Pillars of Peace...hey St. Croix

There are loads of other people writing about the 9/11 anniversary that can do it much more justice than i can so instead i'm going to focus on the report that came out yesterday that was written by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Publishing the Global Peace Index for the past 7 years has been a primary focus of the institute but in addition this year they have published a Pillars of Peace report that can be read at http://www.visionofhumanity.org/sites/default/files/Pillars%20of%20Peace%20Report%20IEP.pdf

i've skimmed and read most of the report and came away with an additional affirmation in my belief that working for peace and peaceful environments works for all of us economically, culturally and in cases of disaster.

The Pillars of Peace report creates a bench mark by which countries can measure their resilience during social upheavals and or their overall aspects of social development. Today, we on St. Croix, are facing economic upheaval that has the potential to lead us into more conflict. If we ignore certain aspects of the eight pillars we could find ourselves impacted negatively. But if we attack our problems from all angles not just the economic one we may find ourselves in a place where we can honestly say we live in paradise.

The Eight Pillars

A Well Functioning Government

Sound Business Environment

Equitable Distribution of Resources

Acceptance of the Rights of Others

Good Relations with Neighbors

Free Flow of Information

High Levels of Human Capital

Low Levels of Corruption

were found to be mutually reinforcing in both positive and negative aspects. If one pillar becomes too negative it can upset the balance. No one pillar can be viewed in isolation because they all interact all the time. We have some tippy pillars on St. Croix and if we don't recognize that they all need to work together we could be in for a rougher ride than we thought.

Over the past seven years the Institute has been able to show that peaceful societies enjoy greater economic benefits, higher income levels, stronger social cohesion, and higher educational attainment. According to the report countries with higher levels of peace were also able to absorb shocks to their society and recover more quickly. Those that were less peaceful suffered longer and recovered more slowly.

Benefits flow from establishing peaceful environments. According to Galtung “cooperation for mutual benefit creates an environment where individuals and society are in harmony.” “Pillars of Peace is the first study to use statistical analysis to identify the factors associated with peaceful societies.”

The first pillar a well functioning government includes rule of law, government effectiveness and the citizens voice and accountability. On St. Croix we have these things but maybe we are lacking too much in the effectiveness and accountability categories. The intricacies of all these aspects also interact with the free flow of information and the acceptance of the rights of others which are also pillars. I don't think we are that strong in the acceptance dept. either which means so far our tippy pillars could use a bit of strengthening.

“A sound business environment is crucial to peace and prosperity. Infrastructure, the quality of employment opportunities, business sophistication and innovation, and the level of regulations applied to business all should work in tandem to further a peaceful society.” Our infrastructure and the quality of our employment opportunities could use some TLC.

Equitable distribution of resources, another pillar, Some of the institutes analysis said that those countries that have had the lowest declines in their peacefulness also had greater equality in terms of land distribution and acquisition, but that this was not a defining criteria for all countries. This is a touchy subject and I'm not going to attack this one here.

Good relations with neighbors this is more a group thing and we do have good relations with those other islands that surround us.

High levels of human capital relates to our skills, knowledge, and behaviors. Apparently the lack of opportunities for youth could be seen as failure of the community to educate. “Health and education tend to increase social cohesion.”

Low levels of corruption hmmmmmmm

The report is long at 68 pages but the conclusions are that if a country strives to balance the eight pillars of peace they may also be able to weather economic, cultural and natural disasters that send nations into conflict locally and on a broader basis. Would we as a community find this daunting? i don't know but its certainly something to consider.

See ya next week

Caribbean Waterbird Census on St. Croix

Otherwise known locally as the CWC count. Although you can't see them in this picture there are birds out there. Wilson's Plovers chattering and running around, very upset that we had invaded their domain.
Least Terns, the few that still haven't flown south, are in the air very angry and vocal about the fact that we had to walk through their loafing area to check the water point. Sandpiper's that are transiting through on their migration and Ruddy Turnstones one of which was still in his glorious breeding plumage.

