2010 doesnt have the same ring to it.

I can see the moon from my bed, its really small...

Dont know what to really write anymore. I guess the new year is coming, maybe think about 2009? Hmmm, the year started out pretty good. Laid back, senior year and was able to really relax. I remember I went skiing and almost died, I fell enough times for everyone on the mountain that day. Kicked ass in soccer, except for our one loss, and our tie. Okay seriously though, our one loss came to the other team fighting for first place, we had to reschedule the game, and our coach decided to reschedule it to a date where we could only conjure up 9 first team players and 2 kids from a lower team. Meanwhile, the other team had their entire roster there, it was a majority Brazilian team but I think if I had a defense then I could definitely of stopped them cold. The tie, oh dont get me started with that, We were 3-0 up, probably 10 minutes to go and the ref gives 3 PK's in the box in fast sucession. All 3 were BULLSHIT and it still gets me fired up. The three times the kid (same defender, never carded or talked to. One sign that the ref is complete shit) got the ball, and the attacker tripped after the ball was kicked away ( the ball ended up taking a 90 degree path to the right by itself, as the ref would want us to believe). RAWR, that pissed me off, and we were all pissed off, and...getting off that. Summer was fun, Oceancity with my friends, horrible city, but pure beauty to a handful of over-privileged kids with pocket money and a Mercedes. (spent the last of my savings on that trip). It was fun, the part that wasnt fun was the 11 hour drive back and then 3 hours of sleep and then 2 hour drive to orientation to play 'ice-breaker' games. I was not the happiest camper, and I was in bed by midnight. Fun times with my first experience of my college. Rest of the summer was okay, was in Maine and realized that I sucked at starting fires (got over that). The end of the year could have been better...start a school which I quickly realized that I dislike, am stuck there for the year...and a friend died which sucks and probably could of dealt with that better. One of life's many surprises I guess, and that's that.

Oh and Tottenham is fucking awesome. Yep, oh and I also realized that I am in the wrong place. Oh I long for the day to go back to London and fit in with all the other crazy fans. One day I will, one day.

Procrastination

I am writing my bloody 13 paper for my Gender and Ethnics class and we watched a film called Jodhaa Akbar. Which is a historical film about Akbar, the muslim king of the Mughal empire which ruled India in the 16th century and his marriage to Jodhaa, a Hindu princess from the Rajput empire. Well anyway, its really just this video I keep watching...which is really catchy like a lot of the songs from other films ive watched in the class.

anyway enjoy (sorry, cant embed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8XilsCnUc

Two opposites

Kids running to fight:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8398555.stm

and kids escaping the fight:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8395828.stm

Famagusta: The foribidden city

This has a lot of history, scroll down to pictures if you want to read about the ghost city.



Famagusta is located on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, it is South of Turkey, and West of Israel. During the early 1950's, a guerrilla movement is started called the EOKA, they fight against the British rule and want a unification with Greece. In retaliation to the movement, the British forced on the annexed island, arm a paramilitary force comprised of Turkish Cypriots. This, is the start to the main division on the island. (Greeks have always hated the Turks, and still talk about retaking Constantinople (Istanbul)). Cyprus is granted independence in the 1970's, and the Turkish Cypriots withdraw to enclaves around the island, and in 1974, the military junta of Greece backs a Greek Cypriot coup of the Turkish Cypriot leader, hoping to make Cyprus part of Greece which many Greek Cypriots want.
Within two days, the Turkish army invades. (Just shows, the Turks had an invasion plan of the island, and had troops and resources in place to put the invasion into place). The Turkish Army, landing in the Northern part of the island, steam rolls over the small Greek Cypriot force defending their land. The Invasion makes Greek Cypriots who lived in the North refugees in their own country, the UN intervened creating the ' Greenline'. Turkey controls the Northern 1/3 of the island. It is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and is only recognised by Turkey itself as a country. Turkish citizens flocked to the island to steal the Greek Cypriot refugees land who were forced to flee to Southern Cyprus.


