Liberia Travels

Sometimes Travel in Liberia is just a bit Different..

OOPS!!

Crossing high quality bridges are fun too

Just a couple of photos I thought I'd share with you.

Stay Safe!!

A Leisurly Week-end Trip?

One week-end me and one of my American friends here (We will just call him "Joe" - mostly because that is his name) took a week-end break in Ghana. Now we both have been working for a long stretch and thought that the week-end away would do us both some good.

So here is what happened: As I was planning this trip, several things started piling up to cause stress for me. First of all my unit was having a "Board of Selection" a process by which UN Police are chosen for leadership positions. Now I have empowered many people on my team to be able to handle this "Board", but I still like to make sure all is lined up and propared to go. So I over-prepared I think for this Board.

Then something else happened. Instead of the usual 757 that the UN flies to Ghana, they sent out a message that only the Dash-7 would be available. OK so we go from hundreds of seats to 48. Add this to people leaving the mission for holiday travel, and I figured we would get scratched from the flight - it is a first come (first to apply for the flight) first serve basis.

After stressing over are we going to get to go - I called our "MOVCON" and confirmed that "Joe" and I were on the flight manifest. (What they didn't tell me was that we were the last two names on the list).

So we arrive at the airport that the fight takes off from and the airport isnt even open yet. When the doors opened some UN folks from what I will call uncivilized* nations all rushed to the door cutting in front of us. *An uncivilized nation is one that has not developed enough that the people stand in lines (ques for you British types) while waiting for service. Being that we were on the manifest, we decided that we did not need to worry and saw no need to jerk people out of line by their necks politely tell them to move to the back of the line.

Now let me tell you about the Dash-7. This aircraft was designed to be a Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft from the ground up. It only needs 500 meters of runway to take off. That is around 1625 feet. There were only 113 of these made. Ours was serial number 31. That means it cannot quite take off from an aircraft carrier without catapult assistance. It does not have a large payload though, and despite "MOVCON" putting out rules about weight of luggage it seems many people decided "they don't apply to me."

Here is what started to piss me off annoy me. "MOVCON" was letting people check their ginormous check bags/crates/boxes - many weighing ove 50 kilos (110 pounds). This is after the message was sent to everyone taking the flight that: As usual, baggage allowance will be strictly limited to a total of 15kgs per passenger and cargo uplift to/from Accra will not be possible.

So, they were taking luggage - and because of the weight - kicking off passengers. They only took 24 passengers (which left me and "Joe" out, not because we were at the end of the list, but because we were civilized and did not act like idiots by cutting the line. I find this almost typical "UN-thinking" - there are rules, but not for everyone, and luggage is more important than people - At least that is what the message seems to be.

So we get cut from the flight, but they tell us we can get another flight in the afternoon. We deceided to go ahead and go, even though now the two days will more be like one. Also instead of under two hours, the flight ended up being 4 hours , oh did I forget to tell you that "Joe" hates to fly?

We ended up making the trip, even got a little shopping done, and ended up relaxing by the pool at night with the live band of Africans that were playing traditional Mexican Folk songs. It would have been ok, but they did that rather poorly, yet somehow it was almost more entertaining because they were bad.

We flew back on the Dash-7 and made it back safe and sound. I needed the day off to relax from the preparation for the day off!!

Y'all stay safe!!

Are We Doomed? or Are we Saved?

I admit that I am not a big Obama fan. However, after he won the election I will give him the benefit of the doubt.  I keep hearing how he is intelligent and makes good decisions (this despite his atrocious choice of Vice-president).  Now he is forming his cabinet - most of his choices seem pretty good - yet one of the most important is another total blunder - at least historically speaking.

NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED:

TREASURY SECRETARY: Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  Apparently a wise choice.   Someone who understands the financial system and is not a total outsider.

SECRETARY OF STATE: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. - Undoubtedly the one most divisive politician in recent U.S. History.  First, I will quote Obama himself about this choice: "What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" He said in March. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no." - Apparently he has now made a quantum leap in changing his opinion.

A new President-elect that claims he wants to reach the international community - he chooses a divider verses someone who is known to be able to bring people together.  This appears more of a pandering decision and possibly a "keep your enemies closer" move.  I will admit that the rest of the world loved her husband as president, but that does not discount the fact that she is very divisive.  Obama is also making the mistake of predecessors in choosing a female for thi particular post when many nations of the world have no respect for women. This when he wants to "reboot" our image.

