Desi In Toronto

August 28, 2008

Guns And Teachers

Filed under: Society, Something That Irks Me — agsharma @ 3:09 pm

<Link>

Students in this tiny town of grain silos and ranch houses spent much of the first couple of days in school this week trying to guess which of their teachers were carrying pistols under their clothes.

“We made fun of them,” said Eric Howard, a 16-year-old high school junior, with an adolescent sneer. “Everybody knows everybody here. We will find out.”

The school board in this impoverished rural hamlet in north-central Texas has drawn national attention with its decision to let some teachers carry concealed weapons, a track no other school in the country has followed. The idea is to ward off a massacre along the lines of what happened at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.

OR……you could just ban guns so that you would not be subject to a massacre like Columbine High School.

Update : It’s impertive to understand that teachers DO need protection. They are the guides for molding our future and it is very important for the guides to feel comfortable in their jobs.

In these violent times, have security around. Just their presence is enough to thwart any ideas of an attack. But there will always be someone with a death wish. What are your guns going to do for you at that point?

August 27, 2008

Oh Dear God!!!

Filed under: Conservaties, Dumb Commentary, Moronic Mainstream, US Politics — agsharma @ 2:48 pm

Wingnuts of the world will find any stupid shitty little molehill and make a mountain out of it. Here is a prime example :

What did Hillary Clinton’s body language give away at the Democratic National Convention?

Dan Hill, a body language expert and author of “Face Time,” told CNN that even while the words Clinton delivered offered an unequivocal endorsement of Barack Obama, her body language was much less affirmative.

“When she spoke about Obama, she really did not emote very much,” Hill said. “The only thing she showed was a very weak smile, the cheeks didn’t tend to lift very much, it was really almost what I would call a ‘crocodile smile’ where even the slight corners of the lips sometimes raise into a little bit of a smirk.”

“I don’t think that helped move the 30 percent of her supporters who say they won’t vote for Obama,” Hill added. “What she did do was appeal to voters at large, that she did more emotionally.”

Disregard the fact that she unequivocally endorsed Obama. No. According to the wingnuts, her mouth said one thing and her body said entirely another thing.

Michelle Obama

Filed under: US Politics — agsharma @ 9:16 am

Just finished listening to the DNC speech by Michelle Obama (part1 part2).

Only the hard hearted will not respond positively to the speech. It was powerful and intertwined with the same theme as most of Barack Obama’s speeches.

» Family;

» Loving one another despite differences;

» Honouring everyday Americans.

I thought she handled the “anti-American” charges quite well and her kind words for Hillary Clinton went very well with the crowd. The speech seemed to be about showing what a great family she and Barack have and how much they owe it to their parents and their ancestors (references were made to Dr. King and woman’s liberation movement).

On the whole excellent speech for a prospective first lady of USA.

August 26, 2008

This Has Got To Be A Prank!!

Filed under: Something I Found Funny — agsharma @ 12:08 pm

August 22, 2008

Funny!!

Filed under: Something I Found Funny — agsharma @ 1:49 pm

Smack Down!!

Filed under: Canadian Politics, Conservaties, Stéphane Dion — agsharma @ 1:07 pm

Looks like the prospect of me voting Liberal in the fall election (if Stephen “firm election date” Harper has the guts to call) are increasing day by day. I like this.

Stephane Dion has challenged the prime minister to clarify his view on abortion, threatening to reignite the debate as Canada careens towards an election.

The Liberal leader threw down the gauntlet while answering a question at a town-hall meeting on Wednesday night in Oakville, Ont.

The event was billed as a discussion of the Liberals’ carbon tax plan, but a member of the audience instead asked Dion’s views on the Unborn Victims of Crime Act. The private member’s bill would make it a criminal offence to harm an unborn child during an attack on its mother.

Dion said he opposed the proposed legislation because it might infringe on women’s access to abortion.

“We need to protect everyone against crime but, at the same time, it happens that I believe in the rights of women to choose and I have a lot of respect for the people who have a different view,” he told the crowd.

Dion then called upon Stephen Harper to state his own position on abortion.

“I think all Canadians have the right to know what the party leader thinks,” he said. “I gave my opinion. I want to hear the opinion of Stephen Harper.”

Now that’s a smack down!! We will eagerly wait for Stephen “yes there will be fall election/no there will not be any elections in the fall season” Harper to respond.

3 More Dead

Filed under: Canadian Afghanistan Mission, Something That Irks Me — agsharma @ 8:33 am

And so it continues…….

An explosion that killed three troops and wounded another west of Kandahar marked a devastating strike against the Canadian Forces by insurgents whose recent attacks have come in rapid succession.

Sergeant Shawn Eades, Corporal Dustin Wasden and Sapper Stephan Stock died in the attack on Wednesday.

It was the worst one-day toll for the Canadians since July 4 of last year when six soldiers were lost in a single explosion. And it occurred in the same week that 10 French troops were killed in an ambush near Kabul and three Polish troops were killed when a bomb struck their vehicle in the central part of the country.

Let these young kids keep on dying for an objective that is ill defined and ill served by our “esteemed” politicians. Fine, for what ever reason these soldiers are still out there. I hope that they are lead by sharp and responsible leaders.

But Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, the commander of Task Force Kandahar, said he does not believe the spate of coalition deaths means the Taliban are getting stronger.

“What I’d say is they are much more aggressive this fighting season than they have been in the past,” Gen. Thompson told an evening news conference held to announce the deaths.

“The difference is they are not holding any of the ground that they attack us on. So in the case of an IED [improvised explosive device] strike, they will inflict some casualties but they don’t control the road that they inflicted the casualties on. So really the net effect is zero.”

There are areas of Afghanistan that are under Taliban control.

But “not here in Kandahar province,” he said, “and I am only concerned with Kandahar province.”

This is about the dumbest statement made by a ranking official. Does he not have people telling him that he is sounding like a complete idiot?

“The net effect is zero”? What the hell do you mean by that? 3 soldiers died and you have the gall to say that the net effect is zero? I think even the village idiot would have recognised by now that Taliban modus operandi is to disrupt everyday life and not to “hold land” like this moronic Brigadier General is saying. I think he needs to be given a dictionary so that he can look up the meaning of “Insurgency”.

August 21, 2008

Racism

Filed under: Canadian Politics, Racism, Society, Something That Irks Me — agsharma @ 8:51 am

Do you want to see racism in action in Canada? This is an Olympic themed ad campaign from Bombadier.

<Video Link>

And these are some of the colourful comments from one of Canada’s premier bloggers.

Comments

The Song is called Oh Canada, not Oh Kanada. It is sung in either English or French, or both. Those renditions are merely multi-cultural plagiarism wrapped in lefty feel good politically correct nonsense.

Posted by: Zip at August 20, 2008 2:23 PM

I have been finding myself changing the channel every time this crappy commercial comes on. Turns me off, big time. One of the corniest I’ve ever seen. Future Liberal voters?

Posted by: Soccermom at August 20, 2008 3:18 PM


screw Bombardier - their creepy ads make me wish I was living in Texas

Posted by: Brad at August 20, 2008 3:34 PM


That commercial represents the future of Canada: Various Third Worlders butchering our anthem in a cacaphony of foreign tongues. Funny that the only white person shown was on a grainy, black and white TV–representing the past.

Posted by: JP at August 20, 2008 5:26 PM


Hmmm. Even my teen daughter can’t stand to watch that commercial; she said it makes her cringe.

Posted by: Soccermom at August 20, 2008 8:23 PM


Kate, I surprised you don’t recongnize the citizenship test when you see it. If you can hum the tune for a few bars you are in. Immigration officials are roaming the world, camcorder in hand, to find future citizens.


Posted by: Trailer at August 21, 2008 3:38 AM

August 15, 2008

Olympics

Filed under: Olympics, Sport — agsharma @ 11:59 am

It’s difficult to understand why a sporting powerhouse like Canada has not won a single medal yet. I can only hope that the best is yet to come. They have come tantalisingly close, but in the end, the result has always been against Canada. My money (really) is on Simon Whitfield, James Steacy (a surprise!!), Melanie Kok and Tracey Cameron, and, of course, Adam van koeverden.

As for my country of birth (India), it has been good news. Abhinaz Bindra won the first individual gold medal for India, ever. For a country that size (both in terms of population and actual size) that is pitiful. But all kudos to Abhinav who proved that not all Indians flicker just before olympics. Another hopeful is Akhil Kumar in boxing who just beat out the heavy weights in his class. Here’s hoping that India will win some more medals and jusitfy it’s presence in the olympics.

UPDATE : Go Ryan Cochrane.

UPDATE 2 : Go Canada!!!

August 14, 2008

For Those In Toronto…..

Filed under: Something I Found Funny — agsharma @ 12:52 pm

A friend sent this………

August 8, 2008

And Here Come The Stupid

Filed under: Conservaties, Moronic Mainstream, Something I Found Funny — agsharma @ 3:52 pm

One has to wonder how a seemingly smart intelligent person can say something so fantastically stupid and dumb that all you can do is shrug your shoulders. The latest being the “Obama Tyre Gauges” scrap. Here is Obama saying something smart, something honest, something my mechanic tells me everytime I get my car serviced and something that all the experts say “keep the car engine serviced and keep your tyres at optimum pressure, you will see your fuel usage go down”.

And what happens next is something that has been seen over and over again from the Right. Just like Howard Dean’s “BOOYAAAAAAH”; Just like John Kerry’s “Flip Flop”, the Right has picked on an absolute nonsence point and run away with it. No one talks of issues, foreign policies, economic policies etc. Nope. They all want to talk of “Tyre Pressure Gauges”.

I am hoping against hope that the citizens of US are not too stupid to fall for this crap again.

UPDATE : I love Wolcott’s assessment of McCain’s ad.

5) The real message of the McCain ad is that they’re envious of Obama’s elan vital, and are reduced to mocking what they covet, Envy makes a person look petty, and a petty, peevish John McCain will be indistinguishable from the Bob Dole of 1996 if he doesn’t “big up.” Right now his campaign is making Obama look like the mature one, which may explain why at least one longtime McCain loyalist is barking from the shadows.

