ReNe: leapling

I've never paid much attention to the 29th of February before, but today, I came across this article on the BBC news website about whether or not the 29th of Feb should be considered a day off. Personally, I'm all for the brilliant idea.

Later, I was talking to a colleague about people who are born today -- or leaplings, as they're called -- and we were wondering about technicalities like legal age (to drink, drive, whatever) and census. Turned out, most countries simply take Feb 28 as the D.O.B for these leaplings. Of course that brings up another question: given that about 10,000 babies are born each day, how do the statistics people handle the sudden apparent spike in 'Feb 28 births'?

When I left work, it was snowing. In fact, it had been snowing heavily for the past few hours. Already this February is record-breaking:
The previous record dump for February in Toronto was 66.6 centimetres in 1950. This February has already seen 69.8 centimetres of snow fall. [The Star, Feb 26 2008]
So I suppose if it wasn't for the fact that today is still technically part of February (most Februarys measured only 28 days) the record would have be capped at 69.8... the expected amount forecasted for today was 5cm, though it felt like more. Somehow, I feel quite chuffed that the first winter I've experienced in its entirety is a record-setting winter.

ReNe: the god delusion

Am currently reading The God Delusion now, a book by Richard Dawkins that I've been wanting to read since early last year, but with all the locational upheaval, never got around to doing it. I start off an agnostic... and am curious to see if I will be convinced to atheism by the time I'm done.

MiKE: Mental disconnect

Whenever I see skies like this:
I always think that it must be kinda warm outside. You know, bright blue skies, sunny, and all that?

Well, this morning's scenery was accompanied with this thermometer reading at my (closed) window:
Yes, yes, the window is filthy. This is the one right next to the cooker hob; no oil splashes there, of course, but i'm kinda lazy to clean it now. Besides, clean windows at this kind of temperatures? The water will freeze and then jam the window in its tracks, in the open position... And, there have been no 'camera tricks', no 'shopping. Here is a clip from the Environment Canada page:


Some other shots.. We've been baking. This is dough that has risen, all bubbly. The yellowish parts are the oil that the dough was sitting in to prevent it from sticking to the pot. Yes, a bit too much.. Eventually, this dough turned out to become some really nice bread :)

Sunset yesterday. The sun has been setting progressively later now - it is almost up to 1-3 minutes later sunset every day; so it is an amazing thing to notice. I love the beautiful colours of sunset:

MiKE: The corporation

you gotta watch this.. it' available on youtube too!

ReNe: about an old article I wrote

We're currently watching a documentary, The Corporation, directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, and it's a really powerful film. Starts off like a Business 101 course, from the basics, about the concept of a corporation, the huge role corporations play in our lives today, and rapidly moves onto facts about the corporate world that most of the public don't know or are misinformed about. For example, I hadn't realized that the 14th Amendment, put forth after the American Civil War originally to emancipate former black slaves, was also used to grant corporations status as a legal person, allowing them, among other privileges, to own things or buy property. So, in the eyes of the law, a corporation is the same as a person.

One part I found interestingly familiar. Two investigative Fox new journalists (Steve Wilson and Jane Akre) turned whistleblowers talked about how after they found that, quote, "a large share of America's milk supply has quietly become adulterated with the effects of a synthetic hormone (bovine growth hormone, or BGH) secretly injected into cows", they were pressured first by the Monsanto, which made the hormone, and then Fox TV, to 'drop' or 'edit' their report.

