Ernesto weakens over land

Well with Ernesto's new track bringing him over a lot of land, he got a little lazy yesterday. I checked in on him a few times, and his pressure got up as high as 1008 millibars. He has dropped again to 1004 millibars but his make-up will be spotty over the next day or so, as he travels over Cuba.

Basically the short and sweet of it it, Ernesto is going to need to get over Cuba fast, if he wants to regain his Hurricane status. There is a slight chance this could happen as he approached cuba, but even if he does, he will die as he crosses cuba and her rugged terrain.

Once on the other side, things get interesting. There is currently a high pressure system over mississippi which will prevent Ernesto from tracking westward. This system will be weakening in the coming days, so how fast it weakens, and where the system is actually sitting when Ernesto emerges on the other side of Cuba will dictate where he makes landfall, but right now it looks like it will hit Florida as at least a Tropical Storm.

So it looks like Ernesto will not get a chance to show us what he is made of unless a few things come into play. Ernesto could gains strength if he gets a chance to stall north of Cuba and sit over warm water for a bit. Also if the High Pressure system over missippi weakens and allows Ernesto to track a bit West into the Gulf. These are things that look pretty improbably now, but you cant knock a guy for dreaming eh. lol

Once again here are your images.....pay close attention to the wave also building at 30 degrees west, 10 degrees north....this could turn into another storm....and if I was a betting man, i would put some money on it.

Katrina a year later

It is unfortunate that I started this blog a little late last year, and thus cannot look back on one of the greatest storm seasons in history. Today is August 27, and just a year ago, Katrina was sitting in the gulf of mexico as a cat3 hurricane. The images of her on that date are spectacular. She was a near perfect storm.

Meterological Poetry in Motion. Her eye clear of any disorganized thought. Focused and true to her form. She was as textbook as they come. She grew as predictable as any computer model. The irony was that a year ealier a computer had simulated her. That simulated hurricane was named Pam, and a variety of government agencies used Pam as an "excercise" in emergency preparedness. Upon completion of the excercise FEMA issued a short statement which can be found quite easily on her webpage. That statement could have been cut and pasted in the days following Katrina, and yet, when Katrina hit, everyone acted like they hadnt a clue.

Just for the record I am going to cut and paste that short paper which can be found on the FEMA website. It is erie, but what is harder to understand is how a government that had done this as an excercise just a year earlier, could have failed so miserably with the real thing.


Hurricane Pam Exercise Concludes
Release Date: July 23, 2004
Release Number: R6-04-093

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Hurricane Pam brought sustained winds of 120 mph, up to 20 inches of rain in parts of southeast Louisiana and storm surge that topped levees in the New Orleans area. More than one million residents evacuated and Hurricane Pam destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings. Emergency officials from 50 parish, state, federal and volunteer organizations faced this scenario during a five-day exercise held this week at the State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge.

The exercise used realistic weather and damage information developed by the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the LSU Hurricane Center and other state and federal agencies to help officials develop joint response plans for a catastrophic hurricane in Louisiana.

"We made great progress this week in our preparedness efforts," said Ron Castleman, FEMA Regional Director. "Disaster response teams developed action plans in critical areas such as search and rescue, medical care, sheltering, temporary housing, school restoration and debris management. These plans are essential for quick response to a hurricane but will also help in other emergencies."

"Hurricane planning in Louisiana will continue," said Colonel Michael L. Brown, Deputy Director for Emergency Preparedness, Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "Over the next 60 days, we will polish the action plans developed during the Hurricane Pam exercise. We have also determined where to focus our efforts in the future."

A partial summary of action plans follows:

Debris

The debris team estimates that a storm like Hurricane Pam would result in 30 million cubic yards of debris and 237,000 cubic yards of household hazardous waste
The team identified existing landfills that have available storage space and locations of hazardous waste disposal sites. The debris plan also outlines priorities for debris removal.
Sheltering

The interagency shelter group identified the need for about 1,000 shelters for a catastrophic disaster. The shelter team identified 784 shelters and has developed plans for locating the remaining shelters.
In a storm like Hurricane Pam, shelters will likely remain open for 100 days. The group identified the resources necessary to support 1000 shelters for 100 days. They planned for staff augmentation and how to include shelterees in shelter management.
State resources are adequate to operate shelters for the first 3-5 days. The group planned how federal and other resources will replenish supplies at shelters.
Search and Rescue

The search and rescue group developed a transportation plan for getting stranded residents out of harm's way.
Planners identified lead and support agencies for search and rescue and established a command structure that will include four areas with up to 800 searchers.
Medical

The medical care group reviewed and enhanced existing plans. The group determined how to implement existing immunization plans rapidly for tetanus, influenza and other diseases likely to be present after a major hurricane.
The group determined how to re-supply hospitals around the state that would face heavy patient loads.
The medical action plan includes patient movement details and identifies probable locations, such as state university campuses, where individuals would receive care and then be transported to hospitals, special needs shelters or regular shelters as necessary.
Schools

The school group determined that 13,000-15,000 teachers and administrators would be needed to support affected schools. The group acknowledged the role of local school boards and developed strategies for use by local school officials.
Staffing strategies include the use of displaced teachers, retired teachers, emergency certified teachers and others eligible for emergency certification. Displaced paraprofessionals would also be recruited to fill essential school positions.
The group discussed facility options for increasing student population at undamaged schools and prioritizing repairs to buildings with less damage to assist in normalizing operations
The school plan also calls for placement or development of temporary schools near temporary housing communities built for hurricane victims.
The Hurricane Pam scenario focused on 13 parishes in southeast Louisiana-Ascension, Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Tammany Tangipahoa, Terrebonne. Representatives from outside the primary parishes participated since hurricane evacuation and sheltering involve communities throughout the state and into Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.

On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's continuing mission within the new department is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration.

Hurricane Katrina will one day make a great metaphor for both Iraq, and on a bigger plane, the United States Government as a whole. In that they think they have it all figured out, until God runs a real-time drill, and then they realize quite quickly that they are just human like the rest of us. Just human like those in Iraq, Just human like those in Iran, Just human like those in Rwanda. And they cannot protect anyone from the "real" dangers in the world. They can only protect them from the ones they themselves create.

Irony is a funny thing. It usually begs for ones attention. And will not settle in your stomach until its lessons have been learned. I guess my only question for everyone is, have we learned our lesson? Or will I be posting in the days, months and years to come, about other disasters, some natural, some man-made that are just now waiting for their ironic plots to develop.

RIP Katrina.

