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It looks like Laibar Singh, a Sikh from Punjabi, India, who had entered Canada on a forged passport in 2003 has managed to dodge a deportation order to leave Canada. He was supposed to be deported on Tuesday, but a group of 200 Sikh's had once again blocked Singh from being deported. RCMP, border services went to the Sikh temple in Surrey, BC, to get Laibar Singh who was given sanctuary there, and pick him up around 4:30 a.m. today and deport him to India, forcing officials once again to cancel the deportation attempt. Despite the flunting of Canadian immigration laws by the Sikh community in Surrey, BC, Immigration officials say that removal order still stands, they've just put it off for today. It is apparent that these Sikhs have no regard to Canadian laws and discount the fact that Laibar Singh had entered Canada on a forged passport. A Sikh person who had lied and cheated to enter Canada really speaks volums on the kind of religion they represent which condone such action.
The Toronto District School Board proposal for a black-focused school has been met with both criticism and praise. Some parents are enraged, saying the initiative is a dangerous throwback to the days of segregation. It is not only a throwback to the days of segregation, but it would also encourage the gettoization of black people as it is in many cities in the USA. I personally think this whole black-focused school concept is a very bad idea.
I find it ironic that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert government has the money to pay out $25 thousand per hour while US President George W. Bush is in Israel during his three-day visit when they have a hard time to pay the government compensation packages to the 9,000 Jewish residents, from 21 civilian Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and from four civilian Israeli settlements that were Neve Ya'acov, north of Jerusalem, the Gush Etzion bloc in Judea and Samaria, the communities north of the Dead Sea and Kfar Darom in the Gaza region, for the loss of their homes and livelihoods during the Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. Many of these people have not received their promised compensation package as of 2007. Israeli people had to "voluntarily" vacate their homes prior to the August 15, 2005 deadline. Others were evicted by Israeli security forces over a period of several days. Then came the demolition of the residential buildings and the evacuation of all residents and associated security personnel from the Gaza Strip, which was completed by September 12, 2005. The Disengagement Plan, according to Ariel Sharon, was designed to improve Israel's international status, in the absence of political negotiations to end the Hamas-stan (Palestinian) conflict. We know now how that plan had backfired on Israel. Palestinian Authority terrorists in Gaza launched a constant barrage of mortar and Kassam rocket fire at Israeli communities in the western Negev Wednesday, marking the arrival of US President George W. Bush for a three-day visit. One of the missiles slammed into a house, landing in a young child's bedroom. Miraculously, the three-week-old baby was in his mother's arms in the shelter to which she ran when the Color Red alert siren wailed. Three people were treated for shock in the aftermath of the attack, including the boy's mother. By midday, at least nine Kassam rockets had been fired at Israel. Three were aimed at the southern coastal city of Ashkelon, several others at Negev kibbutzim. Most targeted Sderot. Several landed near the security fence. By evening, at least 15 mortars and Kassam rockets had rained down on southern Israel, with many hitting the besieged city of Sderot. Three people in the city were rushed to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon after an attack late in the afternoon. One of the victims was a 17-year-old girl who was hit in the hand by shrapnel. A 60-year-old man complained of chest pains, and a third person fell and was injured while running for cover from the incoming missiles. These so-called "Palestinian" people are nothing more than some rag-tag dispossessed people mostly from various parts of the Arab nations who base their entire claims more upon fiction and fables than anything else. These people never had a nation, a government or a historical history prior to Yasser Arafat's phony claim of a Palestinian state. Arafat insistently perpetuated the phony legend that he had been born in Jerusalem and was related to an important Husseini clan of that city. Yasser Arafat was never a so-called "Palestinian", he was actually born in Cairo, Egypt. Whatever history they have, only started with Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization who was the head of Fatah, the PLO's central faction, which he founded in Kuwait in the late 1950s. This is how stupid or gullible these US Presidents are, or anyone else who had bought into that phony "Palestinian" claim.