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general. - Not a real surprise.  He was a large figure in the Obama campaign.  From the Clinton administration he was a former Deputy Attorney General.  Quite qualified as an individual, but hardly a sign of "change"

DEFENSE SECRETARY: Robert Gates, a holdover from Bush administration. During a time a war - keeping the current Defense Secretary, at least for a while is an excellent decision.

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz. This is really an odd choice as there has been nothing available showing she knows anything about homeland security - other than she used National Guard Troops on the Mexican Border in her state. (At least we can give her that) Interesting that she will now head US Customs and Border Patrol.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Retired Marine Gen. James Jones. This seems to be a good choice as long as Jones has not been "out of the loop" too long in security matters. 

COMMERCE SECRETARY: Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M. -  OK once again political pandering here - What can Richardson's commerce expertise be?  He should have chosen a businessman/woman for this post.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary.  This seems to make sense - though Treasury Department and the Economy are two totally different things.

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR: Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office. The title is probably the biggest misnomer, but the choice of the appointee appears to be a good one.

President-elect Barack Obama will tap Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as his Energy secretary and former New Jersey environmental protection commissioner Lisa Jackson as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Both of these choices seem to make sense also.

World AIDS Day

Well, I work for the UN

The UN's answer to AIDS is condoms

Lots of condoms

A guy came into my office today - called himself "Mr Condom" - had an inflated one on his hat and many taped to his clothes.

So, this is the answer?

Ross Perot is President Elect by Cloning?

OK i just have to point out this observation. Doesn't it look like Obama was a cloning experiment gone bad from Ross Perot?



You can decide.

There is the Village Idiot and Then There are Villages of Idiots

Just a comment about the Bali Bombers -

They are dead - deservedly so. Terrorism and senseless murder is all it was.

Some of the villages where these guys are from are calling them martyrs. Martyrs for what - killing people? Being murderers. There was no known motive other than hate and death.

Knowing the attitude of some of those villages - there will be more idiocy coming.

Some Liberia Photos

I just thought I would share some photos of Liberia. Just some of the scenery I have seen recently. I hope you enjoy them.

Blue Lake aka Bomi Lake

A Jungle Road

A "Loaded" Van (Looks like it is about to fall over)

Old Church

Y'all Stay Safe!

International Day of Peace Celebrations

Here in Liberia at the UN we had a big to-do with the International Day of Peace Celebration. The SRSG (Special Representative of the Secretary General), Vice President of Liberia were the main head honchos at the event. Many other dignitaries showed up as well. There were honor guards, speeches, songs, native dances, and a tree planting ceremony. I just thought I would post a few photos.

Indian Formed Police Unit Honor Guard

(yes they are all female)

SRSG Planting a tree

SRSG Planting a tree

Native Dancers

Stay Safe!!

Bailing Out Lenders With Borrowed Money

OK, call me dumb if you like. How come we (the US Government) is making plans to bail out failed lenders during this "financial crisis" who had really bad judgment in loaning money? We do not require them to pay for their own mistakes.


To top it off, we are bailing them out with borrowed money.


Talk about a recipe for disaster.

:)



Ok, one more line to this. Do you think a bank would loan you money to get you out of financial trouble because you foolishly loaned out your money to a bad risk?

Darfur - what is Really the Problem

Darfur seems to be the "politically correct" cause of actors and famous people and the like. Some even raising money for helicopters and such. The problem is that the helicopters needed are gunships - not some small 4 person helicopter. Gunships and armed transport helicopters are needed.

You doubt me? Check out what happened on the 15th:

Monday, 15 September 2008
A United Nations helicopter
in Darfur was able to land safely yesterday after being shot at in the third
incident of its kind in the war-wracked region of western Sudan.

The helicopter was on its way to Shangil Tobaya, where the
hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) has a base camp, from the North
Darfur town of Tawila when shots were fired about 37 kilometres before it could
reach the destination.

UNAMID reported that the helicopter, which was carrying 12
passengers and four crew members, was able to land safely following the
shooting. However, one of its fuel tanks was found to be
leaking.

The helicopter later left for El Fasher, the capital of
North Darfur state and the headquarters for UNAMID, after repairs were made. The
passengers were left behind for security reasons.

What the do-gooders usually do not understand is that the situation is long past all of the genocide and such. It is now mostly a dangerous situation for peacekeepers. Darfur does not want stability and peace in the region and many warlords do not either. If peace comes the warlords lose their power and they cannot control the areas they control.

Anyways - just my thoughts on the issue.

Stay Safe!

