Don't kill the world, Don't let her down, Do not destroy basic ground
Don't kill the world, Our means of life, Lend ear to nature's cry

Don't kill the world, She's all we have, And surely is worth to save
Don't let her die, Fight for her trees, Pollution robs air to breathe

Don't kill the world, Help her survive, And she'll reward you with life
And don't just talk, Go on and do, The one who wins is you

Cherish the world, A present from God, On behalf of all creatures
Made by the Lord, Care for the Earth, Foundation of life
Slow progress down, help her survive

Eish guys Danny got recalled to the war what a sad day it was yesterday( started writing this on Tuesday, and Danny is from Las Vegas, the TV show!

Ya ne,

Eish maara today I was looking for the purpose of the people for the research of myself to find some of the solutions to the quessions that are to being asked by the people of the world as to the fundamentals underlying this inconsistencies of the weather of the world of myself….

In english, I have been trying to locate some papers or articles that have been written recently about some of the arb weather we have been experiencing in the last few years. Unfortunately the most recent documentation I could find that was more generic rather than specific, was a document dated 3 July 2003. The CNN article, based on a study released by the World Meteorological Organisation indicated that the world was experiencing a record number of tornadoes, droughts and floods.

For example in 2003 roughly 562 tornadoes hit the USA, far exceeding the previous record of 399 in June 1992, I’d hate to see what the number was in 2004 with those hurricanes and tornadoes in Florida, the Cayman Islands (yes I no they are not part of the states) and Haiti etc.

The US experienced some of its coldest and wettest weather in the eastern and south eastern parts for much of May and June, this weather seems to have been carried forward into 2005 January with some hectic blizzards being reported in New York this week. There have been some crazy floods in the California area these past few weeks. Newark on the east coast has also experienced some of its worst floods since 1959.

A pre monsoon heat wave hit India earlier in 2003 causing temps of between 45 and 49 degrees celsius, which is insanely hot. Sri-Lanka experienced crazy rainfalls, tropical cyclones etc, that resulted in floods and landslides. But wait there’s more…

Switzerland experienced its hottest June in 250 years, the southern parts of France experienced temperatures which were 5 to 7 degrees hotter than average. There are more examples I could cite, but as the saying goes its old news ;-). What is interesting though is getting to the perceived root of all this meteorological turmoil. What is this beast called global warming?

Global warming, also known as ‘the greenhouse effect”, in a nut shell is the overall heating of the earth. This is a normal thing, but the only issue here is that nowadays, the earth is warming at a far increased pace. This warming effect has a huge effect on the world’s climatic conditions as well and crops. Current trends clearly demonstrate that global warming is directly impacting on rising sea levels, largely as a result of the melting ice-caps.

Much of the earths atmosphere is made up of gasses. 78% of which is Nitrogen and 21% of which is Oxygen. The other 1% is a large number of trace gasses including carbon dioxide and methane. If the earth didn’t have this blanket of atmospheric gasses it would be roughly 33 degrees Celsius cooler. The clouds and the gases keep the earth warm. Good thing….mmm not really, cos you have to bear in mind that the sun already warms the earth with its piercing rays, of which 70% is absorbed by the earth’s surface and the remaining 30% is reflected back immediately. So what we have is the sun heating up the earth, the clouds and the atmospheric gasses warming up and their molecules radiating some of this heat energy back to the earth, creating a warmer earth surface.

So now whats the problem u might ask cos the world naturally created these gasses. Yes, it did, but now it didn’t cater for us, having braais and chimneys, burning fossil fuels and forests, it didn’t cater for forest fires. The huge population growth is also quite significant, u might ask y, well not only are we burning (oil, gas and coal) more but we are farting more (methane) and breathing more too (carbon dioxide)..more cars..planes…trains..u get the picture.

We in the southern hemisphere have not been experiencing such dramatic climatic changes as in the north, this is due to the fact that in the northern hemisphere there is much more land than in the south, conversely this means there is more sea than land and as a result the ocean absorbs more of the heat than the land hence the southern hemisphere will be cooler. In the north it would be the opposite. The result…drier soil, less water in the lakes and rivers, melting ice caps increasing the sea levels, the natural expansion of the sea because its becoming warmer. The results of rising water, well areas close to the sea…bye bye, hurricanes and tropical storms. Most of Bangladesh and the Netherlands will be under water. Maldives will be no more (this can occur if the sea level rises by as little as 2 feet).