I happen to watch one of my favorite
programs tonight on CBC-TV, the fifth estate. This program was about
sexual abuse on students by their teachers in Teacher's Pet. Most cases of sexual misconduct in the classroom--between teachers and students—go undisclosed and unreported. Victims are silenced by guilt and shame and school authorities are simply reluctant to believe the worst, especially when it comes to sexual misconduct by female teachers. Experts say the few cases we read about in the newspaper are just the tip of the iceberg. In Teacher's Pet, Hana Gartner and a fifth estate team tell the stories of just two cases. One is the story of a now 27-year-old man who is still trying to come to grips with what happened to him in high school. We cannot identify him due to an ongoing court-imposed publication ban. He told his story to the fifth estate to expose the double standard that protects female teachers who have sex with students and shields them from prosecution. As a high school senior, he attended a rural high school in Dewberry, Alberta. There, an attractive teacher named Jocelyn Jaster, who taught elementary-level classes, approached him at school. She invited the handsome athletic 17-year old student to her classroom and handed him a love letter. They kissed that day and over the summer, began a passionate romance. In September, Jaster informed him that she was pregnant. She moved to Vancouver where she miscarried. But, in Alberta, their affair had come to the attention of the authorities and soon Jaster was facing criminal sexual exploitation charges and the revocation of her teaching certificate.
Another sexual abuse case is about Donna Bouchard, a twelve-year-old in Debden, Saskatchewan; a straight-A student who dreamed of becoming a nun like many of the sisters who taught at her school. Donna's then 29-year-old Catholic math teacher and coach, Margaret Carruthers, spent months gaining Donna's trust, inviting her for sleepovers where she sexually assaulted Donna. The assaults continued for years.
When Donna's family found out what was happening, Donna attempted suicide. It was Margaret Carruthers, her tormentor and sexual predator, who became a helpful friend to Donna's parents and helped the Bouchards take their daughter to the hospital.
Donna recovered. When her parents spoke to the school about Margaret Carruthers, they were advised to move Donna to another school. Before Donna left Debden, she visited her school's vice-principal and family friend, Leon Bonneau, one last time. "I'm sorry you have to be the one to go," he told her. Margaret Carruthers would continue to teach at the school for another ten years. To get the full story, here is the Fifth Estate web site... Teacher's Pet
This program will also air on Friday January 11 on CBC Newsworld & Sunday, on January 13 on CBC-TV.
Freezing weather hits parts of UK that car lies abandoned near Northallerton, North Yorkshire. Snow and bitter winds have swept across some areas of Britain in the first cold snap of the New Year. Worst affected are central and northeast Scotland, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Forecasters said that snow up to 30cm deep may settle on Scottish hillsides and up to 4cm on lower levels.
Hundreds of homes sat in as much as 2.5 m of water following a canal rupture as freezing weather spread sheets of ice over yards and streets in the Sierra Nevada, hindering efforts to get the water to drain away.
Nearly 300 homes were damaged when the canal's bank gave way following heavy rainfall produced by the West Coast storm system that had piled snow as much as 3 m deep. Winter storm had brought a deep freeze in Florida that farmers had to protect crops from freezing tempatures. The same winter storm had dumped snow on the Northeast where it has generally mild weather. At Corpus Christi the temperatures were up and down. Temperatures there went below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the freezing point, to the mid upper 20s F. Corpus Christi temperatures hovered around 30 - 32 F during that time, while colder temperatures dropped farther inland.
Several deaths was caused from unusual freezing temperatures in Mexico.
A cold snap has brought freezing temperatures, unusual snows and heavy rains to Mexico and Central America.
LUCKNOW, India, Jan. 2, 2008; Cold Weather Kills 38 In Northern India due to near-freezing temperatures since early December. An unusually fierce cold snap has killed nine people in northern India over the past two days, bringing the death toll from weeks of unusually chilly weather to 38, officials and a news report said Wednesday.
Temperatures in New Delhi dropped to 32 F on Sunday morning, coldest temperatures in over 70 years. Some parts of India dropped to below zero as winds from the north funneled cold wind through the Himalayans and down into North and Central India.
Freezing temperatures in Pakistan. Temperatures sometimes fell to -15 degrees celcius. It was so cold that moisture in a persons eyes froze... Even though they had a metre of snow.
In Nepal, at least three people have died due to freezing conditions, the media reported.
A cold front cause the death toll to surge to 26 in Taiwan. Officials urged the public to take more effective ways to guard against the cold temperatures, after the death toll from the latest cold front shot up to 26. Figures compiled by hospitals and fire departments showed that the number of people who have died of cold and acute illnesses triggered by cold weather has increased around Taiwan in the past three days.
Among the casualties, one middle-aged driver crashed his car and died in the accident after he suffered from a sudden heart attack due to the cold on a road in Miaoli County.