Ernestos - 2006 first hurricane

Well much has changed with Ernesto over night. For most of the day yesterday he was holding steady at around 997 millibars, but as of 5am this morning He had dropped in pressure to 988 millibars. And if you remember what I said a few blogs ago, this is the best way to tell if a storm in getting bigger and badder, or starting to get disorganized.

Another major change in Ernesto's life, is his direction. The track yesterday had him pretty much remaining over water until he came ashore in the USA. His new track has him moving directly over Jamaica and Cuba, and then coming ashore somewhere around Florida. If this happens this will directly effect how big Ernesto can get, but lets not forget how quickly things can change.

If he continues over cuba, and into the waters off the florida keys, we should also remember that Katrina came over the top of cuba and hit florida and then moved into the central gulf to become the MEGA hurricane that she was. SO just remember that as quickly as this tracked changed from yesterday morning till this moring, this could all happen again at any time.

SO with all that said, here are some updated images for everyone.




On a more personal note. Saturday was spent just chilling out. I went to the fish store and picked up a new light for my tank, along with a few more plants. I also scoped out some BALA Sharks. I am going to talk to Rick tomorrow and find out if the they will be good additions to the tank. They look pretty cool thats for sure. I also had a chance to clean the rocks on the right side of the tank, and rearrange the environment a little. The water is still a little murky today from all that movement, but it should be back to normal in a day or so. I also scoped out another aquarium....as I think I want a bigger tank in a few months. I still have a few more lessons to learn (hopefully ones that wont result in dead fish), but once i get this down I think a new bigger tank will be in order...i am thinking to move from 55 gallons in the living room to a 75 gallon tank in my bedroom. AWESOME

hmm what else did i do yesterday. Oh ya right nothing. I was going to clean the carpets but could not be bothered. I slept out on the patio again, which i love, and which i will only be able to do for another month or so.

Today I will be going into the office for a couple hours, probably 1-5 to make sure all my ducks are in a row before the auditor comes tomorrow. I have a few updates to make in the Safety Manual, and I would also like to update my "Statistical Records". that is converting my daily safety data into monthly records.

Other than that Tappers should be back from Vancouver tonight, so I will no longer have the run of the place. Or should I say the run of the place when Wayner hasnt been over, forcing me to drink Crown and COkes with him. lol. Hope everyone has a great Sunday, I will talk at ya tomorrow

Here comes Ernesto

Well it is Saturday morning, and I am up bright and earlier. I guess that is because I slipped out of Jenifers party early last night. I think I started drinking a little too early lol. I had fun though, but was not really in the mood to head out to the clubs with all of them. But the good thing is, I did get to bed before midnight. However, prior to bed I think I promised Angie that I would go to Edmonton September long weekend and go skydiving with her.....hmmm....So i guess I will be skydiving next weekend.

As for today. I think I am going to clean the house a little, and possible shampoo the carpets. I also want to go to Pisces pet store and get some more stuff for my Aquarium....maybe even a new fish. And pretty much relax, as I have decided to go into work tomorrow in order to ensure that everything is ready for my External Safety Audit on Monday. I am a little stressed about the whole thing, but I am also hoping I pass.

On the Weather front, Ernesto was named yesterday and seems to be getting bigger. His pressure has dropped below 1000 milibars, actually it was 999 this morning, so we will will have to keep an eye on that over the next couple days. Again we will have to keep in mind the "Hurricane Graveyard" that we spoke about before. He is still a Tropical storm, but the computer models predict she will become a hurricane in the next 48 hours. He is running into a bit of shear, so he is also slowing down, but many of those computer models also put her into the center of the Gulf of Mexico by midweek. Once He is there he will run into very warm deep water, and then it is just time before he turns and makes a line towards land.

I will post a couple images for everyone. As usual the accuweather Hurricane image with its caption and commentary. The GOES Project Science image (awesome) these images are from a new satellite and are fucking awesome. And the last is the Accuweather Forecast EYE path, which is always a good one to look at. It is pretty elementary in form, but usually is pretty accurate in the near term. But as you will see, the long term predictions are a bit harder to forecast. As the storm gets closer to the USA, Accuweather will usual update and alter the path daily. So here you go.



Just a quick edit here, I am going to use the National Hurricane Centers....Prediction model from now on, instead of the Accuweather version....for as you can see, it is better model.

And yes folks, for those of you who do know your way around the souther united states. And although it is a long term prediction, these models do seem to point the storm in the general direction of New Orleans, so lets just hope she takes a turn in the Gulf. I do like a good landfall, but landing in New Orleans would definatley not be good.

Hello....Tropical depression 5...keep em coming

Well I heard about tropical depression 5 before I went to bed last night, but could not do to much checking up on it because I was watching "Why we Fight" on the CBC. Now before I show you a picture of 5, lets talk about "Why We Fight"

I saw this movie a few months ago in the theatre and was amazed it was on TV so quickly. I guess someone out there wants to make sure everyone get to see it. And in the wake of what is happening in the world (Israel/Lebanon) it does open your eyes a bit more. It is definatly anti "american military-complex" and shows some startling speaches by Eisenhower about that topic. It is a must see for all of us out there trying to figure out what is going on in the world. It also does a great job of differentiating between being anti-american and being anti-war.

This is something that always gets me in trouble. I tend to point the finger at america. I tend to say anti-american things. But I know in my heart of hearts I am not anti-american....infact I am very pro-american. I definately believe in the founding principles of the country. I beleive in the declaration of independence. But I DO NOT believe in Imperialism. It was Britains Imperialist agenda that created the United States, and yet a few hundred years later it seems the roles are reversed. Why does this seem to happen so much. That Countries and Peoples seem to grow into that which they rebelled against. (The Jewish People go from persecuted to persecutor, the Hippies go from free love - to the Yuppies, and america goes from the land of the free, to the land that want to impose occupation on any nation that will not give it oil, or buy its goods and ideology) This is something I do not understand.

Thinking of it, I find myself being my own hypocrit. Only six years ago I was slagging all those in the world working the 9-5. Those working for the man. I myself was happy being me, bartending, writing and spending time with friends. Today, my life revolves around my job, and I find it hard to relate to people because of the fact that I have become, in part, the thing that I hate. Lets just hope I figure it o out, and lets just hope Israel figures it out, and then maybe our neighbors will enjoy our company a bit better.