The idea behind the Waterbird Census is to document waterbirds and their wetland habitats on a regional basis. Participants choose important wetlands to monitor on their islands and set up schedules and teams of observers. The goals of the program, sponsored by the Society for Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds, is to learn more about status, distribution, and abundance of waterbirds. Ultimately these surveys will lead to more conservation and management of the wetland habitats for the birds that frequent them and give researchers valuable information.

So this morning myself and a partner went to four wetlands on St. Croix. We counted the birds we found there from GPS points that had been established three years ago which was when the census began. We do the census according to standard scientific criteria so that other researchers can duplicate our work or use the information we have gathered in other regional studies. We were repeating counts this morning that we did last week. One other team was also out recording birds at Great Pond and will be out again tomorrow at Southgate. They have a much harder time of it as their wetland areas are much bigger and take longer to survey, plus i don't think they could have avoided the deluge unless they aborted.

A friend of mine asked me if i'd label the pics but instead they are listed here.The first two pictures were of the Mt. Fancy wetland but the following three are of the Coakley Bay wetland and the last two are Lowry Hill north and south ponds. We did Coakley first, Mt. Fancy next, then the Lowry Ponds.

This morning we were out there trying to beat the 100% chance of rain forecast. You can't survey the birds when its raining because they hunker down and your binoculars and scopes fog up. We looked up the time the sun rises and got there before it. The first wetland is a bit of a chore to get into so we wanted to be real quiet so as not to disturb any of the birds. We pulled it off, set up and started counting. We were able to complete Coakley before any rain drops started coming down. On the drive to the next one it let loose.

Mt. Fancy beach which wasn't included in the census had a lovely variety of shorebirds and i saw my first Sanderling of the season there. The rain had subsided again and we were able to crank out this wetland and lolly gag along the beach with out getting wet. It wasn't until we got to the Lowry Hill ponds that the deluge really began. Luckily we were still in the car and just waited it out until we had a window of opportunity.

i'm sure you are thinking what pond when you look at this green photo...but this is a pond that is so over grown you can barely see in. Last week it had sandpipers, a green heron, common gallinules, two nests and enough water to make it worthwhile for birds. This morning it was practically deserted and what was once water was now just mud.

This pond...Lowry Hill North had a moorhen family and a lonely Least Grebe. All in all we managed to do our counts, get muddy, get wet and feel good about completing the census on time. i know i'm cheating by putting this up but it is what it is.
See ya next week.

St. Croix melee

There are lots of issues out there so i've decided to write about diverse topics in small doses.

Refinery on St. Croix everyone is aware that the Senator's voted against the deal with Hovensa but the melee on the local radio and the fear mongering in the community has gotten out of hand. Here is my take for what it is worth.

1. Aquifer pollution...if you go to the EPA site and read the report 95% of the contamination has already been cleaned up. No one is drinking ¼ cup of oil in their water.
2. Sale of the refinery...the cancelled agreement put off the inevitable. Hovensa didn't want to sell but was being forced to by the agreement. Legally, they could not be forced to accept any offer and i think they would have stalled until the 18 months were up which would put us back to where we are today.
3. WAPA and some gas stations are already making arrangements to get their fuel from other sources. Puerto Rico is ninety miles away... our fuel costs may go up but we will be able to get fuel delivered here just like all the other islands in the Caribbean do.
4. Jet Fuel i know one of our local purveyor's supplies jet fuel to planes flying in. His business is going to be adversely affected by the plant closure just as many others have been.  But maybe if he wants to stay in business he needs to invest in building more storage tanks.  The sky isn't falling. Planes can refuel in Puerto Rico. We may be impacted by fewer flights and less available jet fuel but keep in mind it is available just a short hop away.  The sooner those doing business in the aviation world start thinking for themselves the sooner we can move forward.
5. The refinery is not reopening and the sooner we deal with this...like they did in Aruba...the sooner we will be on the road to recovery.

Syria i'm with Juan Cole...a few Tomahawk missile strikes will not affect the course of the civil war in Syria and it just may involve us in one more quagmire. Civilians are going to continue to suffer until the parties involved are brought to the bargaining table.

