being inconvenient pays

We all know that Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” is amazing, but I just learned that it grossed $49 million and that it is the fourth-highest-grossing documentary film to date in the United States, after Fahrenheit 9/11, March of the Penguins and Sicko. I only watched Fahrenheit 9/11 and Al Gore’s film.

He received two academy awards for it, but that’s not what I want to talk about. I encourage everyone to go see it, even if you are a green person who spent the last three decades saving wildlife and studying the environment.

The movie is entertaining, it is filled with accurate and scientific facts, it made me think, alot.

Radi

Enjoy Jordan

I’m being sincere, I’m not playing a pun about the weather and I am not trying to convince to leave Jordan, I really mean it. I went to Dana Nature Reserve last weekend and although the weather was aggravating and the sun roasting, it was a beautiful experience. We went on a four hour trail starting at 8 am from Dana village to Feynan Eco-Lodge.

I am going to Ajloun reserve next month and I strongly recommend the reserves to anyone who enjoys a bit of nature, adventure or both.

I will post some pictures soon, come back later

Radi

Support Local Brands

I am now changing my mind about certain beliefs, I looked far and near and realized that globalization, though helpful in some areas, is largely to blame for everything.

It is in Jordan that restaurants are opening up by the dozen, and the services are getting better, if you look for European style cuisine, it is available, mainly thanks to foreign restaurant chains coming here. This pushed the restaurant industry to step up and face the challenges.

Recently, I tried both Tropicana and Minute Maid, which are properties of PepsiCo. and Coca-Cola respectively. I enjoyed the juices they offer, but not as much as I enjoy local juice companies. For some reason, local juice companies -who buy concentrates from abroad- seem to be doing a great job.

Since I have been on a diet for a long time now and losing reasonable weight, I realized that not only do I not need beverages that contain CO2 in them, I HATE them. There were times when Burger King and McDonald’s were not allowed in Arab countries, because of connections to Israel, times change. Today there are a plethora of branches of many companies, with connections to Israels in the Arab World. Try Chili House and Chili Ways, and if you don’t seem to like them, then try something else, but try Jordanian first.

I therefore took a drastic decision, not buy multinational products and help the local competition. I know that I am not a fan of Starbucks anymore, it makes sense that I should when available, support a local brand, and I found one that is superior in value and taste, although not variety.

This picture was actually on their site and the friends at archive.org still have a copy, if Israel awarded the Chairman of Starbucks, I am not buying from there. Simple, Right?

http://web.archive.org/web/20010502093522/www.starbucks.com/aboutus/recognition.asp?cookie_test=1

Economically, I find it viable to Jordan that I buy my coffee from flavours, or any other Jordanian variety, I personally enjoy it, and am a regular customer, they know my drink and prepare the minute I walk in.

I also enjoy going to places where the giving is part of their revenue, not some minute percentage, but actually a fixed part that is of significance, and I must say I am not surprised by amount of such places available.

If you are into nature, try Wild Jordan, it is amazingly good, and supports the RSCN, which is as good cause as any.

But if you feel that you need a more entrenched cause, try the places at

AlQaser Hotel Howard Johnson. I think this may impress you, also remember their courtyard is a very nice place to sit and relax.

Remember to support as many local enterprises in your community, because they will help the money flow to remain in the country.

Radi

Jordan goes nuclear

Just search Google for “water impoverished” and the first entry will be about Jordan, we are one of the ten most water impoverished countries in the world. It seems about right, at least to me. When I searched for cancer rates in Jordan, I found out that our rates are lower than the west, and are comparable to non-Jewish populations of Israel, with the Jewish population being slightly higher.

Many people claim that Jordan has one of the highest cancer rates in the world, it is simply not true, although lung cancer is higher because of higher smoking rates and less emission standards. Still we have the highest Life expectancy at birth in the Arab world. I am, however, not excited. Jordan plans on acquiring nuclear power for peaceful uses.

The most important uses will be, water and electric power generation. We need it for both, since 95% of our power needs are imported. The Uranium reserves in Jordan are high and the expertise in the field locally are acceptable.

I however can’t seem to understand why I am troubled by this Idea, although I have spoken for it in the past and all the way until last year. It is definitely going to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and our Carbon emissions.

Jordan will not be told to open up like Iran, we started with the blessings of the US and the IAEA, we will never face any threats because of it, and we can probably sell electricity to Iraq and continue on our age old tradition of exporting expertise.

The money spent isn’t what bothers me either, our budget is sucked up by demand on foreign oil and the ever increasing prices, while our we could potentially export Uranium in the future. Still I can’t seem to put my finger on it, I am bugged by the idea.

I was probably hoping for windmill farms and solar fields for generation of electricity, yet still I am contended that we can’t afford such a costly venture. My major source of concern is the following:

1-Chernobyl-like accidents: we all know that Jordan has impeccable adherence to standards in it’s big ventures. Royal Jordanian boasts a 28 year fatality-injury free record. Still one mistake in our nuclear power plant will cause consequences we can’t afford.

2-Testing and control: Since this seems to be a government-run project, I don’t see it being as controlled and inspected as the private-run ones we are comparing to abroad when we discuss this. This can obviously lead us to no.1 above

3-Decommissioning a nuclear power station at the end of its useful life is very difficult and expensive.