North Koreans were cut off and freezing to death.The men who finally made it into the remote highland village of Koogang were greeted by an eerie silence and a gruesome sight. Lying among the simple wooden huts and burnt remnants of wooden furniture, they found the bodies of 46 North Korean villagers, including women and children, all of whom had frozen to death. Cut off from the outside world by one of the harshest winters in many years, the villagers had suffered a macabre fate that has exposed both the desperate poverty and callous misrule blighting the Stalinist state.
Snowy Japan, Thirteen feet of snow fell in Niigata, Japan.
In China, about 30,000 herdsmen stranded by heavy snowfall in the far northwestern region of Xinjiang were moved to safety along with more than 60,000 head of livestock, the China Daily newspaper reported.
Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong, also experienced unusually cold weather with weekend temperatures falling to below freezing, the Xinhua news agency said.
In Bangladesh, 13 people had died due to the cold in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 33 since last Thursday, officials there said.
A cold snap which happened back in 2004, where more than 60 children had died in July as freezing weather hits Peru. Freezing temperatures in Peru have killed more than 60 children, and dozens of people according to a Unicef report. Peruvian authorities were struggling to deliver supplies to isolated mountain regions in southern and central Peru, where a cold wave has killed many people and roads were blocked by approximately 40cm of snow.
In Srinagar, India (AFP) on March 13, 2007; At least 50 people were killed as snow engulfed Kashmir and torrential rains pounded the rest of northern India. Some 28 people were killed and 25 others received burn injuries in separate lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh as rains crippled life in the populous northern Indian state.
The record melting of Arctic sea ice observed this summer and fall led to record-low levels of ice in both September and October, but a record-setting pace of re-freezing in November, according to the NASA Earth Observatory. Some 58,000 square miles of ice formed per day for 10 days in late October and early November, a new record. Here's how NASA explains the record re-growth of ice over that 10-day period in October and November: Record sea ice growth rates after a record low may sound surprising at first, but it is not completely unexpected. The more ice that survives the summer melt, the less open water there is for new ice to grow. When summertime ice extent hits a record low, on the other hand, large areas of open water provide room for the ice to grow once temperatures cool off enough. While summer warming of the upper ocean surface can cause wintertime sea ice regrowth to lag initially, as the fall season progresses and sunlight weakens, the rate of energy loss from the ocean increases. That heat loss coupled with a large area of open water creates ideal conditions for sea ice to form rapidly over large areas. The fact that the ice cap is reforming at a record pace might be watered down by the "yes but it's lagging way behind", statement. To get a more recent satellite image of the Artic Ice Pack, here is the satellite image of the ice pack from Jan 10, 1979 and compare the most recent image of the ice pack for Jan 10, 2008 shows the ice pack has almost completely reformed! Anybody want to talk about how the Earth is warming up? Many people believe that the planet is heating up due to the "greenhouse gas" scenario which they claim is causing Global Warming which in turn is caused by human activity. Maby federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion can clue me in, given the data I have presented here.
You can easily view this at Artic Ice Pack to verify what I am saying. This invalidates the entire spin on those scientists who had blindly accepted Al Gore's warnings of climate catastrophe in his book, "The Inconvenient Truth". This is what I hate about the Global Warming debate. These people use selective facts and ignore the truth and reality. To think that Al Gore got a Nobel Peace Prize award for his book on Global Warming really questions the reliability of that Nobel Peace Prize. One of the world's foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous" and the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works". Dr William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth. Incidentally, the above-mentioned website has a handy comparison feature that lets you compare the current ice pack to previous ice packs going back to 1979.