On Politics, Presidents and Palin

I just thought I would throw in my two cents worth on politics for a bit. I am not trying to be political - but just share some observations:

OK, this is right before the convention: What was Obama thinking in picking Joe Biden? I mean you want to be known as the guy for change - so you pick the most ingrained non-changing guy in Washington as your running mate. Not only that- the guy that probably gives the other side the most prolific amount of sound bytes to be used in the campaign against you. I guess Joe is now saying "I really didn't mean all of that." Obama wants to claim he has good judgement - so much for that call huh?

Another observation - as a former competetor in Speech and Debate Tournaments, and former Speech Teacher a point about nearly all the speakers: Your speeches are too long. Cut out all the tired stuff we have heard before (though I know they cannot resist Bush Bashing) and just focus on new stuff - if you have any.

McCain chooses Palin as a running mate. One thing for sure - the presidential candidate with the most colorful background of any presidential candidate ever - surprised everyone with this pick. I don't know much about Palin. Maybe it was because she is a relatively young woman, maybe because she is more blue collar. Some say it was to get the "Hillary" votes. I cannot believe that last one. I cannot see anyone voting for Hillary that would vote for Palin - unless it is the "I am going to vote for a woman because she is a woman" vote. All I know is - he made the smartest or dumbest decision in picking her.

I have not seen much from the Republicans Convention yet. ( We don't get a lot of live feed stuff here) I am sure their speeches will be too long also.

Be Safe!

Gene Upshaw Dies

Gene Upshaw has been Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association since June 1983, after a successful 16-year career as a player and he is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On a trivia note - Upshaw became the only player ever to start on championship teams in both the AFL and NFL.

You may be wondering why I would post this story. Gene Upshaw was one of those people that I kind of knew - only because he was a student teacher in shop class when I was in junior high. First, by me saying junior high - that tells my age, as they are all now middle schools and the like. Now Upshaw was not my own shop class student teacher, but he was a student teacher while I was there. Student teachers usually only teach a couple of classes.

I will say this though. We were afraid of him. We all knew he would drive up through the wall if he gave us 'licks.' For you young-uns and overly politically correct people, that was a paddling you got for misbehaving in class. Why schools have gone away from that is just crazy - I think it was after the whimps that croed for getting lick grew up - they did stuff to "show them" by passing laws and making frivolous law suits. Sorry to digress...

He was born near where I grew up, and went to the same college I graduated from - Texas A&I. (The same school Darrel Green another Pro Footbal Hall of Famer went to). My dad was a local football nut - so I saw every home game for the Javelinas. If you need to know what a Javelina (pronounced hah-vuh-lee-nah, with the accent on the third syllable) is - go here. I remember the game where Upshaw kicked off and it would have been a field goal if such things count. Of course they kicked off from the 40 back then. At least in those days he was a giant to us. (6-5 255lbs) He would not be a large offensive lineman by todays NFL standard.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share about all of that.

Be Safe!

A Short CTO - Back in Liberia

Well, I have enjoyed a short time off from Liberia - it felt good to get out for a while. I was able to get some things done at home while on leave, but I didn't even announce to anyone that I was going home, as I had such little time there. I enjoyed the visit home, and I got a few things done around the house - some rewiring, some pool fixing, and of course we had a small storm come in when I was there. I didn't do a whole lot besides that, but it was good to be home and good to take care of some stuff. I did pick up a few things for folks working in Liberia, that they do not have available, in their home country.



One item was kind of mistake for me to pick up - it was a ginormous laptop. It has a 21 inch screen and all accessories included weighed 30 lbs. That really cut back on stuff that I could bring back with me, but, it really wasn't too big of a deal.

On a "dumb people" note:

On the flight back from Brussels to Liberia on Brussels Airlines, there was this lady sitting in an exit row seat - she had he bag in front of her and the flight crew told her she had to move it – so they placed it a couple of rows behind her in the over - head bin. That wasn't the dumb part. The dumb part was when we had stopped in Abidjizan, the plane changed flight crews. Guess what? The whole scene of the bag in front of her and having to move it was replayed. - So I am wondering, is she that dumb, or did she think that the new flight crew wouldn't notice, or maybe have different rules... Oh well, it was just one of those things that bug me.

It didn't bug me as much as the "devil child" that was sitting behind me, crying for attention only and kicking the back of my seat. Of course her mother was just ignoring all of that, and it is just a 9 hour trip or so. I quickly resolved the kicking issue by looking around the seat and giving the child one of those "I will cut you up in pieces and eat you alive" looks. It did work really well.

Other than that the trip went exceptionally well.