4-Most importantly, in the Middle East, any war time attack of a facility like this will would produce a huge amount of radioactive contamination. It will be tempting to the terrorists who already roam aimlessly in our region.

Radi

Lunar phases and eclipses

For some unclear reason I felt that I knew what I was talking about when it came to the galaxy, but that day I was shocked to realise that not only I knew absolutely nothing when it came to the moon, I realised that I had got it all wrong back in school where I was a model student.

Allow me here to blame the teacher who made me think that the moon looks different depending where you look at it from, I know it doesn’t make sense, but in the back of my mind I always thought it true.

The image above is for a moon in “middle totality”, which happened on a total eclipse of the moon, which happened on the evening of 2004 October 27-28. This is probably what I was thinking about, Lunar eclipses which can be seen only on specific areas of the earth.

However, I thought it also meant that moon was lit differently according to where you are, it turns out I was wrong. Ah, well, at least now, I know better.

Radi

The most beautiful birds

With no doubt in my mind, Eagles and Hawks are the most beautiful birds to observe, the finer aspects of gliding, soaring and flying is what keeps me interested. In the Azraq wetland reserve I observed a Falcon in “hover” which is very different from a hummingbird hover.

Hawks, which I believe include Falcons, were an amazing site, they spread their wings in strong headwinds and had enough lift to remain in place, they also changed the angle of their wings to compensate for a decrease or an increase in wind speed, just as pilots add flaps and other high-lift devices to compensate for the decrease in airspeed and therefore the decrease in airflow. Falcons can have power dive reaching speeds up to 320 Kilometers per hour, which is the reason you see falcons shooting past you when you are in a descending aircraft.

Eagles however are an entirely different matter, the are extremely immense in size
for example the Haring Ibon or Philippine Eagle is the largest Eagle in the world with length of more than a meter and wing chord of more than 65 cms. The talon itself is more the 5.5 cms. You can only imagine why it is called, Monkey-eating Eagle, the scientific name is Pithecophaga jefferyi.

The most beautiful (subjective) and heaviest (objective) Eagle is the Harpy Eagle, it is without doubt an amazing siting if anyone is lucky enough to see one.

check it out here

That thing on the left tarsus -picture right- is the ring I talked about in the last post.

The most beautiful bird however has to be a Macaw, which is a parrot or more specifically the Scarlet Macaw, which some call the red Macaw.

I’m only expressing personal opinions here, don’t bombard me with emails telling me that I missed a bird here or there.

Radi

Azraq

We had a couple of days of relaxation and enjoyment, it was very interesting, on the way to Azraq we passed by Qasir Al Kharanah or Kharanah Palace, which is a magnificent feat of early architecture, and to let people know, it is worth seeing:

Qusair Amra or Amra Palace, has the smaller scale version of the same purpose of such stopover stations but with much more inner art. Something definitely worth seeing

We stayed in this lodge where it was surprisingly accommodating and comfortable, it was both clean and well managed,

It used to be a British field hospital in the 1940s and still maintains the feel and look. The Air Force base is so close we actually got to see two F-5s taking off and then flying in what looked to me as loose formation.

The place lacks nothing in modernity with A/Cs and hot water, its more like a retreat than an expedition, but for the more urban dwellers it must feel like a total waste with no TV, but I was perfectly enjoying it.

When we arrived there and after taking our time we went to the Azraq castle, , now this is a castle born out of a Stronghold game, you could almost feel the ground trembling with passage of soldiers and horsemen.

We also went to the Azraq wetland reserve and rejoiced with bird watching and the more professional naturist amongst us got to participate in ringing migrating birds,

Even little Madian learned a lesson and got to release a few birds

Then for the more dry part of the trip,

at Shoumari reserve we got to see the Arabian Oryx and Ostriches and some Ibex in the wild, and then we also saw peacocks, deer and some assorted animals.

A great and fun trip and recommended for everyone, it has a bit to suit every taste also visit www.rscn.org.jo

Radi

Energy and money

ExxonMobil’s profits rose 75 percent, BP up 34 percent and ConocoPhillips up 89 percent and there are more stories in the past six months, so please when talking of rising oil prices as evidence to the situation in the Middle East, think twice.

If oil companies make much more higher profits and revenues, then it probably means means that they are price gouging.

Chevron, in full page ads, said:

It took us 125 years to use the first trillion barrels of oil. We’ll use the next trillion in 30

Now this may be a reason for all that profit, Exxon Mobil reports $9.92 billion in profits, the highest for any corporation profit in a three-month period, Royal Dutch Shell made $9.03 Billion and their sales are around $100 Billion each in Oil and 99.9% of their money is coming from Oil

It will be a crime not ask them why don’t they invest in cleaner fuels or renewable energy. It is a crime not invest more money in energy diversification and less in lobbying for drilling in the arctic.

Biomass in California alone, if used correctly can power 2 million homes, I’m pretty sure powering many more millions of home worldwide is a good way to promote renewable energy. It’s carbon emissions are what trouble me, onlt biomass from crops that will be replanted should be used.

Let us wise up and not overlook solar, geothermal, hydro and wind energy of which there is an abundance and would need huge investments from energy conglomerates. Both our and their livelihoods depend on it. I personally predict a good future for shell. we’ll see!

Radi