Tag Archives: nature

Saved by the news bell

That is the setting. You see I was about to go nuts regarding fake AI (in this case the screw ups of WordPress) but before I got really angry CBC saved me. You see (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/britannia-beach-surf-park-9.7293328) we are given ‘A surf park is coming to B.C. — and it’s making waves with the locals’ which is (beside the lovely wordplay) a setting I never saw coming. You see, surfing seems to be closely linked to Hawaii and California. I never went surfing (cannot keep my balance on a skateboard), and I wasn’t about to try this on a surfboard. I am happy with the balance I can keep on a pair of CCM EFLEX 6 Ice Hockey Goalkeeper Skates Senior. I don’t mind the word ‘senior’ at this point as I am 60+ but the setting of surfing is one I like and admire, but you are not likely to see me on such a board. That ice there is too fluidic, that is more a Summer McIntosh setting, I am of the mind that Brooke McIntosh has, although she is a figure skater and I really have no figure, I am all about the puck (as a goalie I prefer it to go towards the other goalie). 

So back to the story, as we are given that in 2029 British Columbia will have its first surf pool. So as the setting s in the United States are deteriorating, Canada has another safe space for tourists. And now the surfers have a new outlook on pretty sites (nature) and healthy settings toward surfing. As it is the first one in Canada, it might get swamped straight of the bat with Canadians too. As such tourists will get a first handle on Poutine, Tourtière and of course the local delicacy ice wine (which I have never tried). So as we see these things come into play, there is another reason to come to British Columbia and it is less than an hour north of Vancouver, as such there are a multitude of reasons, beside the setting that it is smack in the middle of the road between Vancouver and Whistler, as such there are a multitude of reasons to spend the summer of 2029 in British Columbia and as I see it, you could stay in either of the three places whilst going from one to the other. As there is a bias service between Vancouver and Whistler, there is every chance that they will now in addition stop at South Britannia surf and the bus ticket from Vancouver to Whistler is a mere $33, as such it will be cheaper to get to South Britannia surf and if you are not sure where to stay, you could hedge your bet and stay in South Britannia surf whilst either place is a mere hour away and visit the other two places. As I see it, British Columbia is becoming increasingly interesting for international tourists. So whilst we relish the Beach boys sound, this might be the time for the Beach boys to make yet another jab at additional fame by creating a new Surf rock song for British Columbia. To be honest I think that this might be the greatest setting we see, because for decades surfing was synonymous with Hawaii and California and now that the Us economy is taking a massive dip, Canada will be there to relieve the people of the dangers of going to America. I reckon that this setting could be placed in either Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Sharjah all places that could replace the touristy need of going to the United States. 

So when you are considering where to learn to surf, consider British Columbia in 2029, just be aware that bears in Canada are not heavy set Bikers, they are real furry 800 pound rascals that are not of the vegetarian kind. So take any local warning serious.

Beyond that, British Columbia is breathtakingly beautiful, so there are numerous reasons to go there in place of California. And all that is even before we compare the amazingly healthy water in BC compared to the water quality of polluted sport in California. I cannot vouch for the California water quality, but the water in British Columbia is considered one of the healthiest in North America and that is saying something. 

So whilst you consider and fantasize about becoming a surf king or queen in British Columbia, I will return to the waned anger I am facing considering WordPress and will I consider Typecho or go towards Google blogger? Well, I wish you all a fine day, have a good one.

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Who is to blame for wind?

