. Stories have it that they struck another oak platform at 30 feet below the surface. As they continued to dig they found something every ten feet: charcoal, putty, stones or more log platforms. Finally, at the 80 or 90 foot level, depending on which historical account you read, a flat stone, three feet long and one foot wide, with strange letters and figures cut into it, was found. At 93 feet deep, the floor of the pit began to turn into soft mud. Before the end of that day the crew probed the bottom of the shaft with a crowbar hoping to find something. They hit a barrier as wide and as long as the shaft. The group speculated that they'd finally reached the treasure vault and went to bed with the expectations that tomorrow a fortune would be theirs. Returning the next day, the crew was shocked to find that overnight the pit had filled with 60 feet of water. Bailing was useless. As soon as water was removed from the pit, more flowed in to take its place. An attempt was made to dig another shaft nearby and get at the treasure by running a tunnel underneath the pit, but the new shaft flooded as soon as the tunnel got close to its objective. Another attempt to find the treasure wasn't made until 1849. A new corporation was formed to finance the dig. This group wasn't much more successful, running into the same flooding problems that occurred back in 1802. They did manage to use a drill to probe what was below the money pit floor. A platform was constructed in the shaft just above the water level and the drill operated from there. The drill seemed to bore through levels of oak, spruce and clay. One sample recovered what appeared to be several links of chain made of gold. While the drilling was going on, someone noticed that the water in the pit was salty and rose and fell with the tide. This led to speculation that the builders of the pit had conceived a clever trap designed to flood the pit with water if someone got to close too the treasure. The existence of the flood trap was confirmed by the discovery that the beach of Smith's Cove, located some 500 feet away from the money pit, was artificial. Examination showed that the original clay of the cove had been dug away and in its place laid round beach stones, covered by four or five inches of dead eel grass, which was covered by coconut fiber two inches thick and finally the sand of the beach. At the bottom of all this were five box drains that apparently merged somewhere well back from the coast into a single tunnel that ran the distance to the money pit. The system was apparently designed so that the filtering action of the coconut fiber and the eel grass would ensure the drains would never be clogged by sand or gravel from the beach. It worked well. Attempts were made to put the flood trap out of business by building a cofferdam around the cove to by holding the tides back. Later, pits were dug to intersect and plug the tunnel on its route to the money pit. These failed, and this try at reaching the treasure was given up in 1851 when the money ran out. The next attempt in 1861 cost the first human life. The searchers tried to pump out the money pit using the steam engine-powered pumps. A boiler burst and one worker was scalded to death while others were injured. Further fatalities were barely avoided when the money pit's bottom, weakened by attempts to get at the treasure by digging up underneath from other shafts, collapsed. If there were any treasure chests they were probably carried much deeper by this crash. This dig did succeed in discovering where the flood tunnel entered the money pit, but there was still no way to turn off the water. By 1864 these searchers were also out of money. In 1866, 1893, 1909, 1931 and 1936 additional excavations were started. Extreme methods were used including setting dynamite charges to destroy the flood tunnel, building a dam to keep the water out of Smith's Cove, and bringing in a crane with an excavation bucket. None of these approaches recovered a single coin while costing the backers a small fortune and one worker his life. One of these efforts did manage to block off the flood tunnel from Smith's Cove, only to discover more water was pouring in from the opposite direction via a natural or man-made route from the south shore. Drilling also indicated that there might be some kind of cement vault at the 153-foot level. By this time the south end of the island was full of old shafts, though, and it was increasingly hard to tell were the original money pit was located. Searchers often ran out of money just trying to figure out where the old shaft had been. Modern Excavations In 1959 Robert Restall, a former daredevil motorcyclist, took up the challenge with the help of his 18-year-old son. By then the Smith Cove's flood tunnel had become unblocked and Restall made it his first order of business to seal it off. He had sunk a shaft to the depth of 27 feet near Smith's Cove when tragedy struck. His son found him laying at the bottom of the pit in muddy water. Climbing down to help his father, the boy suddenly fell off the ladder and lay next to him. Kal Graseser, Restall's partner, and workers Cyril Hiltz and Andy DeMont climbed down to assist, but also collapsed before reaching the bottom. Edward White, a visiting fireman from Buffalo, New York, immediately suspected carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust of a nearby gasoline pump and descended the pit with a rope tied around his waist. He was able to rescue DeMont, but the others died. In one day Oak Island mystery claimed four more lives. In 1965 Robert Dunfield tried to apply modern open pit mining methods to the treasure hunt. Using a 70-ton digging crane he dug a hole at the original pit site 140 feet deep and 100 feet in diameter. The dirt was carefully sifted for any treasure, but only a few pieces of porcelain dishware were found. Heavy rains dragged the work out for months and Dunfield ran out of money. The pit, and its mystery designer, had won again. The Money Pit today. (Courtesy of Bill Milstead) In 1970 the Triton Alliance was formed to continue looking for the treasure. Legal battles between owners of different portions of the island resulted in slow progress. A number of holes were drilled in an attempt to locate the treasure and better understand the geological nature of the island, but