Spying on Gun Control Freaks - Illegal?

OK, how lame is it when a gun control group wants to file criminal charges against a former worker for “spying for the NRA.”

PHILADELPHIA - A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs. -- Story is here.

I mean, come on, how bad can it be, and what would the group have to hide to worry about being “spied on.” As far as I can tell, there is no special rights to privacy for alleged non-profit organizations. If the NRA decided to plant a person inside, so what, you can’t tell me the gun control freaks don’t do the same thing.

What is worse, is the fact it is considered a news story.

You can see my opinion on the issue below.

Stay Safe!

Hello, Dolly! Storms That Head to My Home.

Right now, I am in Liberia. It has been raining every day for the last few days. It was pouring rain almost all day yesterday. I started thinking about the old Creedence song "Who'll Stop the Rain" ...And I wonder, still I wonder Who'll stop the rain ...

I happen to be near where most of the hurricanes and tropical storms start as you can see in the pic below.
Unfortunately Dolly is kinda headed towards home. I am supposed to fly home soon - well in a week or so. I hope the storm is a long ways away from where I am going... DOlly isn't so pretty - I have her picture here:

Fortunately the "probability tracking shows it going far south of my home in Texas. Anyways. these are just the wonderful kinds of things I get to think about while here in Liberia.

Celebrating America's Independence in Liberia

Well,I am not used to people coming up and saying Happy Independence Day! Here working with the UN it happened all day. The US Contingent celebrated with a contingent meeting - it means no UN work that day. (OK say it- you know you want to "unwork") The greetings were nice - and somewhat unexpected by me. :))


We also had our medal parade on the 3rd of July, 5 guys got their medals for service in a UN Mission. I won't be eligible here for another 3 months. UNMIL policy is that you get the medal after 6 months. It was very short and non-ceremonial, as we did not want a lot of pomp and circumstance or whatever you get when you get medals. You can probably pick out the medals on the guys shirts.


It is kind of nice to have a peacekeeping medal - not everyone has one. I got one in Kosovo - it is a bit different.


Not much else - y'all stay safe!

Liberia Random Tid-bits

I have been in sort of a random this-and-that mode. I figured a lot of folks "back home" don't know much about Liberia.

Liberia's Flag was designed bases on the US Flag.

Liberia is the oldest Republic in Africa. It was formed by former freed slaves from the US.

Monrovia is named for James Monroe 5th President of the US

The official language of Liberia is English (though you may not recognize it when spoken by a local)

The country came out of 14 years of civil war in 2003 when the UN Mission (UNMIL) started here. Over 250000 people died in that/those civil war(s).

Liberia produces lots of rubber - Firestone has a large plantation here.

Liberia is where some believe dinosaurs still roam. The Kumbway and the Gbahali

Y'all Stay Safe!

A Long Time Ago in a Mexican Resturant Far, Far Away

Here is my story of what seems to be a hundred years ago. Before my wife and I were married, we had gone out on a date with another couple. I don’t remember why we were angry with each other, but we were. We were at a Mexican food restaurant, and had just ordered our food. The drinks had come, and while we were waiting, we were both not speaking. I just looked at her, I was angry because she was angry, and probably vice/versa. Yet, when I looked in her eyes, there was something more there.

To try to break the tension, I gave her a little wink, she didn’t cave, she would only keep a straight face. Even though she didn’t show it on her face, I though I detected that twinkle that says “I love you.”

I was just taking a sip of my drink, when her friend Bev said something like “Wow, you can tell just by the way you two look at each other that you are so in love!” She said it with conviction, so I know she was not being sarcastic. I nearly spewed my drink all over the table. It was a good thing they had not brought the chips out yet. I started to laugh, and I saw that my soon to be wife broke down and started to grin slowly. Then she busted out laughing.

Everyone at the table was laughing. Then Bev asked “Why are we all laughing?” I guess she thought we were laughing at my spewing my drink. We explained to her that were had been angry at each other and we weren’t even speaking to each other. If only she could have read the article on how to tell if a guy likes you, maybe she would have known for sure. Of course, we were no longer angry at each other and we had a nice night and date.

What I wonder is – did our love shine through even though we were angry at each other? Or was it that some people are just really bad at reading non verbal clues? I guess I will never know.

Just for information, it won’t be long until we have been married 29 years.

The Doobie Brothers and Missle Defense!

OK, I have to blame Kelly for this post. I just found out about her blog on blog catalog.