The Rim Fire in California has been raging for over a week. Close family members and some friends have been suffering smoky skies and evacuation orders. One of the leading edges is 6 miles from the family cabin and all eyes are watching this monstrous fire. Its 23% contained and the fire fighters have been doing a phenomenal job.

Swimming this morning was beautiful. A little Green turtle floated right up to me and let me touch its carapace. The light was flickering everywhere and you could see Peacock Flounders 40 feet down. A huge Lobster was out of its hole and walking across the coral towards another Green turtle who tried to hide when she saw us hovering above. We missed the three Dolphin who were swimming through the bay but one fellow swimmer enjoyed watching them pass by. It was one of those mornings when you just didn't want to get out of the water.

See ya next week.

Privacy...not an option

Yesterday Pamela Jones claimed “there is now no shield from forced exposure.” Privacy is a myth, the rule of law has been compromised and she can no longer write on line.

Pamela Jones, a blogger, that focused on writing about legal aspects of the tech world, has shut down her site. She has joined the e-mail service's Lavabit and Silent Circle who have also shut down. 

Pamela Jones has enjoyed numerous awards for the work she has done on line at Groklaw but she claims:

"And the simple truth is, no matter how good the motives might be for collecting and screening everything we say to one another, and no matter how "clean" we all are ourselves from the stand point of the screeners, I don't know how to function in such an atmosphere. I don't know how to do Groklaw like this."

Unfortunately the sad reality is that everything coming into and out of everyone's e-mail servers are being monitored. Everything you do on line is tracked not just by companies trying to sell you something but also by your government. This has a chilling effect upon anyone who posts on line and because of this she found she could no longer write and has shut down her site.

My take from all of this is deep sadness that another person or company has been silenced by the surveillance society we find ourselves living in. For that is exactly what our government wants you to do...go quiet. 

How many more will go quiet rather than risk having their on-line presence be intimately monitored by their government? How many viewpoints that don't toe the line will have their voices go unheard because their government could label it subversive? The effect upon journalists, bloggers and independent minded people all over the country is chilling to say the least.

Where is our so called “free society” and will an underground one be the only recourse? Do we really want to censor everything we say and do? What do we have to look forward to? Is it those Sci Fi scenarios, will they become the future reality? i don't know and although disheartened going silent is not an option.

See ya next week

Photo day

A lovely place to bird

What a mess, sometimes i wish i was one of those people who can ignore the violence taking place in other parts of the world. Egypt is on meltdown, the military peaked and decided to use force to disperse the Morsi protestors. Baradei has resigned and autocracy is rearing its ugly head. i'm not going to write about this except to say i had hoped they would avoid military aggression but today it is obvious that they are returning to the way things were. It is disheartening when a country that had displayed such promise goes backwards.

On to other things...we missed the meteor showers as our skies were covered in the typical patchy clouds which made viewing difficult. Oh well, there will be others. This piece today is going to be more photo heavy.

Such a sweet little church

The things we look at while driving along

 Gotta have a rainbow

Those sweet Grey Kingbirds have successfully finished building their nest, the Thrasher's don't know as yet because its babies are driving it NUTS.

 Gotta have clouds...they make this place

I love this tree...a view from the other side.

and some old dead coral

Know where this old place is?

And a sunrise

See ya next week
 

I just love St. Croix today, yesterday and every day

This morning was another of those “i just love St. Croix” days but so is every day, especially when the air is clear, the lighting is magnificent, the wild life interact and the woodlands just glow.

All of us have great stories about interacting with nature and how it affected our mental states. Swimming with dolphins definitely tops my list along with seeing big turtles, finding Hope the Whimbrel, or just looking at that cool dragon fly or cricket that landed close enough to really see it in all its glory.

i get such a thrill watching a bird nest through the entire process from building to fledging, i'm like a kid easily entertained for weeks at a time. Maybe it's not St. Croix but just nature that really trips my trigger. A pair of Grey Kingbirds are building a nest just off the deck again and i already feel like i know them. The male is a bit of a slacker but that female just yells and yells at him to get him moving and quit dropping the sticks.

