Showing posts with label mapaction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mapaction. Show all posts
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Pakistan bound?
The Pakistan flood has been a terrible event and it certainly hits the top three in worst humanitarian disasters in living memory and eclipsing the Asian tsunami of 2006.
Got the initial tweet / email / sms from our Operations Director as soon as the news came through - this was about a week ago. Due to work and personal commitments, I was unable to go - other volunteers could and two teams of two departed for Islamabad, Pakistan. More details on the MapAction website. However, the situation has deteriorated with almost 1/3 of the country now affected and some 20M people in trouble. The mind boggles at these numbers.
A second call went out to see if there were more volunteers available and this time round, I had to say yes. Looks like a strong possibility that I will be going out in about a week as the operations director juggles the resources in-country on who goes where.
Got the initial tweet / email / sms from our Operations Director as soon as the news came through - this was about a week ago. Due to work and personal commitments, I was unable to go - other volunteers could and two teams of two departed for Islamabad, Pakistan. More details on the MapAction website. However, the situation has deteriorated with almost 1/3 of the country now affected and some 20M people in trouble. The mind boggles at these numbers.
A second call went out to see if there were more volunteers available and this time round, I had to say yes. Looks like a strong possibility that I will be going out in about a week as the operations director juggles the resources in-country on who goes where.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Northern Rock and The Liberal Democrats
Have been watching the news with interest this week and three things caught my attention with which I would like to comment on. More happened that I can't say much about: the airplane crash in Thailand and the ongoing crisis in Iraq with the murder of eight Iraqis by a private American security firm.
Northern Rock.
I love that name and it is splashed over the chests of Newcastle United FC and Newcastle Rugby FC. Northern Rock are in the news for all the wrong reasons and even more so, now that the Bank of England has decided to bail it out.
So what has happened? Based on what I have read and know. It appears that Northern Rock borrowed too heavily in the international money markets to fund most of it's mortgage lending in the UK. Traditionally, banks (or building societies) can fund mortgage lending from it's own deposits, or monies from customer's savers accounts. Now thanks to the shutdown in international lending caused by the ongoing credit crisis (sub-prime loans) , Northern Rock was unable to fund its day-to-day needs in the money markets. In other words, it had not enough float. So it went to the Bank of England for a loan.
What I found funny (if one can use that) is that people started to panic when Northern Rock did this, quite sensible in my view. Customers then panicked even more when the Government told people NOT to panic and customers panicked even more when the Government guaranteed everyone's savings.
No doubt, if the Government said nothing, people would have panicked even more.
Re-assurances should be just that! Anyway, the stock market was quite harsh with the NR shares but they bounced back today by 19% - if someone had the nerve to buy a day ago and then sell; they would have made a handsome profit.
Still, makes me want to find out more about how my bank is exposed and how risky it has been; after all it's my own money that they are risking. I might have to look into diversifying even more.
The Liberal Democrats.
Ah, where do I start? Menzies Campbell is looking like a tired leader and I never supported his nomination. Charles Kennedy was the leader and should have remained. Another leadership contest would kill off the LibDems. I am still planning to vote for them but they need some balls and charisma to deliver and alternative to the electorate.
I think their environmental agenda could be a winning strategy but they need to stick to it. They are proposing an increase in the overall tax burden to pay for more transport, alternative energies and using taxation to modify our behaviour. Also, trying to enforce a more rigorous building standards that encompasses heating and water efficiencies.
At the heart of their proposals is a green tax switch, increasing taxes on carbon emissions and other resource usage that causes global warming, and handing the money raised back in income tax cuts. Specifically the LibDems would:
At the end of the day - people want to do something good for the environment but are very hesitant in paying for it! It is time for most of us to wake up that if we're serious about the environment, about our future then we need to make hard choices. It starts at the home and with little things. I know so many people who can not be bothered to turn off their standby settings or even recycle bottles and cans. If we can't do these little thing, there is no hope for a brighter, greener future. There will be a future however, I am not a doom sayer or anything but I think the world in 100 years will be less interesting in terms of environment - everything will work but a certain 'something' will be missing. Maybe the feeling that an opportunity to do something good, worthwhile and altruistic was missed by us all.
Ghana floods
Not much has made it on the news but the summer has been a hot one and now there has been torrential rain.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/YSAR-775T6J?OpenDocument&RSS20=22-P
Open University Graduation
Yah. Msc in Development Management. Done. Next!!!
Northern Rock.