Tata's Nano compact car will no doubt shake up automakers and revolutionize the auto industry.The new Nano car will force other auto makers to compeat drasticly if they intend to survive. India's Tata Motors has unveiled its much anticipated $2,500 US car, an ultra-cheap price tag that brings car ownership into the reach of tens of millions of people. The Tata's chairman insists the car will meet safety standards and pollute even less than motorcycles, passing domestic and European emission standards and averaging about 50 miles per U.S. gallon (20 kilometres per litre). Tata has long promised that he'd create a 100,000-rupee car, a vow that was much-derided in the global industry but created a frenzy of attention in India and all over the world. For now, the car will be sold only in India, but Tata has said it eventually hopes to export it. The Nano could well become the main car to be bought and driven in developed, underdeveloped and developing markets around the world for this super-cheap car. The basic model could sell for around $3,000 CA to cover taxes, delivery and other charges. The Nano has a two cylinder 625cc gas engine with a top speed of 105 km/h. It is 3.1 meters long. Instrument panel consist of speedometer with odometer and a fuel gage. It seats 4 adults. The luggage compartment is up front,( like the Volks Bettle bug), which stores the battery and windsheild washer and has room for only a single luggage. The car has no heater, radio, air conditioning, power steering, air bags, anti-lock brakes, safty beam or emission control. These items are optinal extras. But for such a low-priced car, what can you expect? The main drawback is the car's wheel bearings which is strong enough at speeds up to 72 Km/h but they will quickly wear out at higher speeds. French Renault SA and its Japanese partner, Nissan Motor Co., and other automakers are now trying to determine if they can build a car they can sell for less than $3,000 US. Unfortunately, our own made in Canada car, the Zenn from the ZENN Motor Co. headquartered in Toronto, the maker of electric vehicles can't sell its product in Canada because it is not allowed on our roads. The other drawback is the relatively high cost of the Zenn, which is between $12,000 - $15,000 for this two seater electric car which is intended mostly for city driving, can not compete with the low priced Nano which is made in India. The Zenn runs on six 12 volt Deka maintenance free, valve-regulated, and sealed lead acid gel batteries which hums the Zenn along at a top speed of 25 mph. Its range unfortunately is only 35 miles, unlike the unlimited range of the gas driven four seater Nano . Tata said. And, in these days of escalating gas prices, it gets a respectable 50 mpg and has lower emissions levels than the scooters now produced in India. The Nano has rear-wheel drive and a two-cylinder, 35-horsepower engine, and can reach speeds of 60 mph, and it meets all safety and environmental requirements, Baig said.
Jan. 11th, 2007; This morning we got dumped with a lot of fresh snow which will be good news for skiers and people who enjoy other outdoor fun activities. Once again I had to get the shovel and clear away the walkway of snow. It sure looks nice with all this fresh snow covering the landscape. We are now back to our normal winter weather. I see in the news that the former Indonesian dictator, Suharto is near death. Good, and good riddance to that monster! For 30 years, almost everything in Indonesia had revolved around Suharto. As a young general, Suharto, who like many of his fellow Indonesians used only one name, was one of the few military leaders to escape the attempted coup that in 1965 ousted Sukarno, the left-leaning strongman who was then president for life. As a wave of killing swept across the country, Suharto took control, although he left Sukarno in place as a figurehead before naming himself president in 1968. Ruling with a heavy iron hand, the country's economy grew strong, as did Suharto's personal fortune and those of his family members, who became billionaires many times over. He ruled the 200 million people of the world's most populous Muslim nation for 32 years after taking power in a military coup in 1965. His "new order" held the vast country together and brought economic development but his regime was marked by corruption and by gross abuses of human rights. At least half a million people, many of Chinese ethnic origin, have died in massacres which had accompanied his rise to power. Despite this dictator had stolen the Indonesian crown jewels, his atrocious history of terror during his reign in power, Suharto was viewed for decades as a reliable Cold War ally of the Americans, which allowed him to conquer East Timor. He had secret military pacts with Washington and shared intelligence data with them and had permitted US nuclear submarines to pass through vital sea lanes between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. By 1997, unrest grew as Suharto seemed unable to cope with the country's economic crisis. Mass protests against his regime gathered force as the Asian financial crisis revitalized the political opposition. One year later, Jakarta was in flames as rioting mobs ran throughout the country. Soldiers shot thousands of civilian protesters as the economy continued to collapsed. Suharto had spared the country of a potential civil war by stepping down and handing over power peacefully, once his army chief had pledged that Suharto and his family would be safe. He stepped down on May 21, 1998. He offered an apology to the nation but managed to avoid prosecution by claiming ill health. Well, his lies and atrocities has caught up with him. May he suffer in agony and has a hard agonizing death!
