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Sampled some of the best seafood around today.  Crabcakes, shrimp, Mahi Mahi, trout, and salmon were all on the menu today.  I had to go on limb to try these, but I guess you can't go wrong when the seafood's fresh.  YUM YUM!!! :)
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Just back from a refreshing run on the beach, too bad Popeye didn't enjoy it as much as i did.  I felt like I was dragging him along the whole way! 
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Played some crazy croquet today.  The course is anti-official, the yard bumpy and sloped.  You hit it off the retaining wall- lose three strokes.  Hit a spectator- lose five.  If the dog moves your ball- well, hopefully they didn't take it too far....where it lands, there you play.  The game came complete with cheating accusations and fierce competition.  To say the least, I'm terrible.  So, during the second game my Uncle Steve and my Dad took turns knocking my cousin off course.  A good hour later I hit the ball through the last wicket my cousin still stalled by my loyal family!! 


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ORGANIC,ORGANIC, ORGANIC!!!!!  It's about day 4 of our trip and all my cousin's wife Jaylene cooks is organic.  Artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onions, pumpkin, if it's a vegetable I've eaten it!  Even the chocolate syrup is organic in this house.  The dog treats-yup, they are too.  She cooks buffalo instead of beef, because it's free range and wasn't fed corn that's not organic.  She's a naturalist to the extreme.  Good food for the most part, but man I couldn't eat like this all the time.  Up and out it's time for some family Cranium and Phase 10!
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I feel good today.  The kind of good one can only feel after lazily lounging on the beaches of Destin all day long, soaking up the sun.  That's been the plan for this vacation.  Sleep late, eat well, and catch a lot of sun.  Tomorrow we'll be hitting the Black Water River with my cousin and his family.  I can't wait, it'll be my first float trip via Kayak.







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I started our kayak trip heading backwards down the river.  (can you see where this kayak trip is headed?) After I got turned around, we settled in for our float down the river.  However, no kayak trip is complete without a mishap.  Of course, with my wrecklessness and clumsiness it had to be my fault.  As I floated with the current too far to the edge of the river, I began running into branches.  In attempt to protect my face from the low branches, I forgot to steer my kayak and found that I was headed straight for a large tree that had fallen in the water.  It appeared as though the kayak was going to drag me right into the sharp branches.  I muttered a four letter word which I won't mention here.  Needless to say, I got stuck.  My kayak was being pulled further into the tree by the current and I couldn't get out.  My cousin came over to free me and when I was almost there, my cousin told me to paddle the rest of the way out.  So, I stuck my paddle and pulled the water.  Still stuck in the tree, my kayak tipped towards the water and I fell out.  Of course, I fell out at the only point in the river that was deeper than one or two feet.  At that point in the river I couldn't touch.  No life jacket and bitter cold water I was lucky I could swim!!!  I made my way towards my dad's kayak and grabbed on.  As we floated down the river I took a log to the stomach (ouch!) then we hit another mess of trees and whatya know my dad's kayak flipped, too.   Now this was a sight.  Two kayaks, two swimmers, two lost paddles.  I chased after the paddles, my cousin and dad grabbed the kayaks, and we hauled it all ashore at the next sandbar.  Cool and collected we headed back down the river and found the place where my mother and Jaylene were waiting for us.  They weren't happy campers.  Apparently it had taken them 3 1/2 hours (the same time it took us for the float trip) to find the pick-up spot.  Unmarked roads and a decieving Tom-Tom had led them all over the area in search of the bridge.  By the time we got back to my cousin's house we were tired and in need of a long afternoon nap--after a shower of course. 
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The video above is a report about the fighting that is occurring in the occupied territory of Ghaza.  The fighting is between Palestinians and Israelites. This area of land has been controlled by both parties off and on over time. Each side claims that the land belongs to them and since no compromise has been made by either party, the violence and feud over the land continues.  The fighting was fueled when Israel declared their independence.  They had declared their independence in response to Palestine's refusal of the UN Resolution 181, so the day after Palestine attacked Israel.  


Israeli forces use missiles often and the shrapnel hurts many civilians in the area.  The Israeli forces claim the missiles are launched for security purposes.  The video shows and describes the many victims and their injuries. Many innocent lives have been lost.  Palestine suicide bombers enter the streets of Israel and kill many bystanders.  A security fence is now being constructed to divide territories and keep Palestinian bombers from entering Israel.   

Two common terms used in Geography and in common language are less developed countries (LDCs), and more developed countries (MDCs).  These two phrases we accept without asking any questions.  Questions such as, Who determines which countries are more developed than others?  What makes a country more developed than another?  What is it mean to be developed?  


One organization works to define Human Development (HD) and to quantify the HD of a country.  The United Nations has developed a Human Development Index. You can access the Human Development Index at http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/ .


The index measures HD using a variety of different variables.  First of all, though, it's important to note that the Human Development does not mean the evaluation of the rise and fall of a nation's income.  Rather, the focus of the HD Index is on people.  Countries considered to have high Human Development have an environment in which people can lead productive lives that coincide with their needs and interests.  The environment gives citizens choice, so people can lead lives they value.  That's why we often connect money with development.  Money gives people opportunities, economic wealth expands choices.  


The UN believes that HD and human rights work together.  Generally speaking, people in MDCs have a sense of well-being and self-respect, have choices, lead valuable lives and maintain valuable relationships, and respect others.  In a sense HD can demonstrate how a population feels as a whole.  LDCs tend to struggle with issues of inequality and social injustice and with problems regarding human rights and freedom.   These issues prevent countries from developing as quickly as others.  


The HD Index concentrates on three main categories: health, education, and income.   However, the summary picture looks at multiple factors, which include a nation's life expectancy, level of poverty, level of income, literacy, and education.  Though this summary picture lacks many factors that contribute to a nation's development, those factors cannot be quantified.  However, the summary picture stills gives a good estimation of a country's development, and is used to produce a number.  


On the index the countries that consistently rank at the top include Norway, Austria, Iceland, Canada and at number thirteen, the United States.  All with established democracies and varying degrees of personal freedom.  Those that linger towards the bottom are almost all Sub-Saharan countries.  This could be for a number of different reasons, or more likely as a result of multiple factors working together.  One possibility is the impact of the AIDs epidemic which has dramatically decreased the life expectancy of many Sub-Saharan countries. (Notice Sub-Saharan Africa on AIDS map above!) The life expectancy is also related to the high infant mortality rate due to lack of adequate, affordable health care and the presence of many fatal diseases such as Malaria.  Many aids victims lose jobs and are unable to provide for their families, which has greatly impacted the poverty of these nations. Also, many Sub-Saharan countries have yet to develop stable democracies which promote personal freedom and in turn the promotion of valuable lives which allow people to make personal choices.  A third possible reason is that education is not as cheap and available in Sub-Saharan countries.  Lack of education prevents citizens from earning higher incomes, making appropriate health and life choices, and in developing a stronger political system.  The countries can become more developed by promoting cultural liberty and giving people tools to live lives they value.  Of course, these barriers to HD will need to be worked out before the countries can accomplish this task.  


The HD Index points out that the growing gap between MDCs and LDCs is a large problem.  Some speculate that the reason for this growing gap is globalization which adds efficiency to the world economy, yet simultaneously isolates the less developed countries as quickly as it connects with MDCs, helping them to thrive. Many political dynamics need to be worked out in order to lessen the gap between wealthier and poorer countries.  Which, in turn, will contribute to lessening the gap between more and less developed countries.