But on a more pleasant note. We have Tropical Depression number five coming up on the West Antilles. This one will be heading into the "Hurricane Graveyard" so it might have a difficult time building into a really big storm. The Graveyard is a pocket of dry air between venezuala and Cuba. Dry air blows north off of north coast of Venezuala and tends to "kill" or "stall" storms as they make there way through. However, if they can stay organized long enough, they usually regain strength on the other side. So we can hope that it manages to keep itself organized and focused on it objective....OBJECTIVE, knocking humans down a notch or two.

If this storm does manage to strengthen "HE" will become the fifth named storm of the year, "Ernesto". So, Ola Comma stas, Ernesto. Here is the accuweather satellite image with commentary. I will not include the new GOES NASA image, as both Debbie and TD5 are outside of its scope.


I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Debby

Well I dont have long for a post, but we have our fourth named storm of the season, and I wanted to make sure i got a picture of her. Her name is Debby, but she will not make landfall even if she does strengthen to a hurricane. There is also a disturbance in the gulf, and that is something worth watching over the next few days. Anyway just wanted to post this along with a few images.

Just another day

Well its tuesday and the weekend is well behind me. Work seems a bit slow on the water and fire side, but mould, and construction are going through the roof. Tonnes and Tonnes of work there. I am working hard to get ready for my safety audit on monday, and I hope I am ready. I am sure there will be a last minute ditch effort to make sure all the paperwork is ready and available for the auditor, but time is running out. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Outside of work I am trying to get back on the fitness wagon. I started at it last week with some light workouts, and I plan to continue, and build on, them over the next couple months. Jen is working out too, so I should have someone to get me off the couch if I am being lazy. We worked out tonight in her building, they have some good equipment over there, but it was hot as hell. Not too sure what my goals should be. I just know I really need to get rid of this 25 pounds that seems to haunt me. When I managed to get rid of it last year, my self esteem and general outgoingness had never been higher. I remember dating more, and being in generally better spirits. I miss being able to wear a t-shirt and not feeling like the entire room is looking at the fat old guy lol. But we will see how things go.

On a more personal note, I have been dealing with a bit of loneliness lately. I visited Shauna a few weeks ago, and it felt like going home. And visiting Fysh this weekend just underscored the point. I miss that. Even though I have friends in Calgary, it is not the same as friends like Shauna,and Fysh, who I have been through so much with. Sometimes it feels like I am just telling stories from my past to people, but they dont seem real (probably because I am so different than the old me). It is nice to be around them, because they were there for all those crazy time. Shauna and I have been exchanging old memories, just little one liners that only really mean something to us, and it has been something I look forward to, everytime my text rings or I see her face on myspace. SO with that said heres one for you.....Shauna, grounding force down the hall, who let us play steamroller in her living room lol

Hmm what else....in the news there is just a whole lot of garbage on a crazy killer. I guess a few years ago someone killed a child model (I dont remember it being on the news, so it must have been in the mid to late nineties when i wasnt watching tv) Anyway, some guy confesses in Bangkok so they fly him back to the usa for a trial. Not sure what is going to happen, other than I am gonna have to look at his gay face on the television for god knows how long. I think they should just give him a trial and save us the drama. FOr all we know he is just a crazy who did it to become a celebrity....and hey.....low and behold....the media gave him his wish....way to go media. Why dont you spend some time interviewing some schoolteachers, and fireman and people who actually deserve to be celebrities instead of all these crazies you put on the television.

On the weather front I am still waiting for a Hurricane. TD4 (Tropical Depression 4)is currently off the coast of Africa. It is suppose to intensify, but after last weeks wave i am not gonna hold my breath. But if it does it should become a T.S by Friday so lets just wait and see.

Toodles till tomorrow

Just what the doctor ordered

Well where does one begin. It all started on Wednesday after receiving an email from an old friend. This email hit me pretty hard, but I managed to get through it. Then I came into work on Thursday to find another email from this old friend that pretty much made me go "full tilt". But after much venting I managed to get through that too, (Sorry to aforementioned friend for venting....the past is best left in the past) All of this pretty much set the stage for a "need to get out of town weekend"

So anyway Thursday night Sarah and I went for Sushi at Wasabi's on 16th, which was pretty good, and then we went and saw Talidogo Nights, or whatever it is called. Anyway it was fucking hilarious. I was expecting there to be a few funny parts (all of which were in the commercials) but the movie was packed with humor, on many different levels, I would recommend it....big time

5 am came early, but that is what time i got up friday. Met the girls at the Husky station and then it was off to kelowna. The plan was to follow each other out there but we got seperated until golden, and after that it was smooth sailing. The traffic was not too bad, so we got to kelowna around noon. A quick unpack. And then off to Scandia for some mini golf. I still have not added up the scores, but i am pretty sure I won. However, Jessica got a hole in one, and still has not bought a round of drinks for Jen and I....WE ARE WAITING....hers a couple photos of bratzilla and Jessica at the minigolf





After minigolf it was back to the house for a couple drinks and then off to meet up with Dayton and Debbie. Dayton is a pretty cool guy from Saskatoon. He owns a pharmacy in Kelowna, so I guess in a few years I will be calling him up for Viagra lol. And Debbie is an old roomate of Fyshes, and a new mom. Their little baby boy "Rain" is just two weeks old. He still had his little nubby on his belly button. You can tell he will be a Kelowna Beach baby. He was pretty quiet and just laying in his bed in the plus 30 weather with a little smirk on his face. New babies usually scare the hell out of me, but Rain was an exeptional. Very Cool. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me so I did not get a picture of little Rain.

After a visit with Rain, we all headed to the beach for a little snorkling. This was my first time snorkling so most of the time i just spent working on my breathing and diving technique. I did get to see some fish, which was very cool.

After snorkling it was back to the house for some BBQ. Fysh made his world famous home-made BBQ sauce. So the steaks were good and tbe Beers were cold. Beers soon turned to whiskey and then it was into a cab, and downtown to check out some night life. We originally wanted to go to a place called Rosies, but the line was too long. So we walked over to a place called Flannigans. They had a two man band playing cover tunes, as well as ten dollar triples, which Jen and Jess both woofed down quite quickly. As for me, I was feeling not too bad, but didnt really want to be in a bar. So i just sat there and got into a nice argument with Jen about the FOO FIGHTERS and how they RULE. Nothing like a good argument with Jen.(Thanks kiddo) ANyway Friday ended with Fysh and I going to check out a dance club....then feeling really old....and then going back to Fysh's house for a good nights sleep.