What can u do.
Stop chopping down the damn trees. Trees absorb CO2 chop em down we reduce the absorption power. Instead plant them, not only will they keep our houses cooler, they will also help absorb CO2
Stop having so many kids…mentioned the population effect.
Stop burning so much fossil fuel find alternatives
Get a bicycle, catch a ride with a mate, reduce the use of ur car
Reduce… reuse… recycle…rechargeable batteries
Getting junkmail tell them to stop sending it to u, u save urself the anger and u save paper

There may be more ways, but its 7:45pm and I have had a long day here, so I am out. I need to get a life…the things I do for my friends!

Birthdays
25th Anna
27th The man they call Ingo
28th Fuller and Stillwell
31st Mr Ramogase

My dear friends u have urselves a disgustingly fruitful year and a birthday that you can talk about to your friends with glee.

Quotes

"Life is a series of little missions like: getting your license re-newed, buying milk and going to home affairs" Rowan Leibbrandt.

Only cos I am just too tired to look for others J

Respect

“Country roads, take me home, To the place I belong, West Virginia (South Africa), mountain momma, Take me home, country roads”

My favourite people, whats going on? Hot and sticky here, but u no, what is the alternative, cold and shivering? There is no pleasing the peeps is there?

Speaking of cold and shivering something has been getting a lot of air time of late, that thing is that ‘homecoming revolution’ thing that is being sponsored by FNB they even have a website for those of us who are interested and that is www.homecomingrevolution.co.za. Up until recently I never gave this whole saga much thought, all I thought was mmm nice. Well that was up until I had a conversation with Andrew Gillibrand, who opened my gave me a different perspective on things.

This brain drain/homecoming saga is something that started in about 1994 or maybe just before and it worsened post that. Basically people who saw no future in this country or its ability and the potential during the trying times packed their bags and sailed on to plant their roots elsewhere, thanks to ancestral visas or the ‘blessing’ known by many as a 2 year working visa. The majority of the people leaving the shores of this lovely, yet not perfect land, discarded of their ‘Africanism’, turned their back on ‘their country’ and stepped in pursuit of opportunities, that this country didn’t afford them, in their minds ofcourse.

Some left, many more stayed. Was there chaos, anarchy and disaster, I would answer no. Those that stayed have tried their best to make sure the economy is in the best state it has been in in a crap long time! Many stayed, not only because maybe they had no where else to go, but mainly because they believe they can make this place work…through thick and thin they stuck it out. Together we have brought the Rand to R6:$1 and R11.4 to the pound, interest rates are sitting at 11%, inflation is sitting at between 3%-6%, and UNEMPLOYMENT is sky rocketing.

Now hear my argument. We have a situation in this country where the demand for jobs far exceeds the supply at the moment. What that translates to is a helluva lot of people without employment…agreed? Now, Brian Mkwanazi and Koos van der Merwe have seen this to be the case and here they are slogging it out, trying to make a better life for themselves in this their native land. Wha-la James Potgieter of position x in Big corporation decides to call it a day, he has reached 55, contributed all he could, imparted all the knowledge he could. He has had a good innings now its time to retire. Eureka, an opportunity presents itself, either to fill James’ position or to move everyone up and to create an opening somewhere down the pecking order. Whatever… Brian and Koos are excited there is a gap if they just finish their qualifications get whatever experience they need there is hope… along comes Claude McBain, living in the United Kingdom for the last 11 years, worked at ABN-Ambro, Barclays, Standard, Deutsche etc. he decides hey SA aint all bad let me go back ‘home’…result sorry for Koos and Brian, Koos at least can opt to jump ship, so too can Brian I guess, but he may well not, cos that R40k he needs in his account to get that working visa is not growing on trees etc.

Brain drain happened, we coped and still are coping with it. To all of a sudden embark on a campaign to attract people that left solely cos they felt SA was a lost cause, I say let them be. There are those that went over to just blaze it, take a break, travel etc. this doesn’t apply to them. But the others that said “Voe rts ek”, I say we say “Voe rts ek” right back.

…This is Yaw …I am reading…(kinda like this is Dr. Frasier Krane, I am listening…)

Quotes

It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. J.K Rowling

The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action. – John Dewey (1959 – 1952)

Birthdays

19th Priya…happy bday GG, hope it was a good one, next time when ur fone rings press the green button, last I heard it doesn’t bite J

Respect and huge love,

Over and out for another week and I wanna hear ur views!