August 7, 2008

Margot And The Nuclear So And So’s

Filed under: Music — agsharma @ 11:50 am

Went to see Margot And The Nuclear So And So’s last night at the Horseshoe Tavern.

First impression? The band was tight and played absolutely superb music. I was afraid that the new material that they were going to introduce would put me to sleep. But the new stuff was really good. Waiting eagerly for their new album now. Their set was really good but short. And they started at 10:45pm on a week night!!! Don’t they know half of their audience doesn’t have a life and need to get to work early next morning!!?!

The musicians looked like they just got off the street. The lead singer looked like his second job was busking at the corner and he just strolled in to sing a few songs before he went back to his main job. There were a total of 8 musicians on the stage which is why it was surprising that the music was so good. There were a few mistakes here and there but on the whole they played as true professionals. I also liked the diversity in the group. There was a woman, Mexicans and Chinese.

And can we please request all musicians to stop saying things like “I love Toronto. I could live in Toronto for the rest of my life. Toronto rocks” and so on. I know you are going for yells of agreement but it just makes you look pathetic.

On the whole a great evening.

August 4, 2008

Why Have So Many Kids When You Cannot Manage Them

Filed under: Stupidity — agsharma @ 7:26 am

<Link>

Staff at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel have found a four-year-old girl alone in a duty-free shop after her parents accidentally took a plane without her.

The parents boarded the flight to Paris with four of their five children.

The mother and father were sitting in different parts of the aircraft and did not realise their mistake until the captain informed them after take-off.

The girl was put on the next flight to Paris. The parents will be questioned when they return to Israel.

“It is usual that travellers in a rush forget their luggage but not a child. This never happens,” AFP news agency quoted a police official as saying.

I know I am judging based on 8 lines in the article, but good god, how the hell can you not realise that the child is not with you? I mean, they must have been in the boarding area together before boarding the plane, they must have boarded the plane together even if they are sitting in different areas of the plane. Man, some people are dumb.

August 3, 2008

Democracy And Religion

Filed under: Something That Irks Me — agsharma @ 7:45 am

Over the talk show the other day a discussion was going on about democracy and how wonderful it is, when a caller called claiming to have visited 2 dozen countries and how it was only Judea Christian nations that were capable of democracy.

I find that comment to be blinding stupid. Here is a list of non-Judea non-Christian countries :

  • India
  • Turkey
  • South Korea
  • Japan
  • Taiwan
  • South Africa

While they may not be perfect, democracy works in those coutries. Another example of imperfect democracy? United States of America.

Taser

Filed under: RCMP, Society — agsharma @ 7:18 am

In my book tasering is one of the worst tools given to the authorities, especially the police. Sure it is effective in controlling unruly and potentially dangerous behaviour but the exponential abuse of this tool renders it ineffective. I mean we have had incidents where people have died after being tasered by trigger happy police who respond by saying tasering was necessary for the their and otherès safety. I mean why call it “non-lethal” when one - third of tasered persons have required medical attention? Or does non-lethal now mean that the person did not die? In that case what about this :

Robert Dziekanski

Robert Knipstrom

Michael Langan

Quilem Registre

And then you have incidents like this :

Parents of a 16-year-old boy in intensive care with a broken back want to know why police Tasered their son 19 times rather than calling an ambulance for help.

Citizens noticed Branson, Mo., teenager Mace Hutchinson walking alongside the road and, fearing for his safety, called 9-1-1.

“We called the police. My wife was afraid he was going to get ran over or hit,” said witness Doug Messersmith. “He looked a little agitated but, other than that, he didn’t look to be falling down drunk or anything like that.”

When police arrived, they found Hutchinson under an overpass on U.S. 65 Saturday morning, Springfield’s KY3 News reported. The boy had fallen 30 feet off the overpass and was lying on the shoulder.

When the boy didn’t respond to police, they Tasered him, repeatedly.

“I’m not an officer, but I don’t see the reason for Tasering somebody lying there with a broken back. I don’t consider that a threat,” his aunt Samantha said.

Hutchinson was later admitted to the hospital, where he was put under intensive care for his injuries and is listed in fair condition. His family believes police added to the trauma after he fell from the overpass.

“According to the doctors, all injuries are consistent with a fall,” Samantha said.

I have the utmost respect for the police but incidents like this just make me wonder if power actually makes the authority figure trigger happy?

Coldplay

Filed under: Music — agsharma @ 6:37 am

Wow!!

Right from the word go these guys just rocked. The concert started at 9:10pm and they did not let up until 10:45pm. The music was awesome, the showmanship by Chris Martin and Will Champion was exceptional and the way they engaged the crowd was captivating. The quietest of the four was Berryman, the bass player. The liveliest was, according to me, the drummer Champion. Probably because he was really into the concert.

One thing I noted was that they really attempt to connect with the fan on personal levels. From performing a couple of songs (acoustic, of course) in the nose bleed section to commenting on a person s camera (”Hey! I have that camera. Isn t it great?”). I always have respect for musicians who make the whole show somehow about the audience and not about themselves.

On the whole, I highly recommend their concert and will probably go see them again.

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