Not a Kingbird or Thrasher nest

The gang went out swimming this morning and when we got to the Off the Wall Buoy there was this big old crusty male Green turtle cruising slowly looking for a mate. He had had it rough and was missing most of his tail. White meat was showing on his front two flippers but at least he still had them. He looked at us, deleted us from his curiosity bag and kept on moving towards the wall. We weren't what he was looking for and he wasn't wasting time with us.

Just as we were going to take off another large male, Hawksbill this time, appeared close to the surface. His curiosity bag was overflowing and he hung out with us even going so far as to let me touch him when he swam right next to me. i wondered if he was the male from a few years ago that had come in and bonked his beak against my mask because he got that close. It's easy to hope that an old friend has reappeared but the likely hood of that is pretty slim with nature. Just getting that close was a treat in and of itself.

Hawksbill Turtle

Anyway we left him alone and went on our way only to have one of the gang stop to point out a shark following a turtle very close. i missed that one but hope the turtle got away unscathed. There were large schools of wrasse, dorgons, and yellow tailed snapper along the edge. The sun beams were doing their dance under water and even though it wasn't the clearest of days the wild life was accommodating.

At home while eating breakfast on the deck looking out over a glorious sea and a teeming woodland an adult Red tailed Hawk out showing its juvenile the ropes hushed the screaming Pearly-eyed-Thrasher chicks. We've got so many thrasher nests around here that have been successful it just breaks my heart when i see the Grey Kingbirds once again trying to build a nest in their territory. i wouldn't cry if a hawk nailed a few of those darn Thrashers.

The Kingbirds like to nest in the West Indian Cedar's and its always a treat to see a flash of bright green when an Antillean Crested Hummingbird decides to come get some nectar from the same trees flowers. The Green Caribs seem to like the hibiscus and papaya flowers better. Underneath the cedar the Zenaida Doves peck away at the dirt looking for grubs. A lot is going on around those native trees if you take the time to look.

One thing that has been puzzling me for years is why do i see Magnificent Frigates predominantly flying east. In the morning, mid-day and in the evening they are always heading east unless we have a hurricane coming and then that is the only time i see them flying west. i must not ever see the same ones. i'm sure now that i've put this in writing i will only see them flying west.

Squid above the fern

Monday while out there swimming we had 16 Squid which are one of the coolest things you can watch in the water. They change color, blink, try to hide, group up then split to get you away from the group. When they do that its hard to know which to follow but if you stick with one it will eventually lead you back to the pack while giving you a light show you won't soon forget.

This island is so beautiful, so many cool things out there for anyone to observe. i wish there was some way to always accentuate the positive. i guess what i wish for everyone that lives here is to take a few minutes and really connect with the life all around you. All it takes is five minutes of really observing any where you are on the island. Even the dump and the oil refinery have their own unusual beauty when the light is just right.

See ya next week

Whistleblower's

My mom used to keep a list of sayings that she hated and although i don't have a list that i have written down and actually look at like she did i do have some idiom's that really rub me the wrong way.

“The Real America” does that mean Yosemite, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, Statue of Liberty, the Heartland, Golden Gate Bridge what...what is the real America and is there any such thing?

“Real Americans” must mean Native Americans...right... or does it mean God fearing conservative Christians who love the baby Jesus...it couldn't mean all of us could it?

“The Liberal Media” what the hell does that mean...if it really was the liberal media we wouldn't be in Afghanistan, Guantanamo would be closed, Bradley Manning would have his sentence reduced to time served, Snowden would be here in the US fighting his case in the open, and the nations infrastructure would be tended to.

“Are you a Patriot” it used to be someone who loves their country and supports it but wouldn't follow blindly along supporting whatever the government gets itself into. “Today its someone who blindly follows and lacks the ability to think for him or herself.” Urban Dictionary

Just had to get those off my chest.

i'm just wondering if anyone here is familiar with the first whistle blower law that was passed July 30,1778?

" It is the duty of all persons in the service of the
United States, as well as all other the inhabitants thereof, to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by an officers or persons in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge."

Bradley Manning tried alerting his superiors but was told to shut up so he went to the press.

Chuck Grassley a Republican senator and Carl Levin a Democrat yesterday proposed a "National Whistle Blower Appreciation Day" on the same day the original was passed.