This morning I saw an article, mainly the headline from the NY Post that made me furious. The headline gave us ‘Americans are choking on Canadian wildfire smoke because our neighbors refuse to do proper forest management’ with the text “On Truth Social, Trump accused Canada of “Willful Negligence” and vowed to hold the country responsible for “not properly maintaining” its forests.” So, lets recap. On January 2025, Canada send two Canadian crews, with 40 firefighters, and agency representatives arrived at NIFC that week. A fire that was allegedly set by a Jonathan Rinderknecht, age 30. The claim is that he is guilty for killing 12 people and destroying more than 6,000 buildings. The BBC reported that it became a mistrial. So, Canada has approximately 369 million hectares (which amounts to 3.69 million square kilometres) as such 24% of all the forests are concentrated in Canada. As such they an abundance have forests and maintaining that is almost impossible. And lucky for us, someone else gave a much better picture of that. It is seen (at https://cleantechnica.com/2026/07/26/trump-blames-canada-wildfire-smoke-climate/) where Clean Technica voices ‘Trump Blames Canada For Smoke From A Climate America Created’ I would be willing to accept that on face value, but the picture is larger and more distorted than that. It is not merely America, it is the combination of American, Russian and Chinese settings towards the climate conditions we now face. And it is larger than any nation. So what do the United States want to do? Blame Canada for the settings of wind? As such we see Clean Technica give us “China now emits more CO₂ annually, a comparison frequently used to divert attention from the cumulative nature of carbon dioxide. The climate influencing current wildfire conditions was not created by emissions from the latest reporting year. It was built over generations. The United States industrialized early, consumed fossil fuels on an exceptional scale, organized transport and land use around oil, and received enormous economic benefits from doing so. No individual country contributed more to the accumulated warming now affecting forests across the continent.” And as I see it, the fires in Europe (France and Spain) are the worst we have ever seen. At present the tally is set to over 300,000 displacements and CNN gives us ‘France fires may not be fully extinguished for months, authorities say’ this matter because France is merely 5.5% of Canada and it has a population of 68.7 million people compared to the population of Canada which is at present set to 41.7 million people. So the math is simple, Canada has a problem and as I see it, how much support is Canada getting? If I were younger and in a better place I would install as a volunteer. I am however in my 60s and as such more likely to be a burden than anything else and at present there are 803 active wildfires burning across Canada, according to live tracking by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, as such that joke called truth central is not to be taken seriously. And as someone makes claims that ““Willful Negligence” and vowed to hold the country responsible for “not properly maintaining” its forests.” As such the United States has forest maintenance and it is managed by the United States Forest Service, which cares for nearly 200 million acres of public lands. The math is giving us that the forest of Canada is about 184.5% larger and it is being maintained by a service that has to make due with a population 41.7 million people whilst the US has a population of 349.2 million, and as I see it, they aren’t doing a stellar job of it. But there is a setting of truth in all this. Clean Technica is correct that the equation is changing the climate issues are now starting to take the forefront, a setting that is clearly seen in France and Spain and as I see it, it is only getting worse over the next 2-3 years. But what is clear that European nations aren’t blaming France or Italy, and as I see it, Luxembourg and Belgium would be the first affected by the fires in Spain and France. 

No matter how we see this, most nations are in awe and in support of Canada and whilst we see this, the outbursts on Truth Social is almost guaranteeing that more and more nations are backing off from the United States and when we compare the fires between France which is a mere 4.5% of the forests that Canada has and it will take France months, there is no telling how Canada will fare with the over 800 fires it has. If there is only one upside, it is the realisation that President Trump is done for in nearly every country in the world. Whist there is clear evidence that Prime Minister Mark Carney should be given all levels of support as well as praise on the 125,000 firefighters that Canada have. The words of the President of the United States are in extremely poor taste and I feel sorry for the United States firefighters, because there is every chance that no one is willing to assist them in any future setting they face. And as we take tally of what is out there, President Trump opened up the setting that they might be seen as one of the responsible parties regarding the climate conditions we now face. As I see it, it is a simple setting of cause and effect, or as some might say “Post hoc ergo propter hoc” which means after this, therefore because of this. It amounts to the failure of “Because event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X” the reality is that this is almost never ever the case. As is the blame from someone blaming the wind on Canada, if this is ‘considered’ Canada could also consider making claims for the current climate conditions  towards the United States. I like my Irony with a dash of salt and one could argue that when sarcasm backfires, it becomes irony (the sweetest kind). 

So as we wish Canada the strength and good wishes from everyone we know. We should consider that the escalating fires are a reality of these new climate conditions. Canada would not have been enough, but add the fires of France and Spain we get a larger setting, one that might be enough to show that the climate conditions are not only manmade, we might become the source of our own undoing. And regarding the fires in France, it is the worst I have ever known them to be and France takes really good care of their wine fields, as the BBC gives us “Raging mega-wildfires in southwest France’s Gironde region have burned over 42,000 hectares, forcing more than 220,000 evacuations and advancing to within 15 kilometres of the historic wine capital of Bordeaux, threatening surrounding vineyards and wineries” I have never ever known it to be this disastrous, and I have no idea if there is a clear resolution to all of this. I can only stand in support of them and hope for the best. 

Have a great day all and be safe.

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Filed under Law, Media, Politics

Trojena, the next chapter

I had a thought yesterday, what if you add something to Trojena? There is nothing wrong with what it is supposed to be at present, but as I see it, something is amiss. It is too business like, it is purely focussed on the Ski resort and that is fine. But there are times when the people (all of them) need a diversion (not all of the time) as such my mind went wondering the the bobsled attraction in the Dutch Efteling (shut down in 2019, 30+ years) You see, there is an olympic Bobsled course and that is fine, but I recon that at least 90% of the people had the thought I had and that was “What would that be like” and from there we go one step further. What if the views are a sight to behold and I reckon that Trojena would be that at the very least.

