Benazir Bhutto Assassination

Earlier today Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan in a suicide ambush. I've seen several News Headlines that seem to indicate that some people are "shocked" by the killing.

I am definitely not surprised given the threat Bhutto was exposed to ever since her return from her self-imposed exile on October 18th of this year. She too was well aware of the dangers of returning to Pakistan, but she persevered despite the threat because she wanted to help her country. This threat was most evident on the day she returned when up to 140 people were killed in a bombing that was intended to kill her, including 50 of her bodyguards who literally made a human shield around her to prevent an assassination [1]. In fact, according to the BBC [2], 20,000 troops and police had been deployed in Karachi on the day of her return to oversee her arrival.

So what does this mean for the future of Pakistan? It's another blow for the United States who staunchly supported Bhutto and her stance against extremists. The Bush Administration is surely worried about the elections now that Bhutto is out of the running. The US has been pushing for "democracy" in Pakistan, but with the US's number 1 potential ally assassinated, they may have to reassess their options (Keep an eye out on the Bush Administration to see how their tone might change slightly regarding the January elections). Don’t forget that Nawaz Sharif [4] (another former Pakistan Prime Minister) returned to Pakistan in November, so keep an eye out on him to see if he gains some popularity.

A FOX News reporter (John Gibson) has even gone as far as to suggest that Musharraf is to blame for the bombing and that the only way to deal with this "crisis" is to elect a Republican President at the next election who has the "resolve" to fight a "War on Terror", because the people who killed Bhutto "Would kill you too". After a little bit of investigation I discovered that Bhutto did say in an e-mail that she would hold Musharraf responsible for protecting her [3], but Gibson takes it out of context and makes his viewers believe that Musharraf is somehow behind the bombing (When watching FOX News you always need to take everything with a grain of salt).

A couple months ago I was reading about Bhutto and trying to come to a conclusion about whether I believed the charges of corruption against her and her husband were true or not. Several European countries (Including Switzerland, Poland and France) hold hundreds of pages of documents relating to corruption allegations against Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. Her husband even spent 8 years in prison for corruption charges [4]. There appears to be strong evidence against them, but there is no question that Bhutto was a very brave person who loved her country enough to die for it.

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/world/asia/20Pakistan.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7050274.stm
[3] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/The_United_States/Bhutto_said_Musharraf_failed_to_protect_her_e-mail/articleshow/2656940.cms
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawaz_Sharif

Mick Jagger dream

Last night I had a strange dream that Mick Jagger had died. Normally I don't remember the details of my dreams, but this morning I woke up and clearly recalled reading a news website that Mick Jagger had died.

It's not often that I have dreams about someone dying, and I would have brushed it off except a couple minutes ago I was listening to Yahoo Launchcast online radio, and they played a Mick Jagger song. So that was coincidence enough that I figured I would write it on here.

A quick Google News search reveals the following recent (but not so interesting) news articles about Mick Jagger:

• Jagger and Adams invite Winehouse to Caribbean for Christmas
• French President dating Jagger's ex?
• Bianca Jagger evicted from NYC apt. amid landlord dispute
• Gay.com books - Nureyev: The Life
• JAGGER DENIES FERTILITY BOOST ATTEMPTS

Do you guys have Lakeport?

Last night I came home around 1:00AM and let Mojo outside to pee. As she was peeing, someone threw an empty bottle of beer from their balcony that landed 10 or 15 feet away from Mojo and I. It hit a tree on its way down but landed safely on a pile of snow.

I'm not a big fan of people throwing beer bottles off the balcony, or even smashing beer bottles in general, so I decided to be confrontational. I looked above me to see who might have thrown it. Just 2 units above me, there were people smoking on their balcony. So I washed the beer bottle, put it in my back pocket and took the elevator up and knocked on their door.

I didn't want to make my intentions obvious, so at first I made some small talk and asked them how their night was. Then I asked them if they had any Lakeport beer. The guy replied that he didn't have Lakeport but he had Stella and a couple other types of beer there. He almost seemed like he was offering me a beer, probably thinking I had run out. So then he asked why I was looking specifically for Lakeport beer, so then I told him that someone had thrown a bottle that came close to hitting me when I let my dog outside.

Strangely enough, I remembered that my friend Steve whom I had gone to school with told me about a year ago that an Asian buddy of his moved into a unit directly above me, but I couldn't recall which floor it was. So I asked him if he knew my buddy Steve and as it turns out he is Steve's friend and he had known about me as well through Steve. I commented that it was an interesting way to cross paths. Since Steve is supposed to come and visit me next weekend, we'll probably end up hanging out with Steve's friend (my new neighbour).

After that I called off the search figuring someone must have done it intentionally and gone back inside to hide. For those readers who aren't from the Toronto area, Lakeport is a "discount beer". Sometimes you can tell a lot by the beer that someone drinks.

Winter Storm "Disaster"

On Sunday, a snow storm passed through Toronto where we saw somewhere around 30 or 40 centimetres of snow dropped on the city. Two days later, the media is labelling the storm as a 'disaster'. I laugh when I hear somebody call a snowstorm a "disaster". Toronto is internationally renowned for its calling in the military to the rescue in 1999 after a large snow storm; a laughable incident that gained Mel Lastman notoriety for his overreaction.