OK Saturday morning we all got up nice and early. I went to safeway and picked up things for Omellettes. For all those who have not tried them, I make a GREAT OMMELLETTE. After breakfast it was back to the beach. Not much to report accept it was a great day at the beach. The weather was perfect. HMMM what else, oh yes. Alyza stopped by with her dog "Whinston". SHe also told me that she is 12 weeks pregnant, so yet another old friend is expecting. What is with all the babies lately? LOL. Anyway lets take a little break and look at a few photos from the beach.


Thats Fysh on the left looking like Elvis, Jen in the middle, and Jessica on the far right, looking grumpy (probably bitching about something)


Me, Alyza and Whinston (Yes i Know, I need to lose weight, Fuck off)

As can be seen in the top photo, there was a concession on the beach. I dont know what it is about concession food. For me it reminds me of simpler times back in grade school. Like at a track meet or volleyball game. All concession food is a comfort food. There is nothing like chowing down on a smokie and sipping on a slurpee to make your stress level come down a notch.

After the beach on saturday I came back to the house to "cool down". Being a red head and having a shaved head means that sun and me dont usually get along, so it took a couple hours in the air conditioning to get my core temp down, so that i could enjoy my vacation again. Once the girls got back to the house, we got ready and headed downtown for some food. Jen recommended a place called Kelly O'Bryans, and although I was not keen on eating out at all, it was an awesome choice. I had a nice helping of stuffed Sole (two fillets stuffed with crab/shrimp/hollandaise sauce). It was great. We ate our dinner and drank our drinks on a rooftop patio overlooking City park Beach. On that beach a band was playing some rock and roll, so the setting was awesome.

ANd well that was pretty much my night...Oh yes while Jen and I were walking to get her car, we passed an elvis impersonater and Jen grabbed a photo. Jen please forward this photo to me, so I can put it in my Journal blog.

After dinner it was home to bed

Sunday morning, was an early rise. During the night Ryan and Jenny pulled through town on there way to take Jenny to Vancouver to finish her studies. Jenny (one of the trailor park girlz I told you about a few blogs ago) came in and jumped on me, giving me a nice goodbye hug. I promised her I would make a trek to Vancouver in Oct/Nov. And Yes Jenny, I will keep in touch. You are awesome. (ps Ryan dont fuck it up you idiot)

After waking up and packing my shit, i went down to the beach for some more tanning, while the girls went to get fruit and veggies (and from what I hear Jen found a great score on tomatoes). I headed out of town around noon, and made my way to Oyama for some more tanning. Oyama was much hotter than kelown, and I only lasted about an hour. But Oyama had another concession, so I got to have a great burger called "the general" it was awesome. Oyama also has a great fruit stand, so I was able to pick up some cucumbers and tomatoes for my lunches this week. Awesome.

The ride home was long and the traffic pretty much sucked. But as always the view was spectacular. Damn do we live in a beautiful country

Need A Break

Well I have decided to take tomorrow off, and head to Kelowna for the weekend. Jen and Jessica will be heading to the okanogan as well so it should be a great weekend hanging out by the lake. Craig and Fish are letting all three of us stay at their place, so the accomodations are gratis (although i might still go camping on Saturday)

Planned activities include 1. Relaxing and thinking happy thoughts and looking at hot babes (I really need to get a girlfriend soon, I am going crazier than I already was) 2. Spending some time working on tanning my fat ass on Gyro beach. 3. Rafting down the Canal in penticton 4. Eating the "Fishermans Pot" at Salties in Penticton. 5. And of course filling up my cooler with as much fresh fruit and vegetables as possible.

Not much else to say. Sorry for posting a certain blog. For everyone who read it please erase it from your memory. (If only it was that simple.)

Again in the words of sheryl crow, "no one said it would be easy, no one said it would be so hard"

Unwanted Comments on Myspace

It was a nice evening. I had a few friends over to play poker. I cooked a couple chickens on the BBQ. Jessica stopped by for some food. The night air was cool, so the apartment wasnt too hot. And then I make my way over to the computer to play around on myspace, and what do i see. It appears that Cory, my perpetually funny, but often confused roomate, decided to make a wise crack at my myspace.

So let me just say a few words in my own defense. First of all just because I do not have every porn star from the A list, B list and C list linked to my myspace. And just because I dont live in fort McMoney, and have hundreds of hours to spend re-tooling my myspace, DOES NOT MAKE MY MYSPACE GAY.

However I would like to point out a few things about Cory's myspace that definately constitute Gayness. To start with one only needs to go to his little gay "get to know me" survey and look at a few of his answers.

Q.The shoes you wore today? A.Cross trainers.(It doesnt take Freud to figure out what he means by this)
Q.Your best physical feature? A. Arms. (We all know that Cory really meant wrists
Q.Single or Group Dates? A. I cant even find a girl to date me, much less a group. (Another simple one, obviously cory prefers to date men)
Q. Do you play an instrument A.More than one (Obviously a reference to the many skin flutes, and knob organs Cory enjoys while up at camp in fort mac.)

But the number one give-away on Cory's myspace, that he is infact gay. Is this little gem of a photo that he has posted of him and his buddies up in fort McMoney....Notice they are all men. (CORY IS IN YELLOW)

CORY AND FRIENDS IN FORT MCMONEY

Addicted to Sushi

Well I went for sushi again today, I think I am addicted. I started working out again last night, and now I am afraid to eat burgers for lunch. I will be so happy if I can take off this twenty pounds again this fall. I managed last year, but then gained it all back around xmas time, what with all the cold weather, and cookies, oh ya and the beer didnt help either.

I am beginning to get frustrated about this weekend. I want to go to Kelowna. I want to hang out with Jenna, Fysh, Ctaig, Jessica and Jen. But it is beginning to sound like it might turn into an ordeal. Jenna has court till about lunch time, and then she has to drive down to Calgary and only then can we leave. It is going to be beautiful in the Okanogan this weekend so traffic will be congested, which mean probably not arriving in Kelowna til midnight on friday. This would not be too bad if I was planning on staying till Monday morning, but as it stands, we would be heading home Sunday. This means 14 hours of driving for one full day of beach time....not a very good time table. So as it stands right now, I am not feeling good about the whole ordeal. To make matters worse it is Jenna's birthday weekend so I dont want to wreck her weekend. So basically I am left in the middle of some strange events. So much for a stress free weekend, I can only hope that things will take shape before the weekend. The stars will all align, and my weekend will turn into a full blown funfest, but I will keep you posted.

As promised, I am going to post two updated satellite images for today. Not much happening on the hurricane front, but two low pressure systems are building on either side of Florida.

