Tuesday, April 16
Apr. 17th, 2024 12:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
In some ways, the cooler temperatures today mean it's better for River. He does better with cool days.
My Sweetie took the X-Terra to our mechanic so that at some point this week when he has time, he can go over it to see if there is anything that needs work. This is for R and her family, who are thinking of buying it (they're paying for the inspection).
This meant I had to meet him at the mechanic's to give him a ride back to his car. His car was at the barn, because the X-Terra was there. So, for a while we were both at the barn.
We ended up chatting a lot while we got River ready.
It was super windy, making the arena very noisy as it is kind of a fabric building, but it didn't bother River at all. Good boy.
He was a bit more awake today, but not silly, which is nice. He did well with his work.
We're looking at another pattern, which is more or less your typical barrel pattern. Unfortunately this is a speed thing, and well, we're only so speedy these days.
I am also only so interested in speed classes. I would rather focus on form and such, as I don't think speed classes are good for anyone. That said, maybe in this case, speed is a relative thing.
I came home and my Sweetie had let everyone out into their pastures for me, and I brought them back in.
We ate and watched more "Boardwalk Empire". I've noticed with HBO shows that the first season is almost unbearable with the amount of sex and nudity, but if it does well, the second season sharply drops off.
Lebanon is in the Levant region of the Middle East. It has been inhabited for a very long time.
It was once part of the ancient region of Phoenicia, from 3200 to 539 BC.
It was conquered by the Roman Empire in 64 B.C. and was Christian at that time. It remained part of the Byzantine Empire (Roman) until the invasion by Islam (Arabic) in the seventh century.
Then this area became one of the Crusader States in the 11th century, which fell to the Ottoman Empire, which lasted up until WW I. After which, the region was controlled by France.
During WWII, France was considerably weakened, and Lebanon became independent in 1943."The new Lebanese state was relatively stable for a short period after independence,[17] but this was ultimately shattered by the outbreak of large-scale fighting in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) between various political and sectarian factions. Amidst the internal hostilities of this period, Lebanon was also subjugated by two overlapping military occupations: by Syria from 1976 to 2005 and by Israel from 1985 to 2000. Since the end of the conflicts, there have been extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure.[18]"
After this time, there has pretty much been non-stop conflict, which I won't get into here. This region with Palestine and Jordan and Israel just keep on fighting.
Lebanon has taken in thousands and thousands of refugees, starting with the unrest after WWII, to the point where there are permanent refugee camps totaling about one million people. These people are in some cases now generational refugees, with no hope of becoming Lebanese citizens, so they cannot vote or have a business, or buy property. They are kind of stateless, and cannot return to their home lands either. It has created a situation of great unrest, as people have no real future. There are restrictions on what jobs they can even have, so are often exploited.
https://youtu.be/InrYxgQ1OvY?si=4gYH023L5GsniMw5
Lebanon is also facing an economic crisis.
"Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities."
Lebanon has some coast on the Mediterranean, and a thin strip of coastal plain. Since the country sits on top of the Arabic Plate, a lot of it is mountainous. It has a Mediterranean climate with lots of rain, and has many rivers that drain into the Mediterranean Sea.
It used to be heavily forested with Cedar trees, but most of that is now gone. There are plans to reforest some areas.
Waste disposal both in terms of garbage and sewage are a huge problem for Beirut, and it is ongoing.
There is a fair amount of agriculture, lots of fruit, which also means some industry in processing the fruit (canning, juice, etc.), but Lebanon still imports about 80% of its food.
There is a manufacturing industry, and pharmaceuticals, and oil has been discovered offshore, but is not fully developed yet. Tourism is a fairly big source of income.
They are involved in lots of sporting events, like rugby and skiing, basketball and football.
The human rights situation is not good, a lot of the issues surround the permanent refugees, but it's not great for migrant workers either, and pretty crappy for everyone in general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Lebanon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon
https://youtu.be/vvgLLqpRT6s?si=Hnzr7EhTwOeffCNh
In some ways, the cooler temperatures today mean it's better for River. He does better with cool days.
