JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

Weekly Hogen (Okinawan Dialect) :
English – I’m getting hungry
Japanese – himojikunatta (???????)
Hogen – yaashikunatton?(???????)

Well the weekend following Katrina we had a typhoon hanging around the area. And once again, the weekend following Rita, we have another tropical cyclone at our door. This one has the very unusual name of Longwang, the Chinese God of Rain. To get a better view of the size of this monster check out the satellite imagery. Okinawa is that little line of dots to the NW of the eye of Longwang.

Wednesday September 28, 2005 [S (1/365) LW (14/365) SH (12/365) ]

September 2005 Total:
S-sunny (1/365) C-cloudy (3/365) PC-partly cloudy (23/365)
D-drizzle (2/365) SR-scattered rain showers (2/365)
W-windy (7/365) LW-light winds (14/365) VW-very windy (2/365)
H-humid (16/365) SH-slightly humid (12/365)

This Year�s (June 3, 2005 – June 2, 2006) Total:
S-sunny (24/365) C-cloudy (31/365) PC-partly cloudy (63/365)
D-drizzle (6/365) R-rainy (4/365) SR-scattered rain showers (11/365)
W-windy (33/365) LW-light winds (63/365) VW-very windy (5/365)
H-humid (56/365) SH-slightly humid (60/365)

For those of you who need a good chuckle and haven’t done so yet, check out ‘Garfield’ for Tuesday September 27, 2005.

Does anyone know, or know where I can locate, the total worldwide loss of human life due to natural disasters for 2005? And the total worldwide cost of loss due to natural disasters for the past four years?

The recent arrest of Cindy Sheehan has led many to question the real motivation behind her activities. As simplistic as it may be, this is how I see the situation:

We are in Iraq. (Were we deceived as to the reason for going in the first place? Only time will give a full account of those details.) Through voting, Iraqis had the choice of whether or not they wanted to continue on this path. (And I don’t see anything stopping a call for an emergency vote to voice a change if that is what they desire.) This is a time of the internet and access to a wide array of information on almost any topic one wishes to research. America has been at war since 2001. The armed forces fight those wars. This is a time of an all volunteer armed forces. A young man believed enough in his country’s ideologies to think it was worth serving his country. War means loss of human life; his was one of those lives. A grieving mother is exercising one of the rights her son died for, freedom of speech. The mother has begun to take the right to excess leading to civil disobedience. (I don’t think that is something her son forfeited his life for.)

I have lost two mothers in my lifetime, one to alcohol abuse the other to cancer. I have never lost a child and cannot even begin to imagine the anguish that results from such a tragedy. It must be excruciating to lose a family member to a cause that is not fully defined. However, the choice of whether or not a person wants to put their life on the line, for whatever reason, lies not with the family members but with the individual involved. Ultimately, the manner in which this individual member of the armed forces casts their vote lies in whether that person reenlists or separates from the service. Whether or not we personally agree, we should respect the vote of the persons who are serving in the name of our country.

Tuesday September 27, 2005 [PC (23/365) LW (13/365) SH (11/365) ]

September 2005 Total:
C-cloudy (3/365) PC-partly cloudy (23/365)
D-drizzle (2/365) SR-scattered rain showers (2/365)
W-windy (7/365) LW-light winds (13/365) VW-very windy (2/365)
H-humid (16/365) SH-slightly humid (11/365)

This Year�s (June 3, 2005 – June 2, 2006) Total:
S-sunny (23/365) C-cloudy (31/365) PC-partly cloudy (63/365)
D-drizzle (6/365) R-rainy (4/365) SR-scattered rain showers (11/365)
W-windy (33/365) LW-light winds (62/365) VW-very windy (5/365)
H-humid (56/365) SH-slightly humid (59/365)

With earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and floods isn’t there enough to deal with in this world? Why is it that the human race insists on creating more trouble for itself?

When reviewing some of the events of this past weekend, one can’t help but be reminded of the ‘60s. The anti-war demonstration in Washington and a news story on the San Francisco Loveparade, help remind me of how great it is to have the freedom of expression. But in all reality it’s not the ‘60s and situations are different.

Do I know whether or not we should be in Iraq, no I don’t. I do know that I wish there could be a less violent manner in which to solve international disputes. I do know that this is a time of an all volunteer armed forces. I do know we are losing lives. And I do know that this is not the time for “free love”, remember something called AIDS. I also know life for everyone could be better if everyone in the world would just learn to stop the hate. Is anti-hate realistic? I doubt it given the history of humankind, but it is a nice thought!