Oh yes I am bbq'ing a couple chickens tonight, so if anyone wants to come over and help me eat them, you are welcome. (Beer can chicken with a brown sugar and paprika rub.....carrots, onions, potatoes on the side) Please feel free to bring a bottle of wine with you, Naked Grape is my new favorite...Merlot please.

Hurricanes....Coming Soon

Well as everyone is well aware I am a hurricane freak. Thats right I love to follow and watch hurricanes as they build across the atlantic and then pound into the carribean and souther united states. I myself dont find this morbid, as for me it is awe-inspiring or awesome. Hurricanes seem to fill me with the hope that nature still has something powerful enough to put us in our place, and show us our own "smallness".

For those in the know Hurricane season started a few months ago, and pretty much goes till the end of November, howerver most, or all Hurricanes normally start popping up in late august and early September. Thus, we should be in for a show anytime now, with my current prediction that we will get our first one within the next ten days. In fact, from what I can see, i believe the tropical wave that is currently at 20 degrees west and 15 north will hopefully get organized in the next week as it moves across the atlantic, and should, if we are lucky give us our first hurricane. Being a hurricane tracker I am lucky enough to have a multitude of satellite links on my computer, offering me daily images to keep me salivating over the week. I will try to share at least two of these images each day over the next month, so that everyone can see where Hurricanes come from, and how they eventually make land fall in the Gulf of Mexico.

The first image I will show you, is from the Accuweather Hurricane center. This is the best place to start when you want to get an idea of what is happening in the hurricane world. From here, you can narrow your search.

Hurricanes are born as the hot air from the interior of africa is blown out across the atlantic where it begins to pick up moisture and form clouds and if you are lucky thunderstorms. When they first start they are called TROPICAL WAVES. I dont know what that means, but for an amateur it basically means pocket of rain and clouds.

The next step, if the wave becomes organized is a TROPICAL DEPRESSION. This basically means that a group of thunderstorms has begun to get organized, and that, working together you begin to see the rotation that could evolve into a hurricane. A tropical depression gets its name because the barometric pressure within the system is depressed, that is, it is lowering. And for all of you who remember your high school physics, air moves from High Pressure to Low pressure. In other words a low pressure system sucks things into it. So basically a hurricane is a powerfull low pressure system that sucks things into it, making it bigger and bigger and more powerful as it does it.

A good way to judge a storm is by finding out its pressure in Millibars....the lower the millibars....the more powerfull the storm. By checking the millibars daily, you can tell whether a storm is getting better organized, or less organized. For example hurricane Katrina got as low as 902 millibars, whereas tropical deppresion chris from a few weeks ago was around 1012 millibars, so that give you an example of the beginnings of a storm and its most catostrophic finale.

Looking above, it is easy to see the tropical wave off the west coast of africa (between senegal and guinea). It is pretty big and for this reason, i think it should be able to get organized. But there are many factors that determine whether a storm can get organized. Two of them that I have learned have a great affect are water temperature and wind sheer. Water temperature affects how much energy the storms can pull up into them, and sheer from above, determines whether the storm is getting ripped apart from the turbulant forces above it. Needless to say, if there is little sheer, and warm water, the storm will normally become organized as it moves across the atlantic. And thats when things get really interesting.

The Next shot comes from NOAA GOES satellite.

Once a storm manages to get organized in the atlantic, it this satellite image that gives us the greatest detail on where the storm is, and where it might be heading. The image you see is actually a still shot, from a video that usually covers a 24-48 period of the weather in the area. So if you are interested you can go to the NOAA web page and see the storm in its full glory. As you can see from the image there are currently no tropical storms or hurricanes in the shot, but hopefully that will change soon.(That weather you see off the coast of Florida is simply a Low pressure system. It should be noted that this could get organized and form into a depression, but is not expected to do so. But again we will have to wait and see, AFTER ALL WEATHER IS CHAOS, IN ITS GLORY)

I am going to leave you there. I promise to update those two photos daily over coming weeks so we can all watch as hurricanes are born, grow, and finally wreak havoc on mankind. LOL. Man do hurricanes rule.

Cease-Fire / Yes or No

Well it is Sunday evening, and here in the free world, that marks an end to the weekend. A world away in Lebanon, the United Nations is waving a carrot to the world labelled a "cease-fire", although I dont know what that means. Israel is still on Lebanon soil. And Hesbolah's entire reason for existance is to prevent or frustate any Israeli occupation. So even if the cease-fire goes into effect, what does that mean in regards to the Israeli soldiers still on the wrong side of the border. To put it bluntly it means nothing. It means that Israeli is still occupying a country. It means Israeli will continue to kill Lebanese citizen. However, it will mean that Hezbolah will be chastized if it attempt to use its resources to defend its own country.

I guess as a Canadian I have to ask myself "what would I do". If diplomacy ever eroded between my country and the superpower to the south, how would I feel about American tanks rolling over the border to protect American interests in the Oil Sands. Would I sit back and let them in, or would I pick up a rock and throw it at the tanks. Or even worse, after finding that rocks cannot hurt a tank, would I devolve into a more primal being and take the fight south. The truth is I dont know what I would do, and I hope I am never tested in such way on my principles. All I know is that today I live in a free country, well free in the sense that there are no guns pointed at me. And I am glad for that. But my heart goes out to all those people around the world that still live under the yoke of fear from occupation.

In my mind, and I am no political scientist, the fear of occupation is the greatest form of terrorism. I can live with the fear that someone could kill me tomorrow. I can live with the fear that gangs are on the streets, and could, move into my neighborhood. I can live with these form of terrorism, because I am still free to get out of the situation. This is not the case with Occupation. Occupation is pure fear, like the fear of being unjustly locked into a prison cell with no form of process or justice. There can be no justice, when one party is in control and the other party is impotant. And unfortunately this is an obvious truth that even a child from the ghettos understands.

I find it more than ironic that out of the holacaust a nation was born. A nation that now seems poised to make hezbolah supporters wear their own form of armband so that they can be "irradicated". It is an eye opening, and blood curtiling revolation when we realized that some muslims now associate israel and the United States with Hitler and the third reich. How does a people evolve from persecuted to persecutor. You would think that having gone through such hardship, that they would understand instinclty the plight of the other, but yet this is not the case. Instead Israel continues to look at much of the muslim community, in the same way that Hitler looked at them years ago. I dont know where I am going with this. I dont know if anyone knows where they are going with this. But I do know that father and mother, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives all want this to stop. And so, if they all want it to stop there must be something keeping it going. Just what is that? Who is that? and why?