I love that name and it is splashed over the chests of Newcastle United FC and Newcastle Rugby FC. Northern Rock are in the news for all the wrong reasons and even more so, now that the Bank of England has decided to bail it out.
So what has happened? Based on what I have read and know. It appears that Northern Rock borrowed too heavily in the international money markets to fund most of it's mortgage lending in the UK. Traditionally, banks (or building societies) can fund mortgage lending from it's own deposits, or monies from customer's savers accounts. Now thanks to the shutdown in international lending caused by the ongoing credit crisis (sub-prime loans) , Northern Rock was unable to fund its day-to-day needs in the money markets. In other words, it had not enough float. So it went to the Bank of England for a loan.
What I found funny (if one can use that) is that people started to panic when Northern Rock did this, quite sensible in my view. Customers then panicked even more when the Government told people NOT to panic and customers panicked even more when the Government guaranteed everyone's savings.
No doubt, if the Government said nothing, people would have panicked even more.
Re-assurances should be just that! Anyway, the stock market was quite harsh with the NR shares but they bounced back today by 19% - if someone had the nerve to buy a day ago and then sell; they would have made a handsome profit.
Still, makes me want to find out more about how my bank is exposed and how risky it has been; after all it's my own money that they are risking. I might have to look into diversifying even more.
The Liberal Democrats.
Ah, where do I start? Menzies Campbell is looking like a tired leader and I never supported his nomination. Charles Kennedy was the leader and should have remained. Another leadership contest would kill off the LibDems. I am still planning to vote for them but they need some balls and charisma to deliver and alternative to the electorate.
I think their environmental agenda could be a winning strategy but they need to stick to it. They are proposing an increase in the overall tax burden to pay for more transport, alternative energies and using taxation to modify our behaviour. Also, trying to enforce a more rigorous building standards that encompasses heating and water efficiencies.
At the heart of their proposals is a green tax switch, increasing taxes on carbon emissions and other resource usage that causes global warming, and handing the money raised back in income tax cuts. Specifically the LibDems would:
- Replace Airport Passenger Duty with an Aircraft Tax based on the emissions of each aircraft.
- Introduce more steeply graduating Vehicle Excise Duty for new vehicles based on carbon emissions, with a higher level for the highest emissions band.
- Reform the climate change levy, indexing it annually and eventually changing it into a simpler carbon tax.
- Index fuel duty to inflation except in periods of oil price spikes.
At the end of the day - people want to do something good for the environment but are very hesitant in paying for it! It is time for most of us to wake up that if we're serious about the environment, about our future then we need to make hard choices. It starts at the home and with little things. I know so many people who can not be bothered to turn off their standby settings or even recycle bottles and cans. If we can't do these little thing, there is no hope for a brighter, greener future. There will be a future however, I am not a doom sayer or anything but I think the world in 100 years will be less interesting in terms of environment - everything will work but a certain 'something' will be missing. Maybe the feeling that an opportunity to do something good, worthwhile and altruistic was missed by us all.
Ghana floods
Not much has made it on the news but the summer has been a hot one and now there has been torrential rain.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/YSAR-775T6J?OpenDocument&RSS20=22-P
Open University Graduation
Yah. Msc in Development Management. Done. Next!!!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Weekend
The weekend had me hitting over 90MPH to reach the training venue. I texted a friend that I would be 45 minutes late but then arrived ten minutes later. That was funny but on parking I managed to scrape the bottom of my car. Hrummph.
Not happy :-(
Back at work and arranging for dinner this thursday. MapAction sending out two volunteers to Ghana due to the flooding
Not happy :-(
Back at work and arranging for dinner this thursday. MapAction sending out two volunteers to Ghana due to the flooding
Sunday, August 12, 2007
No Gobi but the national park was lovely....
Got up a 7:00am and had breakfast with S, now both eager for our trip to Terenji National park. We were to have a driver and translator / guide for the day. The driver was a cheerful chap called 'Ocha' and our guide, a quiet lady by the name on 'Inka'.
The vehicle was a robust looking Russian jeep, painted in authentic Russian Army Olive drab. It didn't look like it have any suspension so I was expecting a bumpy ride. A round of introduction and we were off. The journey was very bumpy and this was on the main roads of Mongolia! It took about 90 minutes to get to the park entrance and we paid the fees and we were in. There were plenty of tourist camps here and our first stop was some Mongolian cairn topped with a blue silk flag. It was a place for travelers to pay their respects to the mountain and nature in general. One had to walk around it three times and possible give a donation. I saw sweets, money and food. I put in 50T to the pile and hope it would bring us luck.