no gold was recovered. Little work has been done in the area of the money pit itself as the soil is unstable. Often caverns, thought to be natural, have been found beneath the island. A video camera lowered down one borehole into one of these spaces recorded an image that looked like chests and a human hand severed at the wrist. The quality of the images was so poor, though, that positive identification was impossible. Triton brought the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in to survey the island in 1995 and render an opinion on whether there is something valuable at the bottom of the pit. While their report is confidential, people who have seen it say that its conclusions are "not discouraging." Currently little work is being done on the island while disputes between the owners of Triton are being settled. In addition to the money pit the rest of the island seems to be loaded with old stone markers of various types. The most peculiar of these are 6 boulders that seem to be laid out in the shape of a cross that is almost 900 feet long. Some wild speculation based on the cross suggest that Oak Island might be home to the long missing Holy Grail, but there is no real solid evidence to support this idea. Possible Culprits So, who built the money pit? And did they really put some kind of treasure down there? Was it Captain Kidd? Despite the legends it seem unlikely that Captain William Kidd ever had the chance to bury a treasure on Oak Island. He spent little time near Nova Scotia and certainly not enough to construct the money pit. Kidd did bury a cache of booty on Gardener's Island near the eastern end of Long Island Sound, but it was quickly seized by the Governor of New York. Blackbeard, who possessed perhaps the most notorious reputation of all pirates, has sometimes been mentioned in conjunction with Oak Island, but only because he once boasted he had an underground cache for his treasure, "where none but Satan and myself can find it." Certainly many of the Oak Island treasure hunters would agree that this sounds like the money pit, but the truth is there isn't any evidence that Blackbeard conducted any operations north of Delaware. In fact, it seems very unlikely that any pirate could be responsible for such a complex labyrinth as the pit. Pirates buried treasure because it offered a quick way to hide and recover their goods. A digging operation that must have taken several months just doesn't seem their style. George Bates, a land surveyor in Nova Scotia, suggested that pirates had indeed built structures on Oak Island, but not for the purpose of hiding treasure. Bate's idea was that there was enough pirate activity between 1650 and 1750 off the coast of Nova Scotia to warrant several pirate groups getting together and building a dry dock to maintain their ships. To do this they sailed their vessels into Smith's Cove and built a cofferdam to seal the tiny bay off from the ocean. The flood tunnel was used to then drain the cove and leave the ship high and dry. The water flooded down the tunnel into a large natural cave underneath the island. A windmill located on top of the money pit extracted the water so the cove could again be drained for the next ship. The weakness of Bates argument is that located on the other side of Nova Scotia, only a hundred miles away, is the Bay of Fundy. The tides in the bay drop at least 30 feet each day making it a huge natural dry dock. Why would the pirates duplicate what nature already provided? Speaking of nature, is it possible that the money pit is a natural phenomena, not a cleverly designed vault? Certainly there are natural caves under Oak Island and the depression found by McGinnis could have been a sink hole. Unless all early accounts are completely incorrect the descriptions of the platforms carefully placed at 10-foot intervals seem to ensure that at least part of the structure is man-made. Some theories suggest that the structures built on Oak Island may have been hundreds, perhaps even thousand of years old when they were discovered in 1795. They may have been built by Vikings visiting the New World, or by the native Micmac people who lived in the region before the Europeans appeared. Perhaps they were built by an advanced civilization that we know nothing about. Indeed the flood tunnel trap built into the pit in some ways reminds one of the false doors and granite plugs found in Egyptian tombs to prevent grave robbing. If any of the above theories were true why did McGinnis discover the pit in the heart of a clearing? The trees around the money pit must have been cut when it was constructed. Given the rate oak trees grow, that meant someone had built the pit not more than fifty years before McGinnis stumbled across it. Who would have hidden a treasure between 1745 and 1795? William Crooker, author of several books on the Oak Island mystery, suggests that the pit was built as a part of plot by King George III of England and several of his close advisors. On August 12, 1762, British forces captured the city of Havana, Cuba, from the Spanish. Havana was a rich, important city where much of the gold from the New World was shipped back to Spain. Two shiploads of the captured booty, Crooker suggests, was taken by the Earl of Albemarle to Oak Island. Previously the conspirators had arranged for military engineers to come to the island and build what they thought was a secret ammo dump complete with flood tunnels. Albemarle arrived with the treasure in sealed boxes. The treasure was placed in the pit, the pit was closed, and the engineers departed still thinking they had built an ammo dump. Albemarle returned to England with the idea of retrieving the treasure later. Something, perhaps the madness that afflicted King George toward the end of his life, prevented getting the booty and it was forgotten about. Crooker's theory raises another possibility, though. Suppose there is no treasure at all and the pit is simply an old ammo dump? We will only find out for sure when someone comes along who is clever enough, and rich enough, to beat the designer of the money pit and make a thorough investigation of what lies at the bottom.

Pooo, ignore the complainers. It was an interesting read at any rate, and entertaining enough to make me forget there was no real question. Thanks for the rare glimpse of history!