My Sweetie took the X-Terra to our mechanic so that at some point this week when he has time, he can go over it to see if there is anything that needs work. This is for R and her family, who are thinking of buying it (they're paying for the inspection).
This meant I had to meet him at the mechanic's to give him a ride back to his car. His car was at the barn, because the X-Terra was there. So, for a while we were both at the barn.
We ended up chatting a lot while we got River ready.
It was super windy, making the arena very noisy as it is kind of a fabric building, but it didn't bother River at all. Good boy.
He was a bit more awake today, but not silly, which is nice. He did well with his work.
We're looking at another pattern, which is more or less your typical barrel pattern. Unfortunately this is a speed thing, and well, we're only so speedy these days.
I am also only so interested in speed classes. I would rather focus on form and such, as I don't think speed classes are good for anyone. That said, maybe in this case, speed is a relative thing.
I came home and my Sweetie had let everyone out into their pastures for me, and I brought them back in.
We ate and watched more "Boardwalk Empire". I've noticed with HBO shows that the first season is almost unbearable with the amount of sex and nudity, but if it does well, the second season sharply drops off.
Lebanon is in the Levant region of the Middle East. It has been inhabited for a very long time.
It was once part of the ancient region of Phoenicia, from 3200 to 539 BC.
It was conquered by the Roman Empire in 64 B.C. and was Christian at that time. It remained part of the Byzantine Empire (Roman) until the invasion by Islam (Arabic) in the seventh century.
Then this area became one of the Crusader States in the 11th century, which fell to the Ottoman Empire, which lasted up until WW I. After which, the region was controlled by France.
During WWII, France was considerably weakened, and Lebanon became independent in 1943."The new Lebanese state was relatively stable for a short period after independence,[17] but this was ultimately shattered by the outbreak of large-scale fighting in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) between various political and sectarian factions. Amidst the internal hostilities of this period, Lebanon was also subjugated by two overlapping military occupations: by Syria from 1976 to 2005 and by Israel from 1985 to 2000. Since the end of the conflicts, there have been extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure.[18]"
After this time, there has pretty much been non-stop conflict, which I won't get into here. This region with Palestine and Jordan and Israel just keep on fighting.
Lebanon has taken in thousands and thousands of refugees, starting with the unrest after WWII, to the point where there are permanent refugee camps totaling about one million people. These people are in some cases now generational refugees, with no hope of becoming Lebanese citizens, so they cannot vote or have a business, or buy property. They are kind of stateless, and cannot return to their home lands either. It has created a situation of great unrest, as people have no real future. There are restrictions on what jobs they can even have, so are often exploited.
https://youtu.be/InrYxgQ1OvY?si=4gYH023L5GsniMw5
Lebanon is also facing an economic crisis.
"Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities."
Lebanon has some coast on the Mediterranean, and a thin strip of coastal plain. Since the country sits on top of the Arabic Plate, a lot of it is mountainous. It has a Mediterranean climate with lots of rain, and has many rivers that drain into the Mediterranean Sea.
It used to be heavily forested with Cedar trees, but most of that is now gone. There are plans to reforest some areas.
Waste disposal both in terms of garbage and sewage are a huge problem for Beirut, and it is ongoing.
There is a fair amount of agriculture, lots of fruit, which also means some industry in processing the fruit (canning, juice, etc.), but Lebanon still imports about 80% of its food.
There is a manufacturing industry, and pharmaceuticals, and oil has been discovered offshore, but is not fully developed yet. Tourism is a fairly big source of income.
They are involved in lots of sporting events, like rugby and skiing, basketball and football.
The human rights situation is not good, a lot of the issues surround the permanent refugees, but it's not great for migrant workers either, and pretty crappy for everyone in general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Lebanon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon
https://youtu.be/vvgLLqpRT6s?si=Hnzr7EhTwOeffCNh