She had a post about her theme song - "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers. Well that post brought back memories of when I was a drummer in a rock n roll band (sounds kinda like a song) when I was in high school. We did cover of Long Train Running, China Grove, and Listen to the Music. Yes the fame of the after game dance - hah!



Jeff Baxter played guitar for the Doobies and Steely Dan amoung other groups. I love his style, and the feel of his music. I have liked the Doobies music, and what a lot of folks do not know that Jeff Skunk Baxter is an expert on missile defense.



Yes, that is right - he has worked at the Pentagon on Missile defense. Also "In 1995, Pennsylvania congressman Curt Weldon, then the chairman of the House Military Research and Development Subcommittee, nominated Baxter to chair the Civilian Advisory Board for Ballistic Missile Defense." - Wikipedia



So look up cool stuff on Jeff Baxter yourself. It is amazing what a career in rock n roll will lead to :P



Y'all Be Safe!

Woo Hoo for Me!

Yes, I feel a little like celebrating! First - my other blog got some love from two other sources this week! I thought it was great.

There was mention of it in Blog Catalog's Blog (I know almost redundant huh?)Then there was a great review at Doyoudiggit.com I am really impressed at how well written that review is! All I know is, it seems to pay off when you recognize other people's efforts and post about them. It seems that most of the internet is quite reciprocal when it comes to a little credit here and there. A big thanks to both Blog Catalog and Doyoudiggit.com !

Now for some other good news for me. I just was appointed as the Chief of personnel for the UNMIL UNPOL - I know a lot of UN's there. But for the United Nations Mission in Liberia UN Police, I am the chief personnel officer. So far everyone has treated me great - I am learning a lot about the job as I go!

Funny though - I still get paid the same :P

I Was Just Thinking About Flying Home When...

OK, just to let you all know, I am planning to be home back in the States the end of July for a few weeks during my "compensatory time off." I have even got my leave approved, I have already bought the tickets (I figured with rising fuel prices and such, it would be a good idea.

I got my tickets through Brussels Air, one of the few airlines that actually fly to Liberia from anywhere.

Well, this shows up in the news yesterday:

Plane aborts takeoff, injuring several passengers and closing
airport in Ivory Coast

© AP
2008-06-12 00:25:34 -


ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) - A Brussels Airlines flight carrying about 150 people aborted its takeoff from Abidjan's airport on Wednesday night, and several passengers suffered minor injuries while making an emergency evacuation.

One of the pilots of the Airbus 330 told the passengers he had avoided takeoff after hearing a loud popping sound which he thought was a tire exploding. A fire truck raced to the runway and quickly extinguished one burning tire.

By stopping on the runway and blocking it at about 9 p.m., the plane caused officials to close the airport to all incoming and outgoing flights.

The pilot initially told passengers to remain in their seats. But suddenly the crew started shouting, "Evacuate! Evacuate!" The doors of the plane opened, and everyone raced down the emergency slides.

Several passengers, including this correspondent, suffered minor injuries such as bruises and sprained ankles during the evacuation.

The passengers initially ran into a grassy area alongside the runway, then some walked and some rode airport vehicles back to the terminal.

So what does a plane in ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast have to do with flying out of Monrovia? You see, it is the same flight, you either stop in Abidijan before arriving in Monrovia, or after you leve Monrovia, depending on the day of the week. It is a refueling issue. OK, for those of you STILL clicking on the blonde joke, it is the same plane.

This is a follow-up report I found on the situation:

An engine stall was experienced during t/o due to a bird strike. Aircraft veered to the right and t/o was aborted around 120kts. Left and right landing gear brakes caught fire. This was rapidly extinguished by the fire brigade. Crew decided to evacuate and deployed the 4 lh escape slides. Preliminary inspection reports no damage to aircraft + no deflated tires. Several brakes will be precautionary replaced due contamination with extignuishing agent. Engine external/internal inspection revealed no damage at
this point.Tech crew is indeed underway for a full check-up prior release of aircraft OO-SFN.

I just kind-of hope they get a new one before I fly out of here.

Y'all Stay Safe!

A Great Blonde Joke!

For a great blonde joke - click here!

8 Totally Random Thoughts for no Particular Purpose

1. Sometimes boredom is a higher stressor than rocket-fire.
2. Blog Catalog is a cool place to share ideas.
3. Entrecard brings blog traffic.
4. Meals at the "PAP" UN dining hall are rarely bearable.
5. What the heck am I doing here?
6. It rains every day.
7. Doing business online is interesting.
8. This blog gets more respect than my other one.

An UN-Idol in Liberia? I Think Not!