Over the weekend I watched a great documentary. It has won many awards. It is called "Darwins Nightmare". I am not going to get into specifics but for those that have seen the movie, there are some telling similarities between Lenanon and Lake Victoria. Both, once fertile and full of promise, yet now in the grips of some unnamed force of economic and politic manipulation. Manipulation that might serve some macro agenda, but on the micro level is void of rhyme or reason.

I dont know whether that is a fare assessment. Please take the time to see the movie and let me know what you think. I will leave this blog with the immortal words of Sheryl Crow

"No one said it would be easy, No one said it'd be this hard"

Thats all from me. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

The Trailer Park Girlz

Well it was just over a year ago that I met the infamous Trailer Park Girlz. AKA Jenny "Buckly guzzler" Siddle, and Linny "Cute-zilla" (hmm i dont know her last name)

As usual I was laying on the sofa minding my own business on a saturday morning (or maybe it was a tuesday, but that couldn't be cause i would not be home on a tuesday morning having a nap on the sofa ;-)). When i hear a knock at the patio door. Of course I ignore it, after all I am napping. And then I hear the door slide open. Now you have my attention, would be assailants. I quickly rise and grab hold of a weapon, or a can of beer, they are similar you know. And make my way over to the patio door. On the other side I see two little cuties...both blonde....both in their early twenties.....So of course I am thinking, DAMN SWEET. But I dont show it, instead I give them the old, WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOK....."Hello", they reply, "Hello" looking at me like I am an absolute idiot. I looking back at them, like I am an absolute idiot, "Can I help you" I say, they respond, "Dont you remember us" Hmmm two blondes....I would hope I would remember this.. "Uh No, maybe you are looking for my roomate Ryan" Again they look at each other, and I not at the top of my game return to the sofa for my nap.

After Laying down I look up and the two of them are still there, yapping away like girls do. I wonder if I should shut the blinds, maybe then they will go away. But they just keep standing there like two stray kittens, maybe if i give them a bowl of milk.

After a minute or two, the shorter of the two (not the minutes the girls stupid) that would be jenny opens the door wide and just comes in. Ok, maybe all those letters in Penthouse Forum are real. "Nooman....I met you the other night, I am friends with Ryan from St. Albert", she says in a very abrupt manner, very un-becoming of a "refined lady" So of course I think "Damn, maybe all those letters from Penthouse are not for real."

"Oh I am sorry, I must have been drunk when we met, come in, sit down, can i get you a bowl of milk, i mean a drink" (I made that up, i didnt really say that, but it would have been funny if I did)

Anyway that is how I met this dynamic duo (the second time). Since then we have shared some good times and some good times. Both of them (the girls not the good times idiot) have spilt things on my floor, one slept in my bed and made a mess of it, both have jumped on me in that same bed, one has bought be chinese food, one has let me consult her on the inner workings of the leather mafia, one looks great in a cape and the other in a hat, both must have been real trolips in a past life, and both have become people I like to be around.

I am writing this because in a week or so Jenny will be moving off to Vancouver, so I wont see her for awhile, and Linny will be back at'r up at the U of A, so I wont get to see her for awhile either. GOOD LUCK IN THE COMING YEAR YOU TWO CRAZY BITCHES, LETS BE SURE TO HAVE A BEER BEFORE YOU LEAVE.

More Lessons

So after my eventfull Friday night, I, as usual quietly snuck home and tucked myself into bed by 1am. It would seem that every friday (the only day i drink) I somehow escape from all my friends and sneak home. I do this subconsiously to avoid falling back into bad old habits, and for the most part it works. So anyway, I sneak back on Friday night, which means that come ten a.m saturday, I am up and ready to roll. Golf was the original plan, so I wake up a little hung over but ready to play golf. However, when I walk out into the living room and see Wayne asleep on the sofa, and the reminants of a small party scattered around the room, I realize that unless this was a one man show there will be no golf today. I quietly make breakfast and wait patiently for the household to awaken, still hoping they will get up in time for golf. But by the time 2pm hits, i know i am out of luck

LESSON #3. DONT GET TOO EXCITED ABOUT GOLFING ON A SATURDAY IF YOUR FRIENDS ALL PARTY TILL 5AM FRIDAY

Saturday night, was scheduled for the RETRO PARTY out at Canmore. Hosted by the always beautiful and talented trailer park girlz. Originally I had planned to attend this party, get drunk (ya ya, so its a saturday...long weekends are excempt), and then crash in the tent. However, I was told that the tent had been commissioned by a few other party goers, so I quietly put my tail between my legs, did not get drunk, did not get to hit on a number of very cute girlz (Leo especially), all because I needed to drive home. So basically my Saturday night plans were ruined because I had no where to sleep. But that is no big deal. ACCEPT. I drive home, rent a movie, chill out, and get to bed early. I then wake up on Sunday morning to go to church (but didnt end up going cause i was too mad, for reason I will now explain) only to find Wayne (again) asleep on the sofa, and the tent is sitting on the dining room table. Which basically means that no-one used the tent. Which means i could have stayed in canmore, i could have gotten drunk, and i could have hit on all the cutie pies at the party. But instead I just got to stand around for an hour like a bump on a log. So

LESSON # 4. FRIENDS WILL FUCK YOU (AND NOT IN THE GOOD WAY) THEY MAY NOT REALIZE THEY ARE DOING IT. BUT THEY WILL FUCK YOU.

Now after all of this bullshit. I am thinking my weekend is going to be a total bomb, but then things start to turn around. i have been trying to get rid of an old pool table for some time, with no luck. But then on sunday afternoon, Richard takes a peak at it, and decides he will take it. This was a real blessing. So then on a whim I decide to truck up to Edmonton to assist in the delivery. This in-turn results in me phoning shauna to see if i can crash at her place. So I call shauna and low and behold who is with her, Mark Ross. My old roomate. The three of us have not all hung out together in almost 8 years. Now things are starting to look up. I get myself to Edmonton, hook up with Shauna, and in turn we hook up with Mark at the Stonehouse (a pub right by our old apartment). I should also note that Shauna still lives in the building that i called home for seven years. It is always nice to go back there, so many memories. Unfortunately some of those memories involve lee (dont worry Lee I wont tell the weewee story lol), so it is sometimes bitter sweet visiting, however, having come to terms with a few things in the past month or so, I was able to look at all the old memories in a positive light, and it felt great.