It's just a pile of snow people. I don't understand how people can label it a 'disaster'. Most people didn't go to work that day, and there were very few cars on the roads. I offer no sympathy for the people who felt compelled to drive that day and got stuck in the snow. My cousin Geoff stayed the night on Saturday and drove home a few hours after the majority of the snow had already fallen. He knew the consequence of driving in the snow, but he decided to do it. If he would have called me and told me he's stuck, I would have gladly helped him push his car out of the snow. But he's not going to sulk or ask for any sympathy. They had talked about the storm for 3 days before it actually came, so it's not like people should be surprised that it actually came.

As it turns out Geoff and his Volkswagen Jetta made it home in 30 minutes (a good time even in good weather). So I was shocked to read the newspaper 2 days later declaring the storm a disaster. Sure, there were a few car accidents. Some poor man did have a heart attack while shovelling his driveway which is very unfortunate, but to be honest people die of heart attacks every day for other reasons but you don't normally hear about it because it can't be directly attributed to the snow.

My buddy George and I are on training this week and that has been a frequent topic about how we live in a culture of fear and we spend half our lives worrying about everything and then we barely have time to live our lives.

I think it's about time we as a people loosen up a bit.

Saved by the Urinal

{Been a while since I've posted a random useless thought}

Have you ever had a few drinks at a bar and then upon entering the washroom you seriously question whether you entered the right room or not? This happens to me once in a while. I've already entered the washroom and it's too late to turn around and go back outside to confirm I entered the Gentlemen's room.

My biggest fear at that moment is that I'm going to make some girl with her panties around her ankles scream at the top of her lungs. But then I walk around the corner and I see the greatest site on earth; the urinal. The urinal has saved me from my imminent embarrassment.

Sometimes that little stick figure on the door can look like a man or a woman after a few drinks. The one wearing the dress outside of the Ladies washroom reminds me a bit of Rosie O'Donnell. I'm not quite sure why that is. It's funny, if you have a couple shots at the bar you can even make that stick figure dance. She shakes her hips slowly back and forth. Try it next time; it really works.

The one time I actually did walk into the Ladies room was a time that I wasn't expecting it. I had questioned to myself the lack of urinals before it actually clicked in that I had walked into the Ladies room. I'm thinking to myself, "why on earth would they have a Men's washroom without any urinals??? That makes no sense at all!" And then it hit me.

Oh, and it also might have clicked in when a girl exited the stall and saw me standing there with a beat-red face.

Could you become corrupt?

A while back a buddy of mine said to me "I would never want to become a cop because if I did I'd be corrupt". It was an interesting statement to me because I had never thought of it quite like that. Like most other kids, I too had wanted to become a cop at some point in my childhood. But one thought that didn't cross my mind at the time is whether or not I'd be corrupt.

Last night we were at a club and I was chatting with an officer who was on duty working at the club. He definitely wasn't the straightest cop I've ever met, but who am I to judge him? What if I were in his shoes? If I were on duty, in a position of power, would I act like my normal self, or would I adopt a serious attitute to reflect my position and duties as an officer? When I was a kid the answer was simple: I would serve in the best interests of the general public. But in reality would I not sometimes put my own self interests ahead of the general public? It's hard to say until you've actually been in that position. He has been a cop for 9 years.

The level of corruption is dependent on the society the officer belongs to. Can an officer be corrupt without breaking the law? Yes; there are things an officer can do that makes him or her corrupt but doesn't necessarily break the law. It all comes down to his morals. A cop might use his position of power to further his own self interests or he might use his power to help his friend's business. In any event, Police forces have a code of conduct that officers need to adhere to in order to maintain their positions. But what goes on behind the scenes depends on the particular officer.

In the case of my friend, his point is that as a police officer you will be put in situations where you can abuse your power, and sometimes it's hard to resist the temptation.

In the early 2000's I was at a friend's house-party when the police showed up because they had received a noise complaint. The two particular officers who arrived at the party were probably the same age as me at the time (Around 21 years old). As a joke, I asked the officer if I could see his gun. He pulled his gun out of its holster, and went to hand it over to me. As I went to grab it, he pulled it back, smiled and said "Not so fast". Surely pulling your gun out of its holster as a joke goes against some sort of rule but at the same time, he was just making a joke; acting like a human. Can you blame him?

China Trip 2007

Last weekend we returned after 22 days in China for me and 53 days for Han. I know some of you have been anxious to see some pictures, so I must apologize for the delay. It's been quite the shift from vacation mode straight back into work mode; and work has been busy; hence the delay.

Since returning, a few people asked me what the highlight of my trip was, and I've already given a few different answers. But when I actually think about it, there's one experience that stands out above the rest. One day, I was walking down the street in Haikou and 6 or 7 school kids walked up to me, intrigued by my odd skin colour and shape. They were afraid to say anything to me, but as I kept walking they kept following. If I stopped; they stopped. If I walked; they walked. After I spoke some Chinese to them, what seemed like 40 other kids came swarming around me. I was surrounded by kids. They all wanted to hear me talk Chinese so they could giggle at the sight of a "lao wai" (foreigner) speaking Mandarin.

The most humourous part of the engagement was when one of the kids pointed at his own nose and said something in Chinese. Without understanding what was coming out of his mouth, I knew exactly what he meant. One thing that exists everywhere in the world is the universal language. I'm not talking about English; I'm talking about body language. No matter where you are, body language is the universal language that can be easily understood regardless of language barriers.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the kid was pointing at his own nose and saying "Look at the lao wai (me), he has a pointy nose!". All the kids then stared at my nose and laughed. It was quite a spectacle.

Below are some of my favourite pictures from the trip. They include pictures from Hong Kong, Sanya & Haiko (Hainan island), and Beijing in the North. Enjoy!