Y

How good and how pleasant it would be, Before God and ManTo see the unification of all Rastaman, yeah As it's been said already let it be done, I tell you who we are under the sunWe are the children of the Rastaman, We are the children of the Higher Man So, Africa, Unite, Africa, Unite, Unite for the benefit of your peopleUnite for it's later than you think, Unite for the benefit of your children
Unite for it's later than you think. – Bob Marley

Its actually funny how some things just work out how they do. I was thinking about something today, this morning a friend Thabo sent me an email re-iterating my thoughts and then some, then at work today we were chatting about it at work…

What has become the most common household name thus far this year? That’s right boys and girls, the word Tsunami, u may have heard about it because I may have written about it last week J. There has been a huge ‘buzz’ about it recently. Plenty people raising money for the victims, lots of volunteers rushing out there to help out 160 000 people dead… huge disaster. First national Bank has set up an account which recently clocked R1mil, Pick n Pay have gotten onto the band wagon putting out baskets where people can drop canned food, water, bread etc for the survivors etc. So here a guy goes into Pick n Pay, buys a few cans of canned food etc. drops it in the trolley, walks out of the shop then up to him steps a beggar who just wants a loaf of bread, but mmmm sorry for u boss I am sending my stuff to Asia, not sure how its gonna get there or if its gonna be stale when it gets there but hey its going!

I guess u can see where I am going with this, there has been a huge fuss over the Asia disaster, and rightly so, but once again what about AFRICA!!!??? Damnit how many people die on the motherland daily, from famine or strife? Ivory Coast… DRC… Rwanda…But Africa as a whole may be a huge problem to tackle so I will focus on a tragedy that has been getting some airtime, but not as much urgency has been shown from the international community, as has been in Asia. I don’t hear (maybe they are doing it, but I hear nothing of it) Europe, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait or America pledging hundreds of millions of US dollars, to alleviate the plight of the many people suffering in Sudan’s Western Darfur region.

Sudan, Africas largest country, ruled by the National Islamic Front’s General Omar Al-Bashir, lies on the western shore of the Red Sea and is bordered by Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Uganda and DRC to the south, Central African Republic, Chad and Libya to the west and Egypt to the North. How many is that 8 countries and the Red Sea border it, one big ass country. Over 28 million people live there (not quite as densely populated as Nigeria, which is about half its size). There is a diverse range of ethnic groupings which speak over 400 languages. Since independence in ’56 the country has had civil war almost continuously. The conflict is seen to be between the Arab and Muslim north and the black African (mainly Christian and animist(The belief in the existence of individual spirits that inhabit natural objects and phenomena.)) south. The conflict is insane because firstly there is the multi-ethinic part of it then there is the religion side of it, then we have the race (colour) side of it, and as if that’s not enough then there is the struggle over land and/or political power, yip I know what you are thinking, those guys are forked!!! Well I’m thinking that! J

The initial conflict was between Government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), this conflict seems to have subsided, but, tension in the western region of Darfur has risen. This conflict is quite peculiar, because this region is home to over 30 ethnic groups, no part of the region can be said to be ethnically consistent because there has traditionally been a degree of movement and inter-marriage between these groups and social classes, resulting in a bluring of ethnic distinctions. U would think that as a result of this they would be living happily ever after, but noooo! Recently there has been increase in the tensions in the area with ethnic and racial definitions coming to the fore strongly. The tensions have been sparked due to the continuous economic and political marginalization of the region by government forces. This conflict has been further compounded by the famine and desertification of much of the land in the area that has led to a migration of a vast number of the population southwards leading to more tensions over the increasingly scarce farmland and water resources. All these tensions led to the formation of the ‘black’ led SPLM/A and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which is seen by the government as a rebel grouping fighting against what they see as blatant injustices being committed against the people in the region, in favour of the people in Khartoum and the South. SPLM/A and JED came into prominence in Darfur during 2003, when they saw a gap in the turmoil being faced by the al-bashir regime. They launched attacks on government military bases and just started to wreak havoc in the country.

The government, countered this insurgence by the rebels through Janjaweit, a militia backed by the government. The militia in ‘retaliation’ carried out raids on communities that were suspected of harbouring or aiding these rebels in carrying out these attacks. The government basically gave the militia Carte Blanche to stop these rebels. It provided them with arms and supplies, it even went as far as providing fighter jet firepower which assisted in the militia’s raid on the communities. The humanitarian impact has been huge, civilians shot dead haphazardly, women and girls raped, families displaced and left homeless, trying to flee from the fighting…boss it’s a mess there!! And there is no end in sight, ya the UN high commissioner for human rights is on it, yes there was a 45 day cease fire in April 2004, yes there is an International Crisis Group in Brussels looking into it, but I am not sure about their urgency.