Some of you probably wonder what the haeck do you do for recreation while in Liberia?

Well, right after I got here, I saw this poster. I was thinking UN-Idol. Gee... I wonder... What the heck, I will enter! There was actually a prize offered!

So, I decide to participate. Now, I do not have aspirations of winning or anything, but the whole idea of UN-Idol makes me sort of giggle. OK, look - don't say "You-In - Eye-doll" Say un-idol. You have to at least smirk at that.

OK, what I didn't know was that This guy was going to be there... so now there is photgraphic evidence. :P (and yes you stereo-typers he is Chinese)

So now, with photographic evidence, and all this pressure... I figured I needed some sort of special cosultation. So I found this "guru" to see what he could offer me. After all, he looks authentic doesn't he?

So anyways... nah....nah, nah, nah , nah nah... I sing Crocodile Rock - complete with "gator chop" motions and all

I was a little worried with this diverse international audience how they would react. (No I didn't steal these shots from a come-to-Jesus meeting. This is a real shot of the audience as I performed.

So guess what I won? If you guessed a certificate for participatiing you are absolutely correct. I didn't even win a prize for "worst dressed act (I think the guru got that one)

Y'all stay safe!

OK, I Never Heard Of A Virtual "Sit In"

Wow, it seem you can be all "hippy-like" without getting you hands, or butt for that matter, dirty. You can participate in a virtual "sit-in" Look, I cannot make this stuff up! It is for real.

Before I go off on how crazy it is, the thing is actually a good cause. These folks are raising awareness for human rights violations in Tunisia.

A year ago, the Tunisian regime blocked the two most popular video sharing websites: YouTube and DailyMotion. Why this harsh step? To prevent Tunisians from watching videos featuring testimonies from former political prisoners, human rights activists, and their families.

But Tunisian cyber-activists have managed to defy this ban, launching a virtual sit-in at the Tunisian presidential palace via Google Earth. The activists, from Nawaat.org, realized that Google Earth allows users to embed videos on top of satellite-image maps. The result is that any Google Earth visitor who visits the presidential palace can view a series of videos profiling victims of repression and torture. ("Enough oppression!" declares the wife of a jailed activist in one clip.)

What these guys are doing is a good thing. But , I still think the idea of a virtual sit-in is is crazy.

What I wonder is, do cyber cops come drag these guys away in virtual paddy wagons? How do you virtually hold hands and sing Bob Dylan songs? Anyways - the cause is good, maybe I will get into more about stuff like this - or maybe just silly stuff, I don't know.

A Day Late - Happy Peacekeepers Day!

OK, I know that I am like a day late and a dollar short. Yesterday, May 29 was International Peacekeepers Day. I should have posted sooner, but access to the internet was an issue. After all, I am a peacekeeper, so I should celebrate the day. It celebrates 60 years of international Peacekeeping.

This is how the day came about:

By resolution 57/129 of 11 December 2002, the General Assembly designated 29 May as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism,dedication and courage, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

The Assembly invited all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, non-governmental organizations and individuals to observe the Day in an
appropriate manner. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations eace-keeping Forces in 1988.

You can find all about UN peacekeeping missions here. You can read about all the hoopla here. So anyways, happy belated peacekeepers day!

The Dangers of the "Knut Hole"

One of the dangers here in Liberia is not what you may expect. It is the Knut Hole. OK, I am not sure who made the name up, either me or one of my friends here, but it has to do with a guy named Knut falling in one.

These are open holes in the sidewalk, that anyone could easily fall into...


What is really bad, one of the worst "Knut Holes" is in the driveway of Monrovia City Hall, and it is across the street from UN Headquarters.


Sometimes they are marked for safety with a rock or two...


I wonder how guys like this can manuver on these sidewalks safely, but they do.


Note: Those guys just passed the first Knut hole shown above.

Stay Safe!

Singin the Blues - I Wish!

Ok, I am not all down and out, but I am kinda blue. Maybe it is knowing I am missing my youngest's graduation. Maybe it is all the little things that have gone wrong. Maybe it is boredom. Maybe it is the malaria medicine :)

Whatever it all is, I have a hankering to sing the blues. I don't have a guitar either (no this is not a line from a song) Ok, now I am thinking it should be a line from a song. Also, I cannot play like BB King, but I really like his blues.

Today has been one of those "out of it" days for me. I cannot seem to get anything together, and would have forgot my head it it weren't so attached to my body.

I know things will get better, I just don't like the dazed days.

Stay Safe!