Famagusta was a thriving tourist city on the Northern part of the island. Hotels were being built and it was a great source of income for a newly developed country. When Turkey invaded, they surrounded the city, and enclosed it. Nobody has been allowed in since the 1970's. Within the city limits, hotels stand rotting, streets overgrown. Houses and stores were looted by Turkish soldiers as they pushed their invasion further and further inland. It is said that there are car dealerships with cars fro the 1970's still standing, and furniture stores filled with old retro furniture and electronics. By now the large hotel rooms are rotten, many of the glass windows broken, cranes still standing and houses still empty. Turkey does not allow anybody to photograph the city, and no Greek Cypriots are allowed in Northern Cyprus.

These are some pictures, the reason I care is because my family had land in Famagusta and Turkey illegally invaded and murdered hundreds. Many Greek Cypriots who were not able to escape went missing, and many were shot because the Turkish forces labeled them as guerrilla's. The war in Cyprus is not know by many, many do no know where the island is. Its just another war in history that nobody will pay attention to.

This is also the reason I do not like Turkey.

World cup and its magic

First off, I love me an Icelandic Girl.

I spent a good part of the day explaining why the World Cup let alone soccer is awesome. The world cup is know for its ability to bring hope to everyone that experiences it. Now that it is being held in South Africa, Africans are holding a new pride for their countries and for their national teams ( those African teams that made the cut that is). The world cup has more viewers then the Olympics, and a giant fan base world wide. Fans will always cash in to travel to cheer for their country and team.
They drew the teams today, and it got me excited, excited for the world cup, and to cheer for my England...Ive lost the urge to write anymore, so here are the groups.

I believe England will win, but I always believe in the best, and if England win I will do something incredibly crazy....

2010 World Cup draw

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, Greece

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia

Group E: Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark

Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Cost, Portugal

Group H: Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland

Diplomacy 101

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/opinion/28sat1.html

Published: November 27, 2009

We were thrilled when President Obama decided to plunge fully into the Middle East peace effort. He appointed a skilled special envoy, George Mitchell, and demanded that Israel freeze settlements, Palestinians crack down on anti-Israel violence and Arab leaders demonstrate their readiness to reach out to Israel.

Nine months later, the president’s promising peace initiative has unraveled.

The Israelis have refused to stop all building. The Palestinians say that they won’t talk to the Israelis until they do, and President Mahmoud Abbas is so despondent he has threatened to quit. Arab states are refusing to do anything.

Mr. Obama’s own credibility is so diminished (his approval rating in Israel is 4 percent) that serious negotiations may be farther off than ever.

Peacemaking takes strategic skill. But we see no sign that President Obama and Mr. Mitchell were thinking more than one move down the board. The president went public with his demand for a full freeze on settlements before securing Israel’s commitment. And he and his aides apparently had no plan for what they would do if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no.

Most important, they allowed the controversy to obscure the real goal: nudging Israel and the Palestinians into peace talks. (We don’t know exactly what happened but we are told that Mr. Obama relied more on the judgment of his political advisers — specifically his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel — than of his Mideast specialists.)

The idea made sense: have each side do something tangible to prove it was serious about peace and then start negotiations. But when Mr. Netanyahu refused the total freeze, President Obama backed down.

Mr. Netanyahu has since offered a compromise 10-month freeze that exempts Jerusalem, schools and synagogues and permits Israel to complete 3,000 housing units already under construction. The irony is that while this offer goes beyond what past Israeli governments accepted, Mr. Obama had called for more. And the Palestinians promptly rejected the compromise.

Washington isn’t the only one to blow it. After pushing President Obama to lead the peace effort, Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, refused to make any concessions until settlements were halted. Mr. Mitchell was asking them to allow Israel to fly commercial planes through Arab airspace or open a trade office. They have also done far too little to strengthen Mr. Abbas, who is a weak leader but is still the best hope for negotiating a peace deal. Ditto for Washington and Israel.

All this raises two questions: What has President Obama learned from the experience so he can improve his diplomatic performance generally? And does he plan to revive the peace talks?

The president has no choice but to keep trying. At some point extremists will try to provoke another war. and the absence of a dialogue will only make things worse. Advancing his own final-status plan for a two-state solution is one high-risk way forward that we think is worth the gamble. Stalemate is unsustainable.

life is to expensive, and it sucks

imissyou

AND I LOVE D.G.

Irony

I grew up in the town next to Chelsea, yet I am Tottenham fan. Thank you, need to look for the good when the boys lose.