Lets bring it back to us, do we consider sending a tin of food or a bottle of water to Sudan, DRC, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, hell Ethiopia was starving for many years….mmm NO! oh wait Phuket and Khoi Phi Phi is under water gotta help. Yes I know this sounds very sarci, well durr, and I am guilty of the same thing, but what I want to understand is what is it about this Tragedy that draws our attention to it more and invokes more compassion and a willingness to help? Is it cos of the Media hype, is it cos of the fact that it was a tourist destination, is it cos it was a natural disaster? I don’t know! But whatever it is I don’t see how it can not apply right here to the motherland Africa. Bring on the media hype, natural disaster, well I don’t see how famine and drought can be man made, tourist destinations, well if we help clean up our continent, I don’t see how on earth it cant be one of the best tourist destinations in the world, whatever u want is right here on our doorsteps. I know once again just words, but hopefully they don’t fall on blind eyes. – “Researched from some websites and research papers”.

Onto something slightly different. There is a very scarce resource that we tend to abuse and its called water, u might be thinking what water, scarce, the damn earth is 90% or so covered by water. To that I say ok correct, but drinkable/useable water is a scarce resource and in the cape we are seeing the effects of our wastefulness. So I say lets be conscious of how we use our water, if u taking a shower don’t just let the water run because u can, when u brushing your teeth, don’t just let the water run…because u can…water ur garden and not ur wall and the road and driveway, washing ur car…use a bucket when not using the hosepipe. I need to learn a lot of these things, but every drop is something. U guys in Jozi are laughing at me saying but the way its raining the dams are overflowing, does that mean u should waste it? Mmm No!!

Guys if this mail doesn’t flow too nicely, forgive me cos it was started during Will and Grace and was completed now between Tender documents and Business approval papers etc. back to work I go.

Birthdays
11th My dear Pops
15th Dr Clarke
16th Miss Ann Louise
Happy birthday to u all may this year treat u well

On the 14th my good man Keith John Magill marries his lovely bride to be miss Taryn Walsh, after an adventurous 8 year relationship. Happy days. All the best, but u guys have been married since day 1…k maybe since day… J

Then on the 15th my brother from another other mother Tommie Lawson Van Staden marries his lovely Michelle, guys I wish I could make it, but as logistics would have it I cant, u guys were definitely meant to be! May it be a happy day and a blissfull union!

And that’s me signing out for the week, trust u all will have a fantabulous week, Respect!!
Y

There's A Place In, Your Heart, And I Know That It Is Love, And This Place Could, Be Much, Brighter Than Tomorrow, And If You Really Try, You'll Find There's No Need, To Cry, In This Place You'll Feel, There's No Hurt Or Sorrow
There Are Ways, To Get There, If You Care Enough, For The Living, Make A Little Space, Make A Better Place...
Heal The World, Make It A Better Place, For You And For Me, And The Entire Human Race, There Are People Dying, If You Care Enough, For The LivingMake A Better Place, For You And For Me
If You Want To Know Why, There's A Love That, Cannot Lie, Love Is StrongIt Only Cares For, Joyful Giving, If We Try, We Shall See, In This Bliss, We Cannot Feel, Fear Or Dread, We Stop Existing And, Start Living
Then It Feels That Always, Love's Enough For, Us Growing, So Make A Better World, Make A Better World...
Heal The World, Make It A Better Place, For You And For Me, And The Entire Human Race, There Are People Dying, If You Care Enough, For The LivingMake A Better Place, For You And For Me – Michael Jackson
Compliments of the New Year to all of u my dear friends. 2005 is a big year for many of us, some just starting work, others getting married, moving in with loved ones, buying property, starting their own business ventures, moving towns/countries/jobs etc. I am well sure that it will all go according to plan, and if not, well u know how it goes then it wasn’t meant to be! So to all of you I say may 2005 be all u make it and then some! May we all put in the effort to stick to all our new years resolutions and attain all the goals we set for ourselves. I have done a lot of reflection in the past few weeks and I realised that last year was a huge year for me, I achieved much personally, but nothing really sticks out as much as the people I met, and the friends I made, I know I say this a lot, but its so real, I think my friends define me, perhaps its my character, but anyway all I is saying is my humble thanks for letting me be a part of your lives and you a part of mine… yeah I no…give us a tissue, but hey u no me I write what I feel…consequences are for later!