I see that a fellow artists has recovered some of her lost work. According to an NTV news report, a local artists in North Bay has managed to recover much of her work that went missing when a small store suddenly had shut down two months ago. The experience has these artists who had left their paintings on consignment, find new ways to market their pieces to help prevent this from happening again. The store that had closed suddenly. had accepted artwork fron these artists on consignment, an arrangement that allows the business to pocket a percentage of the sale. In the case of landscape artist Alice Orley Smith, she had several of her smaller paintings returned, but said she may not recover her two large Group of Seven inspired pieces in time for her Canada's Brilliance exhibition that will run for two weeks starting Jan. 29 at the WKP Kennedy Gallery. At least three artists lost their work when the store closed, and only Saile had entered into a written contract with the store before releasing her work. I had the same experience of loosing my painting when I had entered into contracts with various art galleries and had left my paintings on consignment, at art galleries in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Like the artists in North Bay, I had managed to recover some of my paintings, but others have never been recovered again. The art galleries had accepted my artwork on consignment, the same arrangement that allows the business to pocket a percentage of the sale of my paintings. After a while, I stopped leaving my paintings on consignment to art dealers because I felt no trust with whoever the dealer or art gallery may be. I sold my paintings on my own from then on. Once that trust is gone, it is hard to ever regain it.
Women are being left out in the cold when women are banned from competing in the ski jump competition in the Winter Olympics that is being held here in Canada. I think our modern 21st Century world still has some serious flaws in it. I had not even realized that women are being banned from competing in the ski jump competition in the winter Olympics which is being held in B.C. , before today. I am not a sports fan, but this kind of discrimination is totally ridiculous, and outrageous in this day and age. That kind of bigoted thinking goes back to the 4th century CE, if not the Stone Age, when women were banned from doing many things, for goodness sake! These are the same type of chauvinistic morons who insist to ban women from competing in the ski jump. What a ridiculous, bigoted ruling! Any Canadians with a sense of decency should ban or boycott the Winter Olympics because that kind of thing do not belong in Canada or in a modern society. Women like Catherine White of Brampton, Ont., scored a pair of goals to lead Canada to a 7-1 semifinal win over Sweden at the inaugural women's world under-18 hockey championship . Canada's Helen Upperton and Heather Moyse earned a silver medal in women's World Cup bobsleigh action in Cortina, yesterday. These women were not banned from competing in other sports activities. so why in the ski jump competition in the winter Olympics? Gian Franco Kasper, the presdient of the International Ski Federation, has banned women from ski jumping because, according to him, it's "too dangerous" for them. Get a load of this Cave Man's mentality! The International Ski Federation has ruled that ski jumping is too dangerous for women, making it the only winter Olympic sport that has male competitors and no female counterparts. The fight to get women's ski jumping on the Olympic agenda took a big leap forward yesterday as an important ally emerged from within the ranks of the International Olympic Committee. Beckie Scott, the cross-country gold medalist and nordic ski icon, threw her support behind the initiative spearheaded by Canada's team of teens to break the male-only barrier, calling the IOC's stance "unjust" and that she was sympathetic and supportive of the women ski jumpers and their efforts to gain entry in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The federal and provincial governments said they intend to express their concerns when IOC president Jacques Rogge visits Vancouver next month. Helena Guergis, federal secretary of state for sport, said she doesn't accept the IOC's position. "We will call our partners together to best explore how to approach the International Olympic Committee to ask them to reconsider their decision," she said. Colin Hansen, the provincial minister responsible for the Olympics, said he, too, will press home his concerns with Rogge. Ski jumping and Nordic combined are the last two male-only winter sports in the Olympics.
There is a new Anti-smoking campaign which makes the ridiculous claim that, get this!, that "Smoking Makes You Ugly And Unattractive". They claim that smoking has a bad effects on skin, and other parts of the human body, despite that there are many factors that determine the condiction of a persons skin, or how a person looks. I have seen smokers who still have good skin tone and a healthy appearance. At least until they reach 80-100 years of age. Frankly, on the rare occation when I look at myself in the nude in the mirror, my body do not look bad at all, for a smoker. No purplish blotches or wrinkly skin . It is still smooth and silky. I have seen many non-smokers, men and woman, in their 50s, who's faces are etched with a lot of wrinkles, some, their skin is shriveled up and looks like an old prune, some even have big purplish blotches on their skin. It do not take a brain surgeon to figure out something is amiss with these Anti-smoking claims. Boy, these people sure got that lying and deceiving tactic down pat. They must have learned that from a certain religion, which had lied to, and deceived pretty well the entire world at one point in time, and continue to do so today. I will not mention that perverted Baal religion at this time, because of the New Year resolution I had made. This new Anti-smoking campaign makes one more bogus claim, among a long, long list of false claims. What a bunch of deceiving morons they are!
