Over the last many weeks I’ve been trying to install my own Personal Weather Station.

It’s a really nifty piece of equipment.. if a little pricey.

I’ve never been very happy with the weather conditions coverage for my hometown of Port Alberni. We’re one of those towns that’s big enough to get on the odd nightly weather forecast… but it’s hard to find hard data for all manner of weather stuff.

I have always found this odd because, in my region, Port Alberni is a fairly unique little place. We get colder than most on southern Vancouver Island… get a little more snow… a lot more rain and wind in winter… and a ton more heat in the summer. All owing to our beautiful mountains and valley.

So. I’ve taken upon myself to rectify the situation.

I present to you:

http://weather.chrisale.info

This is just a snapshot of the Frontpage of the website. It includes a summary, full Almanac, Current Conditions, and summaries of the last 24 hours, Month, and Year.

There are graphs and dials to show the various weather conditions as well.

It’s a great website. Which brings me to the equipment and software that I’m using.

The software that generates the graphs and webpages (as well as notifies the NOAA and Weather Underground citizen weather services) is called WView. It’s free and open source software being maintained by one very hard working guy.

I have it running on an old PC that I put together from spare parts (so its’ free too) running a very small installation of Linux. One of the nice things about this software is it is very small (the weather data itself only takes up about 20MB of space a year) and it doesn’t need much horsepower. The PC is a Pentium 2 300MHz with 128MB RAM and a 7GB HD.

The Weather Station hardware is a bit of a different story. It’s top-o-the-line stuff. From Davis Instruments, the Vantage Pro 2 (cabled). It cost me about $CAD500 from Ebay… plus about $200 for the “data logger” to capture the data and send it to a computer.

The whole thing is mounted on my roof. It includes thermometer, barometer, hygrometer (humidity), anemometer (wind), and a rain gauge.

I can get a UV sensor and Solar Radiation sensor (what’s the difference? I’m not sure yet…) as well, but they’re add-ons.. for $US150 a pop. Ouch!

That said, for the amount that I’ve already gotten out of this station, it’s well worth the cost! I’ve started to overcome my fear of heights (our roof is FREAKIN’ steep man). My next project will be to cut a “hatch” in our dormer/bathroom attic to get to the roof a little more safely

I never imagined the funny connections I’ve started to make. I’m now apparently “known” by various meteorologists in the area. And I’m joining Environment Canadas’ “Severe Weather Watcher” program. So it’s pretty cool!

Anyway, that’s about it. I just wanted to let you know what I’ve been up to. This system was NOT hard to set up at all. The computer was the toughest thing to get -just right-, but that’s just because I had to keep it to a bare minimum. Aside from that, my fear of heights/ladders was my biggest problem!

Cheers!

Chris

and thanks in large part to bloggers.

Daily Kos is reporting on a Pentagon briefing paper dug up by Thing Progress. It’s from 1995.

It speaks for itself:

IRAQ’S POSSIBLE EMPLOYMENT OF PHOSPHOROUS CHEMICAL WEAPONS — IN LATE FEBRUARY 1991, FOLLOWING THE COALITION FORCES’ OVERWHELMING VICTORY OVER IRAQ, KURDISH REBELS STEPPED UP THEIRSTRUGGLE AGAINST IRAQI FORCES IN NORTHERN IRAQ. DURING THE BRUTAL CRACKDOWN THAT FOLLOWED THE KURDISH UPRISING, IRAQI FORCES LOYAL TO PRESIDENT SADDAM ((HUSSEIN)) MAY HAVE POSSIBLY USED WHITE PHOSPHOROUS (WP) CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST KURDISH REBELS AND THE POPULACE IN ERBIL (GEOCOORD:3412N/04401E) (VICINITY OF IRANIAN BORDER) AND DOHUK (GEOCOORD:3652N/04301E) (VICINITY OF IRAQI BORDER) PROVINCES, IRAQ. THE WP CHEMICAL WAS DELIVERED BY ARTILLERY ROUNDS AND HELICOPTER GUNSHIPS (NO FURTHER INFORMATION
AT THIS TIME). APPARENTLY, THIS TIME IRAQ DID NOT USE NERVE GAS AS THEY DID IN 1988, IN HALABJA (GEOCOORD:3511N/04559E), IRAQ, BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID OF POSSIBLE RETALIATION FROM THE UNITED STATES (U.S.) LED COALITION. THESE REPORTS OF POSSIBLE WP CHEMICAL WEAPON ATTACKS SPREAD QUICKLY AMONG THE KURDISH POPULACE IN ERBIL AND DOHUK.

…

COMMENTS: 1. (SOURCE COMMENT) - IRAQ USED WP IN ERBIL AND DOHUK BECAUSE THEY WANTED THE KURDS TO PANIC AND FLEE FROM THE AREA.

If it’s good enough for Saddam to use, it’s good enough for the United States as well!

Apparently, one administrations definition of “chemical weapons” is very different from anothers.

Update: I edited the post to more accurately reflect the source… the fact remains the same. This Administration has lost what moral authority it has ever had.