And there is, as I see it, plenty of places where that could be placed. The resort is massive and it wouldn’t need to be implemented on day one, but it would be nice.

The sight of Trojena should be seen in full flight, which took me to idea two. Take (if you will) a sledge for up to 6-8 people. It is a wooden sledge track with pine needles topping riding on wheels in gutters over a full length with several stations on several levels taking people around that track to different settings outside the tracks. It would allow the people to see the greatness of Trojena in a ride around the court, or from a high point to a lot point and back again the tracks tools have close to 60-80 sleighs going around the tracks showing Trojena in all its splendor, a ride for the whole family.

This last one was a last minute thought. But that setting of the Bobsled is setting in my brain, giving the people the feel of a ride from point A to point B, 4 men sleds and it would give the people to see and sit in a Saudi Sled in all its colors as they go down the track giving them a ride and after the ride the belt take the sleds back to their starting point. Who would not want that? And such an attraction would be a novel attraction to have and take pressures away from the ski slopes as people take another gander at what they get to see whilst skiing (or snowboarding) down the slopes. See it as a novel diversion after a meal, or before the meal and it will give them something more to do.

I am not saying that there isn’t enough to do, but there will be people and moments when they want a diversion and the bobsled ride will deliver, anyway that was my thought and I thought it should be here to inform the powers that are to be in that race for presentations of this place.

Have a great day, I am now 8 hours from the weekend.

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It is worth how much?

Yup, I got a little surprise when Arab News gave me ‘Mongolian falcon sells for SR650,000’ (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2618097/saudi-arabia) yesterday In Saudi Arabia an Mongolian falcon was sold for 650,000 reals (A$264,000). Now, I would pay that (if I had that kind of cash) a lot more willing for a Falcon than a car, so there is that, but I was boggled how that chip little tweeter is worth that much money. 

And lets be clear, I have zero, zilch, nada knowledge on falcon and I had until now never heard of that brad of bird. So as I was ‘informed’ through “The most expensive Mongolian falcon to date was sold Monday at the International Saudi Falcons and Hunting Exhibition 2025 for SR650,000 ($173,276) following intense bidding.” And the two images in Arab News shows the bird and the intense interest there was in that bird. I grew up in the Netherlands and we had peregrine falcons in the Netherlands but the were rare to say the least. The lot got near extinction when we dabbled with pesticides in the Netherlands and at present there are supposed to be around 200 breeding pairs today, but it was a close call. So when I saw this news I was happy to learn that some people take a rather large interest in keeping falcons. I know that there was interest, but until now I did not know how much and how far into the Arabic nations it is spread. And as we are told that “the International Saudi Falcons and Hunting Exhibition dedicated a special zone to Mongolian falcons, which hold a distinguished status among falconers in the Kingdom and the region for their exceptional quality” and that makes me happy. 

As I see it, I would jump for joy if the global pesky vermin population (aka people of the world) gets to be made extinct to about 97.3% (an important number) as it would allow the wildlife on a global scale become resurrected to the state it was pre 1700. Yes, I know it is rather nasty of me, but as I see it, the global wildlife would take my side in this matter. So as we are given “thanks to its resilience to harsh conditions and quick responsiveness to training, making it one of the most sought-after species among both amateurs and professionals.” To be clear, I have no interest to even be an amateur falconer. I reckon that my lack of knowledge and lack of funds implies that I wouldn’t be able to keep a Falcon. You need a Mews (Bird Housing), Equipment, Telemetry/GPS (to keep track of where Tweety went of to), Books and Supplies and a Food Freezer. This will set you back a fair amount of thousands as I see it, the Mews is likely the smallest cost if you have the space. And that is before that a bird of prey needs an abundant amount of time, making it a hobby for the rich non-working population, or able to shift lots of time around.

So even as I love the idea, there is not way that I would be able to keep interested in this hobby which for some people seem to be a calling. And that is before we consider that some people go beyond the Falcon and go for the Hawks or Eagles, I reckon that Harry Potter got the simplest setting with an Owl, or at least that is what I think and my point of view might not matter, but how many of you knew that Falconry has such a massive following in Saudi Arabia? I wonder how deep Falconry sits with the Emirati people. As such I was happy to learn a new useless snippet of knowledge. It is useless as life in Australia is not overburdened with Saudi facts, or with falconry settings. I have learned that it is “not explicitly illegal in Australia, but its practice is highly restricted due to stringent regulations governing the use and possession of birds of prey” and you can read more on that (at https://falconry.com.au), so have a great day today. 

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