Kohn the executive director of the Whistleblower's Center had this to say about it.

“The Senate Resolution calls attention to the fact that our nation’s Founding Fathers strongly supported whistleblowing, even in time of war, and even when the whistleblower allegations threatened to embarrass high-ranking officials. The action of our Founding Fathers sets a benchmark for evaluating how our current leaders treat whistleblowers,” 

Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden have exposed and embarrassed the US government with the wrong doing they have revealed to the nations citizens and the world.

So how does the government deal with this embarrassment? Instead of jailing Manning the government should stop being afraid of the citizenry. The revelations were necessary to check government over reach. Government should learn and correct the mistakes that were made in the past. They should question why we haven't lived up to our principles? The embarrassment is over as far as Manning is concerned but it doesn't mean that the government can't learn from this. We can always improve.

For Manning i think he should get off with time served. He probably saved people's lives around the world with his revelations.

For Snowden the government in all branches are going to have to do some real soul searching. The population is not happy with the intrusive surveillance.

If they do incarcerate Manning for a lengthy term then President Obama should commute his sentence and that's just my opinion.

See ya next week.

Headlines

i read both sides of the political spectrum and it is interesting to look at the opinion pieces that grace web sites dedicated to one ideology or the other.

You really don't even need to read the contents of the pieces as the text grabbing head lines are so similar on both sides. Some of them are the same but many take opposite poles. On the liberal side workers rights and how they don't have them, climate change and the end of the world, surveillance(both sides are amazingly together on this) and womens rights and the lack thereof predominate, while on the conservative side a large number of the articles every day just focus on Obamacare hammering away at how awful it is, gun rights and how you need them, abortion and the killing fields, and big government. Its hammered in day after fracking day... no wonder conservatives hate liberals and visa versa. Both sides totally demonize the other and it is sickening and really boring.

i think the worst part is how ingrained the propaganda is on both sides. 

i'll use Alternet(Liberal) and Town Hall(Conservative) as an example of what i mean and label them with capital A's and T's to represent the different sides. i'm sure which ever side you are on you will agree with the headline.

A(L)...The United States is Awash in Public Stupidity, and Critical Thought is under Assault

T(C)....Too many Opinions not enough Knowledge

A(L)...Recession forever...10 reasons American workers are screwed.

T(C)...The pension you never owned.

A(L)...America is on a Path to turn America into Detroit and Republicans are Cool with that

T(C)...Conservatives should point and laugh as Detroit Dies

A(L)...When was the last time someone made a case of justifiable homicide for a white kid smoking pot

T(C)...Fire created and stoked by the Left

A(L)...Blacks who stand their ground are often imprisoned.

T(C)...Stand your ground critics personify European pacifism, not American Values

A(L)...Republicans are sabotaging Obamacare by keeping the public in the dark about Benefits

T(C)...Don't fall for Healthcare Hard Sell

A(L)...CEO pay went up 15% last year to $15 million, how much did yours go up?

T(C)...Wall Strreet Journal condemns OECD proposal for global tax.

A(L)...Shocking things Wall Street Financiers say off the record about their bloated, corrupt industry

T(C)...Revolting Bankers of Obama

A(L)...How the temp workers who keep huge corporations running are getting crushed

T(C)...What's the bigger threat to workers, Unscrupulous Employers or Greedy Politicians

A(L)...A Presidential speech Won't solve Climate Change...It's going to take Activism by the public.

T(C)...Why is Obama lying on climate change

A(L)...Obama uses major climate speech to cheer lead for Natural Gas Industry.

T(C)...Obama's climate action plan...emphasize what won't work, penalize what works.

A(L)...I was supposed to end up alone according to the peddlers of the dangers of hook up culture...they were wrong.

T(C)...The new brainwashing...women like hookups

All these articles can be found at the sites i mentioned...i'm not putting in links because it is bad enough just to read the crappy headlines and you can find them if you really want to. 

My question is when are we as a nation going to sit down and just talk about reality instead of alarmist crap? Are you sick of being manipulated?

See ya next week.