S wanted to get her picture taken with an Eagle that the owner had brought out;
the eagle looked a lot bigger than I had expected and S looked terrified! It cost us a few thousands Tugriks for the honour of photograph. We were also invited into their gift shop / house ger but we politely declined. There would be plenty to follow am sure.
The next stop was an odd hanging rock and inside it, there was a cool and dark cave. The guide explained that during the communist purges, 100 monks had hidden here from the Government forces during the violent suppression of them but unfortunately they were discovered and killed.
We rumbled and rattled onwards into the national park, everyone enjoying the sights and sounds of this place. Mongolia is known as the 'Land of Blue Sky' and it lives up to this name. Very wide and one does feel quite exposed in the open.
The weather was excellent and enjoyed the sights and sounds. We both visited a Buddhist temple, that was unfortunately full of loud Americans, with one of their number deciding to stretch out to sleep under a picture of the Dalai Lama....much to the horror of the locals!
I tried the fermented mare's milk and butter. The former was difficult to swallow, while the latter was foul....I unfortunately, grabbed a rather large rancid piece of butter and had nothing to wash it down, except the fermented mare's milk. I tried not to breath when I had the whole mess in my mouth!
The rest of the day was fun - love them Russian 4 x 4s!
I made it back to the UK after a nightmare 12 hour in Moscow. The flight from Ulaanbataar was delayed by an hour and since my connection in Moscow was only 50minutes, it wasn't looking too good.
What was more funny was that as I tried to get off the 'plane in Moscow and rush to the transit area; a burly Aeroflot steward held me back telling me that only Business class were allowed to disembark. I replied that I was missing a connection due to the aeroflot delay and the steward grunted back that 'it was my problem, sit down!'. I did no such thing and struggled out of his grasp and made my way off the plane. Not a good introduction to Moscow's famed Sheromotevo airport.
Anyway, arriving at the transit check-in I was informed that my flight had left already, therefore me and six others had to wait over 12 hours for another flight!
Ach.
The vehicle was a robust looking Russian jeep, painted in authentic Russian Army Olive drab. It didn't look like it have any suspension so I was expecting a bumpy ride. A round of introduction and we were off. The journey was very bumpy and this was on the main roads of Mongolia! It took about 90 minutes to get to the park entrance and we paid the fees and we were in. There were plenty of tourist camps here and our first stop was some Mongolian cairn topped with a blue silk flag. It was a place for travelers to pay their respects to the mountain and nature in general. One had to walk around it three times and possible give a donation. I saw sweets, money and food. I put in 50T to the pile and hope it would bring us luck.S wanted to get her picture taken with an Eagle that the owner had brought out;
the eagle looked a lot bigger than I had expected and S looked terrified! It cost us a few thousands Tugriks for the honour of photograph. We were also invited into their gift shop / house ger but we politely declined. There would be plenty to follow am sure.The next stop was an odd hanging rock and inside it, there was a cool and dark cave. The guide explained that during the communist purges, 100 monks had hidden here from the Government forces during the violent suppression of them but unfortunately they were discovered and killed.
We rumbled and rattled onwards into the national park, everyone enjoying the sights and sounds of this place. Mongolia is known as the 'Land of Blue Sky' and it lives up to this name. Very wide and one does feel quite exposed in the open.
The weather was excellent and enjoyed the sights and sounds. We both visited a Buddhist temple, that was unfortunately full of loud Americans, with one of their number deciding to stretch out to sleep under a picture of the Dalai Lama....much to the horror of the locals!I tried the fermented mare's milk and butter. The former was difficult to swallow, while the latter was foul....I unfortunately, grabbed a rather large rancid piece of butter and had nothing to wash it down, except the fermented mare's milk. I tried not to breath when I had the whole mess in my mouth!
The rest of the day was fun - love them Russian 4 x 4s!
I made it back to the UK after a nightmare 12 hour in Moscow. The flight from Ulaanbataar was delayed by an hour and since my connection in Moscow was only 50minutes, it wasn't looking too good.
What was more funny was that as I tried to get off the 'plane in Moscow and rush to the transit area; a burly Aeroflot steward held me back telling me that only Business class were allowed to disembark. I replied that I was missing a connection due to the aeroflot delay and the steward grunted back that 'it was my problem, sit down!'. I did no such thing and struggled out of his grasp and made my way off the plane. Not a good introduction to Moscow's famed Sheromotevo airport.
Anyway, arriving at the transit check-in I was informed that my flight had left already, therefore me and six others had to wait over 12 hours for another flight!