Hanging with Mark and Shauna taught me a few Lesson. I would love to go into detail about how I learned these lessons, but instead you will have to settle for just the lessons, as i dont want to get into details.

LESSON #5 SOMETIMES FRIENDS DONT CHANGE, AND YOU SORT OF WISH THEY WOULD. (Mark)

LESSON #6 SOMETIMES FRIENDS DONT CHANGE, AND YOU ARE GLAD THEY HAVNT...CAUSE YOU ARE HAPPY THAT THEY ARE WHO THEY ARE. WHEN YOU STAND BESIDE THEM AND THEIR CONSITENT MOVEMENTS, IT GIVES YOU A SENSE THAT YOU WILL BE FRIENDS FOREVER, AND THIS IS A TRULY GREAT FEELING (Shauna)

LESSON #7 SOMETIMES FRIENDS WONT BE FRIENDS FOREVER. IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU LOVE THEM ANY LESS. IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE GIVING UP ON THEM. IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE GIVING UP ON YOURSELF. ITS JUST MEANS SOMETIMES FRIENDS WONT BE FRIENDS FOREVER.(LeeAnn)

Well that is it for my rollercoaster weekend. It was awesome to touch base with my past. And not the bad past I am trying hard to forget, but the good past. The Good past that involved people like Shauna, LeeAnn, Randy and Mark. I might not have got to see them all this weekend, but I saw enough of them to remind me what it was like to just hang out and not worry about what everyone around me is thinking.

A special thanks to Shauna. I know I dont tell you enough but I love you dearly. I am a better person for having you as a friend. And I hope our friendship keeps growing until we are so old that we forget all these crazy stories about each other. p.s stop dating married men lol

Friends..Old and New

Well the long weekend turned out pretty good. I think I will look back on it, as a lesson learned about friendships. What lessons did I learn? Well lets take a walk through the weekend.

Friday I came home to find Cory and Richard, having a few bevies, bbq'ing, and spinning records. It was chill, no drama, just friends sitting around, cracking jokes, shooting the shit, and taking the piss out of each other. LESSON # 1 (The Best times with friends are spent just hanging out)

After the BBQ'ing it was time for the boys to get set up for their big night of DJing at the rhino. I drove over to pick up Colin, and Cory and Richard loaded up the truck and headed to the Rhino as well. Once all the stuff had been dropped off, I chose to leave the working boys to set up. I enjoyed a few nice beverages at Crush while they set up for the night. After the set up was complete (took them a couple hours) we all hooked up again at Crush and then soon made our way to the maid. Unfortunately time was not on our side, as the boys had to dj at ten, and we did not get to the maid until just after nine. This meant that we only got to see one dancer. Luckily she was pretty hot. Then Cory started to freak out, he was worried that if they showed up late they would not get extra time to spin. Their set was from 10-midnight, and he was really looking forward to playing. (Which can only be expected after working 16 day straight up in ft. McMoney)

Anyway we arrived at the Rhino at ten oclock on the nose, after walking in the near subzero meteorlogical anomoly that was occuring in Calgary that night. The boys took the stage, and, well the rest of us continued to dance, and drink, and socialize with the rest of the crew that had assembled. Kimmi, Dave, Whitney, Wayne, and of course Jeanine, were among my favorites. So there we are dancing away, the music is building and I am excited to hear some of the new music Richard had promised to play, with some really dirty baselines. You know those tracks with the base lines that sound like they have been turned out by somehow digitally remastering and tuning an old worn out set of brakes. Base lines that grind right into your bones and make your muscles tighten and jerk on the dance floor. Those rare gems that just with a single VROOOOOOOMP WAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAA seem to grind away a weeks worth of stress.

Well those are the tracks I was waiting to hear when all of a sudden the mood of the music changed. I stopped my dancing, I looked over the the booth, I did not see Cory, I did not see Richard, I only saw Colin mixing in a record. I was like "What the Fuck is going on?" Then i look over to the side, tucked away in the corner and see jeanine, Cory and Richard sitting at a table, the dim light making their angry faces look like the flashlight skeletons faces you made at summer camp. I walk over, and am basically told that I will not hear those long anticipated tracks cause someone had decided to give Cory and Richard the boot. Now, I am not rational at the best of time. But after having a few beers and a few shots to be told I was not going to hear what I had been waiting for 7 hours to hear.....well that is going to make me a little less rational than normal. I was furious, and I made sure that all parties involved knew it. COLIN, TREVOR, hell I even bitched at Craig. But still no resolution. The boys had spent hours setting up, had planned their whole evening (and mine) around this two hour timeslot, that had been abruptly turned into one. I even left the FRENCH MAID early on a friday, all so they could play this gig. And here they were getting cut off short. I save these words for events just like this, the words are BULL SHIT. And the funny thing about all of this, all parties are friends. SO

LESSON #2. Sometimes friends fuck each other (and not in the good way). They might not even realize they are doing it, but they will fuck you.

MORE LESSONS FROM THE WEEKEND TOMORROW

The Lond Weekend is Here

Well it is friday and another long weekend is just a few hours away. As always on a friday before a long weekend, the phones have been quiet. However, I did manage to sign my first private mould remediation job since getting my certification. It is a small one, but for a private job it is the perfect size. I will let you know how that goes next week, and whether I am able to please my new clients.

As for the long weekend, tonight will be bbq'ing at the house, and then off to the Rhino to listen to Cory and Richard aka Dennis Zaz and Rackman Powers rip up the decks. I am sure it will be a good night as both of them are just getting off a 3week work straight excursion in ft. Mac... I wouldnt doubt if they are at the strippers as I write.

Other than that there is a Retro Party tomorrow night in Canmore that I am hoping to make an appearance at. However, it seems to be growing beyond control, and thus might be a bit TOO BIG to warrant a trip out, if I cannot find a warm bed, amongst other things to sleep in that night LOL. Sunday and Monday for sure will be spent relaxing, writing, bbqing and just plain old laziness. I might take a jaunt up to edmonton to visit a few people but we will see.

Not much else to report, I am trying not to turn on CNN, as you can tell from my last few blogs it was really getting to me. Too much time thinking about how fucked up the world is, and not enough time spent thinking about how great parts of my life are. So this weekend I am gonna try and think about those things. As Cory put it, Pussy and Beer. I guess as a single guy that should pretty much cover it. And well, he is probably right.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, I know I will. CYA on Monday

Oh wait i forgot all about Rob Zombie the other night. Jessica and I went and say Rob Zombie at the Corral. It was a great show. I dont really know any of his new stuff, but he puts on an awesome show with cool visuals. Thanks to Jessica for coming, and a special extra thanks to Shauna (The little princess) for hooking us up. I miss you heaps, jumping on my bed, dancing to barbie girl trying to get my motivated to take you for breakfast at the sidetrack, or dragging the futon onto the roof of the apartment so I can sleep outside after too much you know what lol. CYA soon.