Bloggers Unite For Human Rights

I am not one to jump on a lot of band-wagons, but I am joining in this. I almost didn't just because Amnesty International joined in. However I work for the UN right now (I know, I know) specifically UNMIL, and I have seen many a human rights violations take place, and part of my job is to try and stop that.

All of that said, it brings me to this. What exactly is a "human right" and who decides what human rights are? For example, what many may consider a human right in the U.S. is a great priviledge elsewhere. Do we have a right to news access for example? A lot of folks do not have that. Do we have a right to a "safe" home, a house or an apartment?

The American Heritage Dictionary states

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

The UN's list is long and wordy. You can see it here. Not everyone everywhere has all of those rights. Everyone in the U.S. doesn't even have all of those rights (I say that because the U.S. is a pretty rights oriented country)So what I wonder is this: is freedom from torture a human right? (the UN thinks so) Many countries routinely torture their prisoners and the populations of the countries think it is "normal." Just something to think about. Is a minimum amount of space per prisoner a human right (the UN thinks so) though I did not see that in the definition. Is having three meals a day a human right?

I may not understand all about human rights, even though I am hired as an "expert" on that among other matters, I still work for human rights where I can.

Sometimes I Wonder...

Sometimes, I wonder where my blog readers, or at least visitors come from. Some I know, old BBB (Barry's Baghdad Blog) fans and some blog catalog friends. Then there is the passerby that may or may not leave a comment - but I often wonder what lead them here.

My wondering is based on my totally not knowing how all of the blog-traffic thing works. Oh, I know I could get lots of traffic with a few wild posts, but that would not be fair to the people it would draw in, as they would have been duped. I guess it would be like spamming, so to speak.

I think I am really just trying to keep myself distracted in a positive way while here in Liberia.

All is OK, I am just rambling.

Happy Mother's Day! (and some useless trivia)

First of all, to my mom, my wife, and the rest of you mom's - Happy Mother's Day!


Useless Mother's Day Trivia: In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter started a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother and began to lobby prominent businessmen and politicians. In 1908, Anna wrote to the Andrew's Methodist Church in West Virginia requesting that a Mother's Day service be held in honor of her mother, who was a Sunday school teacher at the church.
The first official Mother's Day celebration was held at the church on May 10, 1908. Jarvis sent 500 white carnations to be worn by each son and daughter and two by each mother in attendance.

Five years later, the US house of representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a Bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

Later, the commercialization of the day disturbed Jarvis so much that in 1923 she sued to stop a Mother's Day event, in the 1930s she was arrested for disturbing the peace at the American War Mothers group - protesting against their sale of flowers. In opposition to the flower industry's exploitation of the holiday, Jarvis wrote, "What will you do to rout charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers and other termites that would undermine with their greed one of the finest, noblest and truest movements and celebrations?" Jarvis died in 1948, blind, poor and childless.

- Not even a mother. Makes you think doesn't it?

Busy at Business

I have been blog hopping quite a lot lately, mostly looking for ways to increase traffic to my Be Your Own Detective blog. I still do not even understand a couple of the sites that are highly recommended by Search Engine Optimization "experts". I am not sure that I should even embarrass myself by saying what an idiot I am at del.cioi.us I just do not get it. There is a part about having a "community" but for the life of me, I have no clue how to use it.

I know that there are folks that make money online, but I seem to not have the flair to make Google like me. What is funny is this - this blog is looked upon with favor by Google, yet I cannot even get my Be Your Own Detective web page nor blog get indexed by Google. What is NOT so funny, is searches that should bring up my page bring up basically "dead" sites before mine. Sites that offer things that do not even exist any more or that have not been updated for two years. Yahoo has another way of indexing sites, it is simple: bribe them with 300 bucks AND if they think your site is worthy, then they will index it. Would it be worth 300 bucks? Sure, IF they index it. Am I gonna gamble on it? I am not sure if Google has not yet indexed my site.

I am not trying to fool myself. I don't expect to get rich online, I just wanted to generate income. Maybe I should do like all the real money makers - it seems all they sell is "how to make money online" which I am not selling. I sell legitimate service(s) - background investigations/checks and cell phone lookups.

This isn't a sales pitch, just a little venting of my frustrations.

Y'all stay safe!

Wordless Post: The President of Liberia and the SRSG

Laptop Back in Business - Woohoo!

Yes!!!

I was able to fix the laptop. Except yours truly forgot to take photos of the laptop in pieces and the repair job.