Speaking of which, I have 2 more lovely ladies to add to this list, firstly there is an absolutely stunning lass called Thashnee, who I have known for almost all her life and another lovely lass called Taya, who I met more recently. Ladies welcome to our little weekly community (sometimes more…or less :-)) where we talk about whatever. In the past this forum has been used to discuss things that I come up with, with some input from some of you people ofcourse, but this year I hope that changes and I get some more input from the masses. If u have any comments about anything written here, please respond to this mail or you could also visit the site where a lot of the other weekly mail has been posted. This site is www.mondaymail.blogspot.com

It was a clear beautiful day, well so the reports say, many people out of their rooms, scuba diving, going for walks along the beaches, some maybe just catching some rays, playing bat and ball whatever, when all of a sudden the sea water seems to get drawn back into the sea and in a matter of seconds all u can see in front of you is a 10 story high wall of water travelling at about 800km/h, what do u do?!! What can u do?! This is what many people had to endure in the aftermath of the quake that hit South East Asia recently. 2005 is definitely not going to be a pleasant year for millions of people, poor countries brought to their knees, families who had nothing to begin with, now have even less, old adage “the poor just get poorer”, irreplaceable lives and belongings all lost, did they have insurance…hell no, they can hardly afford bread, now you expect them to even contemplate spelling insurance? The little they had in terms of tourism revenues is going to take a long while to start flowing again. For those that survive, comes the aftermath, rebuilding homes, cleaning up the villages, starting anew without the loved one(s) that were swept away, foraging for sustenance. The risk of disease…oh the list goes on.

As we begin 2005, lets remember those in all those countries that were hit by this wave train. Lets learn the lessons that they are currently teaching the rest of the world…Fame, material wealth, all mean nothing at the end of the day, and we should always remember that to keep us grounded in our quests to be the ultimate us’. U never know what later today or tomorrow may bring so live each day as if its your last cos it may well be. That thing u wanted to say…say it, that thing u wanted to do…do it, pick up the phone call a mate, even to say Eita, could be the last time u hear their voice, make a difference to someones life, even if u don’t know them (hence y I used MJ’s song in the beginning) u never know when u might need a strangers help…yes death is our only certainty on this earth, but lets make our time alive count.

This is far from intended to be a sad and morbid email, but rather one to generate renewed life in us all, this run of the mill, ya ya whatever bullcrap must cease….”Carpe Diem” !!

I am yet to do my bit for the victims, it may not be much, but imagine if the 100’s of millions of people in this world that can do their little bit…

FYI a quick and dirty on Tsunami’s

The term Tsunami is of Japanese origin meaning Harbour (Tsu) Wave (Nami). They are also known as Tidal or Seismic sea waves. They are caused by disturbances in the ocean such as landslides, volcano’s, explosions, meteorites, and earthquakes. The difference between the normal waves we see on our beaches and a Tsunami is where a normal beach wave is about 150m long whilst a Tsunami can be like 100km long. Shallow water waves travel at a speed equal to the square root of the water depth * the acceleration of gravity (9.8m/s) (the pacific ocean is about 4000m deep…do the math). The rate at which a wave loses energy is inversely related to its wave length. What this means for Tsunamis, is not only do they Chuck at some silly speeds, but they also travel far with minimal energy loss (but losing nonetheless) until it reaches shallow waters.

So how does an earthquake, volcano or landslide cause a Tsunami, well when the floor bed is disrupted, consequently the waterbed above it will be displaced hence at a disequilibrium, but with the effects of gravity, the water will try and force equilibrium, so what this does is it just sends a ripple throughout the ocean and the pace depends on the magnitude of the disruption of the floorbed. So now as this wall of water leaves the deep ocean from whence it was created and approaches the shallow waters where many people are catching a tan (no negras, cos as u no nature has hooked us up for life ;-)), or just generally whiling out time, it approaches at a crazy speed, but as the water depth decreases so too does the speed, but then the height becomes something to contend with due to the shoaling effect (which is basically a grouping effect of the water body)…and as normal waves do…down the Tsunami crashes, washing away most things in its path…
- research from some website on the net

Birthdays:
1st Vanessa C
6th Ingrid

happy happy to u all!

And to steal a saying from my main man Tebs…Beeg love!!
Respect!
Y