Israel vs Lebanon Concl.

Ok I am going to try and end this here. Just so everyone knows, the main reason for my babbling, is that I find it the easiest way to try and sort through things in my head. What I am realizing with this one, is there is no end to the story. I was going to finish my Israel/Lebabon diatribe with trying to understand Hezbolah. However after weeks and weeks of research, I am no closer to fully understanding who they are. I have thought them as a resistance force, and thus, for the most part I side with them when it comes to anything that has to do with Lebanon.

However, over the past week I am beginning to realize that much of the reason for the Israeli OVERFORCE is due to issues that involve Israels right to exist. And not Lebanon at all. Israel is afraid that if Hezbolah continues to grow they will one day threaten their very existence, that they will, by force try to wipe Israel off the map. And I have to believe that in twenty or thirty years this is exactly what would happen, unless some sort of narrative can be created where these two peoples WANT to live side by side.

But I should also note that for 65 years it has been palestine that has been fighting for its own existence and doing it with rocks, and acts of terrorism. People do stupid things when others threaten their existence. I know I would. Thus Peace is the only answer. And the only way you get peace is by putting the past behind you. Not easy to do when there is so much PAST between these two advisaries. One could argue 8,000 years.

I guess what put things into percpective was a reporter on CNN last night. Who basically reminded me, and everyone else, that these factions have been fighting in this region for 8,000 years. Like I said in my first entry, these are the same Israeli struggles written in the old testament. Israel keeps getting older, but the problems stay the same. War is more their norm than peace is. I am sitting here thousands of miles away in what is probably the most peaceful region on the planet trying to understand people who live in an area where war is the norm. They have fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers that have been killed by war. Some of them simply want revenge, others peace, others land, others fame and fortune. This is not just a simple ethics question on whether or not Israel should be there, or whether or not a population within a population defines the entire population. It is not something I should be trying to figure out. Nor should I believe that I am smart enough to try.

But nonetheless that is who I am. I want to know why these people cant get along. If for no other reason than I AM smart enough to know; that myself, the israelites, and the members of Hezbolah, are all cut from the same clothe. We are all brothers and sisters, and if they can do this to each other, what does that say about me, what does that say about you? What does that say about humanity?

Israel vs Lebanon Cont.

Well i think i have bitten off a bit more than i can chew. After writing yesterdays blog, I spent a few hours researching on the internet. And all this seemed to do, was shed light on the fact that I havnt got a clue about what I am talking about. However, I feel that yesterdays blog is still pretty much accurate. But there are no doubt many, many forces, situations, and events that I have left out in regards to the creation of Israel. It should also be noted that the only reason I said all of what i said yesterday was to try and give us some perspective on how the state of Israel "came to be". So with that said, time for some more babble on the topic that is all over the news again today.

So where was I, oh yes Israel is born. Or should I say Israel, sometime in 1947 is created by the UN. And like every other state, the state of Israel has borders. How these border were determined, I am not going to get into. But inside these borders there were many different peoples from many different religions, and cultures. I also dont want to over-state this, but the moment Israel was created a war started between ALL of Israels neighbors, and the new state of Israel. ANd while this war was taking place, many Palestinians left their homes, beleiving that "their" side would win, and that Israel would soon cease to exist. This obviously did not happen, and thus many hundreds of thousands of people became refugees during this initial war. They can be found in present day Gaza, and the West Bank. The West Bank was annexed by Jordon after the Israeli-Arab War of 1948, and it remained under Jordanian control until the 6 days war of 1967, at which time it was CAPTURED by the Israelis. So one would think that because Israel CAPTURED this land that they would now govern it as part of their own. But this not what happened. Instead Israel simply occupied it, and left the people inside this prison with no government or formal society to speak of. So from this assumption, it is easy to predict what is going to happen. The people within this prison are going to form their own clandestine government, and society. And this is precisely what happened.

So basically you have a part of the world that is being occupied by a foreign state, that does not want to take responsiblity for the land it has just "won" or "ceased". Thus it does not allow the members of this land, which theoretically belong to Israel, to become citizens. It therefore is an APARTHEID state. You must also understand that if you now "OWN" the west bank, and your military is killing and exterminating people within the WestBank, you are killing your own people, and this should be viewed as a crime against humanity. I realize that I am beginning to sound a bit anti-Israel, but I should point out that if Israel took responsibility for the West Bank and Gaza. If it took on the costs to make these parts of its territory part of the whole. I would not have a problem with it. But the problem is, as Israel well knows these people do not want to be ruled by Israel, thus it would be very very hard. It would also be very very hard for anyone else to rule over them without the blessing and support of Israel, the country that occupies them. So basically, Israel knowing the task is almost impossible, just keeps letting them try it on their own, and then condems them when they fail, or when the clandestine government within the west bank get too close to actually forming a functioning society, they bomb the progress back into the stone age, and make them start again. And if this is not fit the title "crime against humanity" i do not know what does. It is like the cruelty a child possesses when he shakes up his ant-farm...only we are talking about human beings, our brothers and our sisters.

But what does any of this have to do with Lebanon. For starters we must also realize that up intil a few years ago, Israel also occupied part of Lebanon. This occupation started out as a simple buffer zone for its northern border, but did not stop until it pretty much occupied most of Lebanon including the capital of Beirut. This occupation, however WAS a little different than the one in the West Bank. Primarily because Lebanon was and still is a country, with its own government. So during this occupation it was able to make progress towards an end that would see the end of the occupation.

SO this FRAGILE government in Lebanon, since around 2000, has been attempting to create and build itself into a self governing and self defending country. The problem is, that when your neighbor to the south has shown such little regard for your border in the past, you are going to be a little anxious about them coming back over the border and occupying your land again. And thus, from the grassroots you get a group of FREEDOM fighters. These fighters Informally (because you cant formally keep Israel from coming across your border, they are powerfull enough to do whatever they want) create an army that will fight Israel if it tries to cross the border again. These Freedom fighters belong to a group called Hezbolah. So now that we have come up to speed on Israel, tomorrow we will take a look at Lebanon and Hezbolah, and whats all the fuss about.

TTYL