Added after original post:

I had to re-solder a power input jack I had re-installed on the laptop (apparently a common problem with a Toshiba Laptop like I have) I was able to borrow a soldering iron form the air conditioning repair guys here. I re-soldered the jack and put some epoxy on the other side for re-inforcement. That way it cannot work loose again.

Now I may be able to get back to my online business.

Now to find a guitar here - supposedly they aren't hard to find. My three trips to locate the guitar store have been fruitless.

Stay Safe!!

The One Month Challenge

OK, I am taking a one month challenge. For the month of May, I will see what a workout “Lance” gave me will do for me.
Here are the basics of the workout – it is short, but intensive:
You need two sets of dumbbells, heavy and light. To start, I used 15 lbs for “heavy” and 10 lbs for “light”
Bench Press 30 seconds Heavy
Rest 15 seconds
Half Squats (use end of bench to regulate) 30 seconds Heavy
Rest 15 seconds
Seated Shoulder Press 30 seconds Light
Rest 15 seconds
Standing Toe Calf Raises 30 seconds Heavy
Rest 15 seconds
Seated Hammer Curls 30 seconds Heavy
Rest 15 seconds
Prone Triceps Kickbacks 30 seconds Light
Rest 15 seconds
Repeat 6 times

This is done every other day. I will do some cardio on the off days.

We will see how well this workout does for me. FYI – the first time through, I was thinking, maybe I went too light, the second and third time through, I was thinking, “this is ok, not too hard” the fourth time through was work, the fifth time through, I was thinking “ this is hard work!” the sixth time through I was lucky to get 10 reps in the 30 seconds, the last triceps exercise – four was all I could do, I could swear the dumbbells went from 10 lbs to 80 lbs :P

Some Photos From Work

Some people just do not read the signs :) Who says there isn't surf in the Atlantic? These were about 12-15 feet:

Note the vehicle in the photo for comparison.

Not much else just a few pics - I hope to have something actually interesting later.

:D

Stay Safe!

Laptop Woes

Well, my laptop is out of order for the time being - probably in the power circuit someplace. I suspected the battery or power supply, but the problem is not in either of thos places. I guess it is time to open it up and see what I can see.

It figures that it goes out now, while I am in the land of over-priced-ness (I know that is not a word) Yeah a can of soup that is about $1.50 they were asking nearly five dollars for. Now I know that just is not right, and I know the local people do not pay thses prices. I don't mind helping the local economy, but it seems the "haves" have it all, and the have-not don't have much. I am beginning to think the warnings about local food are part of a big scam so the Lebanese mafia can get richer here. Nothing against Lebanese in general, but they run most of the markets and apartments here. It is hard to get into all of it without a long story, and I don't like long posts, so you will have to get it in small bites ( I guess small bytes too, since this is digital :P )

Nothing seems to be right or work easy here. No biggie, just a bit frustrating.

A Great Blonde Joke!

Hey, for a really great blonde joke - click here.

A Great Blonde Joke!

For a really great blonde joke click here.

Do Not Mess With Old Ladies

A friend of mine (Jose) sent me this joke. It made me laugh and I thought I would share it with all of you:

An older lady gets pulled over for speeding...

Older Woman: Is there a problem, Officer?

Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding.

Older Woman: Oh, I see.

Officer: Can I see your license please?

Older Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one.

Officer: Don't have one?

Older Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.

Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.

Older Woman: I can't do that.

Officer: Why not?

Older Woman: I stole this car.

Officer: Stole it?

Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.

Officer: You what?

Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see

The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please! The woman steps out of her vehicle.

Older woman: Is there a problem sir?

Officer 2: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.

Older Woman: Murdered the owner?

Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car, please.

The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.

Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?

Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers.
The officer is quite stunned.

Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license.

The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer.

The officer examines the license. He looks quite puzzled.

Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.

Older Woman: Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.


Don't Mess With Old Ladies
If you want to brighten someone's day, Send someone here.

Some More Interesting Sights in Liberia

I have seen this sign for a while - but I just now had the chance to get a good photo of them. I am not sure what the night train express is - some kind of drink, but I am not sure what



Now here is something you don't see every day - well, you may if you are here in Monrovia:) I always thought people were trying to get a monkey OFF of their back. :)

I have tried and tried to capture the sheer masses of people in one of the Markets here. Photos just do not seem to cut it - showing the real perspective of the crowds.

Here is a menu from a resturaunt here. The prices are in US Dollars. You would have thought that Liberia would be inexpensive - think again.

... and yes it says "homos" - but most likely is Hummus.


Y'all stay safe!!