During the past few days, I had been busy helping my friend, Sharen to gut out her basement because water had seeped into her basement from that thaw we had. Sharen had come over to my place and related to me that her mother and children were getting sick due to mold that had suddenly appear. I will not see her face her distress on her own, despite that it involved having to work through the weekend. Sharren is a single divorced mom who is looking after her two children and her 80 year old mother while still trying to hold a full time job. Once Sharen moved the children and mother out of the house and put them up in a motel, we started ripping out some of the walls and removed the soggy fiberglass insulation . We found a great deal of mold which had formed on the concrete foundation walls and under the sub floor. We had to move furniture and many items in order to rip the wall panels and get rid of the wet fiberglass insulation, and mold. We also had to rip out some of the sub floor. We also had to find another place for her mother because she coulkd no longer stay in her basement bedroom. We found a nice dry and heated sun room in another part of the house, which we had to renovate. All in all, it was a daunting chore and expence Sharen was facing. While we got the worst area stripped and aired out, Sharen will have to rip out the rest of the walls and sub floor to see where else water may be seeping into her basement. Water was seeping through the sound concrete blocks which the foundation walls was made of, they could not have been coated with a sealer or with tar on the exterior walls. The weeping tile must also be plugged up, if any weeping tile had been installed around the house. She will have to check that out. Sharen and her mother had bought the house last spring. No doubt Sharen will have to get a contractor to dig around the entire house to expose the foundation walls and do what must be done to stop this water seepage that is getting into her basement.
After U.S. President George W. Bush had spoken to his lap dog, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, he went to Saudi Arabia, which is one of the strictest regimes in the world under the rule of oil-rich King Abdullah from which many of Islam jihadis terrorists emanate from. They typically operate as insurgents in Iraq or Afghanistan to kill Americans and Canadians. This is the kind of company that U.S. President George W. Bush is rubbing elbows with. In 1986, Bush's father, then the vice-president under Ronald Reagan, went to Saudi Arabia to meet with his oil partner, the then-King Fahd. These Arab terrorists were greatly influenced by their religion of Islam, and by Islamic propaganda books and films which are readily available in Saudi Arabia. According to American authorities, they claim that about 40 per cent of the foreign fighters who went to Iraq and Afghanistan who join the insurgency over the past year are from Saudi Arabia. I also recall that 15 out of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia. This is the U.S. President who is pushing the "peace plan" which will bring Israel under UN control. Latest news is that eight people were killed and six other people were wounded at a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in Kabul on Monday Jan. 14th, 2008. Norwegian journalist Carsten Thomassen, 38, died in the blast, along with an American whose identity hasn't been released. A spokesperson for the hotel said three hotel workers and two guards were killed. The Philippines Foreign Affairs Department said a Filipina spa supervisor wounded in the attack died on Tuesday. A Taliban spokesman said it was a co-ordinated Islamic suicide bomber and gun attack. According to a CBC report, Zabiullah Mujahid, a person claiming to speak for the Taliban, told the Associated Press that a suicide bomber blew himself up and three other militants with grenades and guns had attacked the Serena Hotel in central Kabul. Two officials from the U.S. State Department confirmed that eight people had died, but some of their identities remained unclear. There were at least three militants were carrying grenades and firing AK-47s. Another militant had blew himself up, killing people close to him. Hundreds of police converged on the hotel, as some of the attackers were still believed to be inside the building. Police kept journalists and onlookers far from the building, because it was a scene of utter chaos, the Associated Press reported. This is what Islam had brought to the world, death and destruction.
Jan. 17th, 2007; U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington that he has some doubts about the effectiveness of NATO countries that have sent large numbers of combat troops to fight in the south. He was worried that some European NATO military forces don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations because they have not been trained in counterinsurgency. Gates also lauded Canadian forces for their efforts in spearheading the fight in the southern regions. Liberal defense critic Denis Coderre Coderre said at the very least, the comments smack of insensitivity in light of the most recent death of another Canadian soldier that was killed by a roadside bomb, north of Kandahar on Wednesday. The report also had sparked an angry reaction from some British, Dutch and Canadian politicians. Especially when U.S. troops are not doing any better in their efforts to combat insurgents in Iraq. L.A. Times journalist Peter Spiegel stuck to the story he broke, that Gates was very clear in his criticisms and had doubts about the training that Afghan troops have received by the U.S.'s allies in the region. Gates' reported comments came to light the day after Washington authorized the deployment of 3,200 U.S. marines to Afghanistan in April,2008 after failing to convince European countries to provide reinforcements. Most of the U.S. troops will be deployed to the south to strengthen NATO forces there ahead of an expected increase of Taliban and insurgent activity with the spring thaw. The U.S. has 14,000 troops with the 42,000-strong NATO-led force, the rest are training Afghan forces and hunting al Qaeda terrorists. Canada has about 2,500 troops currently serving in the Afghan mission, most of them stationed in the southern province of Kandahar.
