Hurricane Regime?

I'm watching a program called Earthshocks on the discovery channel, this particular episode is about hyper hurricanes, fun subject for someone who lives by the ocean in the mid-Atlantic but I digress, they keep using the term 'hurricane regime', seriously, regime??? The dictionary says a regime is a system of government, that's what I thought it meant, I looked it up incase I was mistaken, so how can they call a hurricane a regime??

Mass Murder in Surrey B.C.

Murder is bad enough when it's the bad guys going after each other but it's a million times worse when an innocent bystander becomes the victim. Last Friday 6 men were found murdered in an apartment building in Surrey B.C., one of those six men was my first cousin Ed Schellenberg, from my mother's side of the family. I didn't know
Ed as an adult, at least that I can remember, I didn't see my family much growing up and practically not at all as an adult, now I live very far away. Nevertheless, I'm very sad for my family.

My younger sister called me with the news on Saturday, after Ed's brother had called her, the police hadn't released any names or details of the victims but they were sure it was Ed, he had gone to work as he was supposed to servicing gas fireplaces and wound up in that particular apartment at a very bad time. My first thought was that I hoped he went fast, didn't suffer at all, my second thought was I'm glad my aunt wasn't here to have to go through the pain of losing her eldest son, she died a few years ago. Ed had sent his co-worker home early that day, a move that saved his life although neither had any idea at the time.

It is gang and drug related the police are saying now for certain, one other victim was innocently murdered, he was a neighbour from an apartment below, the other four were known drug dealers according to the police.



RIP Ed.

The Vancouver Sun - Father of two in wrong Surrey apartment at wrong time
The Globe and Mail - Police: two Surrey victims in ‘wrong place at the wrong time'

Only in the US

Apparently it's illegal to feed the homeless in Orlando, Florida, read it for yourself here. Shocking isn't the word, disgusting, appalling, cruel are close, that a city in such a civilized nation would even consider such a law is absurd in the least. Best country in the world? Yah, right. If I lived there, I'd organize as many people as I could to go and feed the homeless every day just to spite this foolish law.

Oh Deer!

Why is it when an animal kills a human, no matter the circumstances, there is a mentality of having to kill that animal. Is it retribution, a need to get even with the animal? I just read a story on CNN.com where a deer that was in rut, breeding mode, attacked a farmer and killed him. When it's breeding time the animal becomes more aggressive, the farmer was in a pen with the deer when it attacked. Why was the deer penned in the first place and shouldn't a farmer or anyone who keeps animals locked up know the behaviour of that animal, especially if it's in rut? But the animal pays for the stupidity of man, again. Don't get me wrong, I feel sorry that the farmer lost his life but I'm equally sorry that another innocent animal has lost it's life.

We as humans have taken over so much land these animals belong to, then we disrupt them further by heading into the woods for our pleasure, most completely unprepared in what to do if approached by a wild animal. It's not surprising when an animal attacks in the wild, it shouldn't be a surprise anyway, they are after all, wild animals. The onus is on us to prepare for any possible encounters if we intend on trekking into the woods, it's not right for an animal to die because of our stupidity. Where are the animal rights people on this issue?

playing catch-up

We've had a dismal spring and summer with day after day of fog and so far fall looks like it's going to be wet, fun. It's not unusual for us to have fog but normally it burns off in the morning and comes back in the evening, this year it hung around so much even the local berries were delayed and not very plentiful. Some plants grew while others faired poorly, my carrots never really grew at all, they sprouted and sort of froze in time. More later.

TV, random thoughts

Has the history channel run out of history? They must have if they need to put CSI:NY on everyday.

I'm a new viewer to 24, I started watching it a few months ago on A&E and seen all but the 6th season, it's a good show but I have a few observations. The show is in real time, each episode represents 24 hours and each season has 24 episodes and represents one day so, now after watching 5 days worth of episodes, not once has Jack Bauer slept, ate, drank, peed, pooped, showered, shaved or brushed his teeth. I don't think I'd put that much responsibility on the guy, I'm surprised he's not suffering from dehydration and exhaustion.

CSI, I like the show but hate the arrogance. You are guilty until proven innocent on that show and they are never apologetic when they're wrong. Would a crime scene investigator really go after the bad guys or is it their job to find the clues only? If they are detectives as well then shouldn't they all be a CSI and if not, who processes the crime scenes for the cops? On Law and Order they call them CSU and they do call them in, the detectives don't process the crime scene.

Colony Collapse Disorder

Where have all the bees gone?

"Colony collapse disorder is the rapid loss of adult worker bees from the colony over a very short period of time". Commercial beekeepers would set their bees near a crop field as usual and come back in two or three weeks to find the hives bereft of foraging worker bees, with only the queen and the immature insects remaining. Whatever worker bees survived were often too weak to perform their tasks.

CNN - Mysterious honeybee killer could make dinner bland, USDA official: "This is the biggest general threat to our food supply"! Holy crap, is anyone paying attention? "The problem started in November and seems to have spread to 27 states, with similar collapses reported in Brazil, Canada and parts of Europe." I'm not sure about the one colony I know of here in Newfoundland, I could try and find out, I'm curious to know if we might be isolated enough for whatever it is that is causing this.

Our Planet

Read this , and then tell me you're not concerned.

The link above goes to a story on CNN's website regarding the planet's ability to absorb carbon dioxide, the term they use is 'carbon sink' and how, in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, this sink is full. If the sink can't absorb the carbon, it stays in the atmosphere causing the planet to warm, the greenhouse effect. This planet is warming faster than scientists originally thought, this new data expedites the necessity for change in a whole new way. Have you seen the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow'? Ironically it was on tv last night, the same day this newest study was released, it's not far from the truth.

I don't know how anyone can not be very concerned given all of the new information, it's hard to believe there are still debunkers, it will probably take natural disasters on a scale the Human race has never seen to convince some of these idiots.

Scientists didn't expect to be able to detect this for another 50 years or so, this is big. This means all of their projecting has to be reworked, this will not be good, especially for coastal places like here. I'm on borrowed time already so chances are pretty good that I won't see the worst of it, I hope, and I have to admit at this point that I'm glad I never had any children, not with the world we've left them.

There is an urgency that isn't getting across to the general public, we really need to change our ways, now, today, not tomorrow or next year, if we don't how many years will there be left? How much suffering will there be along the way? Already the hurricane season started early and there have been many powerful tornadoes, some in places that rarely see that kind of intensity.

I have a friend who travels a lot in both hurricane areas as well as tornado alley, I worry now and have lectured her on being prepared for the worst. She listens to the radio now instead of cds when she travels now, in case there is a weather warning anywhere nearby, that makes me feel a little better.

I'm not looking forward to whats to come but I will do my part, however small it is, to try and stop it from happening.