Ach.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Mongolia - INSARAG 2007.
Mongolia. Land of Blue Sky.
A lovely and romantic name and I am looking forward to doing as much exploring as possible. It is time for the annual INSARAG exercise. Last year, I was in China and I agreed to attend the 2008 INSARAG; while not knowing where it would be held. No matter.
Long flight from London though and with Aeroflot no less. London to Moscow: 4 hours. A two hour wait in Moscow and met up with my colleague Sylvie. Then another 3 hour flight to Ulaanbataar but we made an (unscheduled) stop at Novosibirsk for fuel; waited an hour and then another 2.5 hours to Ulaanbaatar.
Arrived in Chinggis Khan airport at 09:30 local time but it was 03:30 UK time...and my body talk reflected this!
We were met by the NEMA representatives and the same flight also had Thomas Winnberg and Markus Sandvik amongst the other SRSA contingent. Thomas, I think we all know from Triplex Finland, INSARAG China 2006, and other exercises.
We are both in a different hotel than the one previously advertised. We are staying (in some luxury it would appear) in the 'Corporate Hotel', Chinggis Avenue 9-2, Sukhbaatar District -1, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Tel: 976-11-334411.
Email: mail@corporatehotel.mn / http://www.corporatehotel.mn/
I think the last minute change was due to over booking in the Bayangol Hotel. More INSARAG personnel will be streaming into UB and also staying at the Corporate Hotel.
We have internet access and therefore email (obviously).
Mr Chingzoric (lands and survey) had contacted me when I was in UK and I hope to see him during this time; also Sylvie was sitting with representatives of an NGO on the flight here and they are VERY interested in what MapAction can do. They want soil and vegetation maps so we hope we can try and help them out as well.
All good here. People are great. The schedule appears to be packed and the EXCON personnel appear to be here already: two days before things kick off. Expect days to be fun but long.
Ach. Hotel has NO hot water until the 5th August!!!! Cold Showers then.
A lovely and romantic name and I am looking forward to doing as much exploring as possible. It is time for the annual INSARAG exercise. Last year, I was in China and I agreed to attend the 2008 INSARAG; while not knowing where it would be held. No matter.
Long flight from London though and with Aeroflot no less. London to Moscow: 4 hours. A two hour wait in Moscow and met up with my colleague Sylvie. Then another 3 hour flight to Ulaanbataar but we made an (unscheduled) stop at Novosibirsk for fuel; waited an hour and then another 2.5 hours to Ulaanbaatar.
Arrived in Chinggis Khan airport at 09:30 local time but it was 03:30 UK time...and my body talk reflected this!
We were met by the NEMA representatives and the same flight also had Thomas Winnberg and Markus Sandvik amongst the other SRSA contingent. Thomas, I think we all know from Triplex Finland, INSARAG China 2006, and other exercises.
We are both in a different hotel than the one previously advertised. We are staying (in some luxury it would appear) in the 'Corporate Hotel', Chinggis Avenue 9-2, Sukhbaatar District -1, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Tel: 976-11-334411.
Email: mail@corporatehotel.mn / http://www.corporatehotel.mn/
I think the last minute change was due to over booking in the Bayangol Hotel. More INSARAG personnel will be streaming into UB and also staying at the Corporate Hotel.
We have internet access and therefore email (obviously).
Mr Chingzoric (lands and survey) had contacted me when I was in UK and I hope to see him during this time; also Sylvie was sitting with representatives of an NGO on the flight here and they are VERY interested in what MapAction can do. They want soil and vegetation maps so we hope we can try and help them out as well.
All good here. People are great. The schedule appears to be packed and the EXCON personnel appear to be here already: two days before things kick off. Expect days to be fun but long.
Ach. Hotel has NO hot water until the 5th August!!!! Cold Showers then.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Busy, Busy
Busy day as work decided to push a big DNS rollover during working hours. Christ what confusion.
Monday had me give a lunch time talk on MapAction to colleagues. That was fun and I was assisted by V and A.
The reception was very good and so was the food! Must make this February's training session and meet the new influx of volunteers. Also, have been asked to present a talk in London to some teachers. Should be interesting though Roy has typically left it all to me.
Monday had me give a lunch time talk on MapAction to colleagues. That was fun and I was assisted by V and A.
The reception was very good and so was the food! Must make this February's training session and meet the new influx of volunteers. Also, have been asked to present a talk in London to some teachers. Should be interesting though Roy has typically left it all to me.
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