Remember, back in the days after September 11… when the whole world was grieving. Shocked. Stunned. Devastated by the attacks and collapse of the World Trade Centers. It truly was a turning point in my life, and I do not doubt in the lives of many others around the world.

That day seems so incredibly far away now… at least in terms of my sympathy towards this Administration.

Update 2 I just found this, lurking on Google.

Q
You have said you’ve been eye witness of the use of white phosphorus during American bombing in Iraq.
A [Marine Jimmy Massey]:
Yes, we use it in the missile ogives launched by helicopters and in the bullets shot by the artillery.

Sound familiar?

Let me remind you.. from above “THE WP CHEMICAL WAS DELIVERED BY ARTILLERY ROUNDS AND HELICOPTER GUNSHIPS”

Edit I’m not thrilled with the title I picked… of course Bush won’t be impeached for this.. he should be, but he won’t.. so perhaps I should have called it “Stick a fork in Iraqis, they’re cooked by Saddam and Bush…” Too harsh? OK… how about “You could stick a fork in it… but the WP burned clean through”… OK.. that’s harsh too.

Lets just call it “Fucking Hypocrit US Administration”. Ya, I like that. Short and to the point.

Update 3

Some will argue:

In [The Lefts] world, there is no difference between US military and the regime of Saddam Hussein—between humiliation and rape rooms ; between the sanctioned use of WP against entrenched terrorists and the use of nerve agents and WP on Kurdish civilians; between fighting to free a people and fighting to keep them subjugated.

This is the worst kind of justification. This is justification based on “we mean better” rather than.. “we ARE BETTER”.

We’re not talking about legality. We’re not talking about intent. We’re talking about morals… and by using White Phosphorous on Iraqi insurgents… just as Saddam used it on Kurdish rebels in 1991… the US Administration is lowering themselves to Saddam level of morality.

Just as, by sending Canadian Maher Arar to Syria to be tortured they (and potentially Canadas’ CSIS) lower themselves to the level of the Syrian government… just as, by allowing torture at Abu Graib, Gitmo and others to take place without responsibility flowing up the command….

I need to do nothing to engage in “moral relativism”.. this Adminstration has balanced it all out for me.. at the lowest common denominator.

Like a party with a bad DJ.. the people are starting to tire of the same old tune.

Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush would have you believe that it is Peoples fault that the US will withdraw in failure from Iraq. They say that this attitude is only making things worse. That its’ a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But yet, who’s directing the show? Who’s playing the tunes.

When I show up with a whole bunch of friends to a party that’s supposed to be freakin’ awesome… and at first it is, the booze is good… the food too, and I’m with all my friends, so that’s got to be good too. But then the DJ keeps playing this really crappy music, over and over. Soon enough my friends and I grow tired… it’s not fun anymore, I tell my friend this, he agrees… he tells his friend, who is a little more drunk… but not so drunk to realize that yes, the Music really does suck.

So we go ask the DJ, is there any better music coming?

The DJ says: “What are you talking about! I spin the best disks this side of Peoria!”

So you say “Well, actually it was pretty good at the start, but since then it’s really gotten bad”

The DJ says: “Well, what do you mean, it’s been the same the whole way through! We’re really rocking here! Just sit back, enjoy, I guarantee you’ll get into it.

You: “Well, no actually, we’re really not enjoying ourselves, in fact, I think we’re just going to leave, and most of my friends are too cuz they think the same as I do.”

“The DJ: “Well if you do that, my club will go out of business. It’s not my fault you guys don’t like the music… the music is great! People just need to realise that this is the greatest music this side of Peoria!”

You: “Sorry, we’re outta here”

Here’s a verse from “BYOB” by System of a Down.

Marching forward hypocritic
And hypnotic computers
You depend on our protection
Yet you feed us lies from the tablecloth
La la la la la la la la la la
Everybody is going to the party
Have a real good time
Dancing in the desert
Blowing up the sunshine
Kneeling roses
Disappearing into Moses’ dry mouth
Breaking into Fort Knox
Stealing our intentions
Hangars sitting, dripped in oil

I highly recommend checking out the preview at the iTunes Music Store.

It’s funny cuz it’s True!

These multi-national oil companies are a whole herd of deer grazing on a bounty of spilled corn in Interstate 10 outside of Houston at 5:00 AM. There is a giant semi-truck cresting the hill with its bright lights on called Peak Oil bearing down on this herd. Some may make it off that highway. Some definitely won’t.

Read the whole post about how entire Oil Companies are just going about their business.. largely oblivious to long term realities.

Juan Cole has a nice post set to Bob Dylans’ tune.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?

In response to the call for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by a retired marine colonel, decorated Vietnam War veteran and Democratic Congressman, John Murtha, White House Spokesman Scott McClellan implied that Murtha was advocating a “surrender to the terrorists.” McClellan is not a veteran of any war, and nor are his bosses, George W. Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney (the latter actively sought 5 deferrals from serving in Vietnam).

Great Post… Great Song.