Seven more Canadian soldiers were injured in two incidents involving suspected roadside bombs in southern Afghanistan. The incidents occurred just hours apart on Wednesday in the same area where a Canadian soldier had been killed by a roadside bomb on Tuesday. This latest incedient happened during a patrol operation in the Panjwaii district, about 35 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. The soldiers were evacuated by helicopter and sent to a multinational hospital where they were treated for their injuries. The six soldiers were released from hospital on Wednesday night. The attacks came on the same day as hundreds of soldiers lined the tarmac of Kandahar airfield to pay tribute to their fallen comrade, Richard Renaud had been killed by a roadside bomb on Tuesday when he was on a routine patrol in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, about 10 kilometres north of the city of Kandahar, when that blast occurred. I can not help but wonder how much of that $300-million aid our Canadian government has given over to those Muslim Palestinian terrorists in Israel, has gone over to help the Talibans in Afghanistan.
A suspected suicide attacker detonated a bomb at a Shia mosque in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar late Thursday, killing at least three people and injuring 20, police said. Shia Muslim men inspect damage at a mosque in Peshawar after a suicide attack. The blast comes as minority Shia Muslims prepare to mark the Ashoura festival, which in previous years has been marred by sectarian violence involving rival Sunnis.
Ottawa on Thursday announced plans to create "made-in-Canada" fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks, noting they would be at least as stringent as regulations recently introduced in the U.S. "We welcome the U.S. goal, but are committed to developing made-in-Canada standards that achieve, at minimum, that same target in Canada," Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said at a press conference at the Montreal International Auto Show. Cannon said by 2020, the average new vehicle sold in Canada will offer better fuel consumption than some hybrid cars on the road today. He also noted the cars will spew out fewer greenhouse gas emissions than about 93 per cent of all vehicles listed in the 2008 Fuel Consumption Guide. Environmental groups criticized the announcement, saying the regulations aren't being phased in quickly enough. The delay will cause both damage to the environment and cost consumers billions of dollars at the pumps. Here are a couple of cars at the Montreal International Auto Show.
The Avenger SE starts at $21.995,00 (the SXT model) has a starting price of $24,095.00 with pricing out to just over $27,370.00 for the 2.4L four cylinder engine, producing 173hp, coupled to a four speed automatic transmission in the 2008 Dodge Avenger. the 2.4L four cylinder in the Avenger averaged 8.6L/100km.
What will all this 2008 Honda Pilot mid-size SUV in SE trim, which replaces the EX model. cost you? The base Pilot starts at $36,820 for the LX-2WD model; choosing the SE causes the price to jump to $43,990. Standard for all Pilots is a 3.5liter V6 engine mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission. The engine produces 244hp and 240lb-ft of torque and runs on good old regular fuel. Towing capacity for all AWD equipped Pilots is rated at 2045kg (4500lbs). A large vehicle like the Pilot feels smaller and smaller the more you drive it. The fuel tank takes over 48 litres of fuel with an average of 13.9L/100km, which isn’t spectacular by any means.
The new cars at the Montreal International Auto Show can't compeat with the Nano. The basic model could sell for around $3,000.00 CA to cover taxes, delivery and other charges. The Nano has rear-wheel drive and a two-cylinder, 35-horsepower engine, and can reach speeds of 60 mph, and it meets all safety and environmental requirements, Baig said. It is 3.1 meters long. Instrument panel consist of speedometer with odometer and a fuel gage. It seats 4 adults. It's Cute as a Bug and average about 4.0 L/100 km. This could mean global disaster for the rest of the auto makers. Ratan Tata had long dreamed of giving middle-class Indian families a safer alternative to piling mom, dad and the kids onto the only motorized transportation they could afford, a motorcycle or a motor scooter. A family of four has to ride precariously on their motorcycle or motor scooter, which you see everywhere. He would give them four wheels, a roof, a steering wheel, and a sense of privilege, because that's what a car still means in India. Still, by putting distribution in the hands of its dealers, taking advantage of cheap Indian labor and using lower-cost materials, Tata Motors has driven the price of a car down to levels never seen before, which say's very little about the other automakers, and what they are trying to produce.
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