What was the particularly interestingly familiar part? When I was still writing articles for Asia-Pacific Biotech News, I once wrote a not-so-complimentary article about Monsanto, though nowhere as negative. One day, after reading short news articles on the good results of Monsanto seed trials in countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines, I thought to read the original research articles so as to be able to write a better article that didn't just lift from the original news source. Turned out, the results from the research articles were not so positive after all. In fact, I would summarize it as: no significant difference (between using Monsanto's GM seeds and using ordinary seeds) when all factors are considered. The crop yields from the GM seeds were higher in years or in places that had ample rainfall, good fertilization and high levels of sunlight, but were *lower* if the weather that year was drier or just not so favorable. High gain, but higher risk of crop failure. And weather is dreadfully unpredictable. So, all things considered, I wouldn't draw sweeping conclusions such as "GM seeds are better". But that's not to say that we should stop GM research; it was research like this that led to the Green Revolution and the GM seeds do return good results, albeit under a narrow range of conditions. BUT. What I did have an issue with was the way the big GM companies forced their products onto the farmers, who were basically given little or no choice in spending a lot of money on the GM seeds.

So I wrote up my article, which as I said, was more neutral than negative, though it was not positive. The editor read it, frowned, and said, "Monsanto is our magazine's biggest advertiser." Damn, forgot about that.

"And the magazine is barely keeping in the black." I knew that, because we was constantly reminded in every single meeting with the big boss.

"Sorry, cannot publish."

Sigh. I guess I should have expected it and not have wasted my time researching and writing it up, though it was informative to me at least. After that, I requested to change beats because of some principle called integrity, though I suppose it was a rather half-assed kind of integrity.

S&M: oh, and by the way

we've just spent 138 months together...

ReNe: the joy of gay sex

A provocative title. Very nicely drawn pictures. How could I resist?

I borrowed the book from one of Toronto's public libraries because I was curious about gay literature. Sexuality, including gay and lesbian, is a commonly seen section in many libraries and bookshops here, while it was close to impossible to find (good) LGBT literature, or even literature on heterosexual sexuality, in Singapore. Nothing like banning or suppressing something to stir up (my) curiosity!

The Joy of Gay Sex, by Charles Silverstein and Felice Picano, reads like a A-Z manual aimed at a gay who's new to everything... so I didn't learn very much, heh. Mostly. I'll say about three-quarters, maybe more, of the book didn't tell me anything I didn't know, but it was a good read still. I'd admit I didn't really get some aspects of gay culture, like camping or tearooms, but the book gave a good explanation. My previous understanding was akin to reading about an unknown word in many different sentences and piecing together a meaning from the usage, but it's not quite the same as actually cracking open the dictionary.

What I found particularly interesting were the authors' accounts of gay civil rights and liberation, and the changes in the gay scene in the US from the 60's and 70's to the 90's, especially since the authors speak with spades of personal experience. I mean, I know what I think about homosexuality and various related issues (I think there's nothing wrong with homosexuality at all, or any kind of sexuality), but it's interesting, enlightening and even a bit sad to read about it or hear about it from a friend about the other point of view. For example, the issue of coming out. I'm the passive-aggressive type, so if I were gay (and if I were in some place like Singapore), I'd move to a place that is more gay-friendly before outing. So the authors of the book discussed it from a couple of perspectives: coming out is a very personal decision, and in some cases, it's just not viable or safe to do so; however, coming out is a form of very crucial support for the gay community in general. The rights gays enjoy today were built on the bravery and struggles of the gays in history who dared to come out despite the negativity and discrimination -- and that statement stuck with me.

Throughout my life, I tend to form strong, personal but usually quiet opinions about many things. I feel uncomfortable standing up and saying loudly what I really, really think. That's something I want to change.

MiKE: Humber beach

Two saturdays ago (seems like that's the delay we've been having in posting. too bad, we're not some news site or something), we went to Humber beach, or at least, that's what I think it's called. We took the 501 streetcar, headed west this time (previous times we went east), and then got off where we saw a beautiful beach. Actually, we did not get off immediately; we rode the streetcar on, because it was supposed to make a short turn somewhere. At the short turn, we got out, took a walk to the nearby Sobeys supermarket to stretch our legs a bit, and eased our bladders. When we got there, there was so much a sense of deja vu; Sobeys is located at a place which looks almost exactly like the malls we saw at St Louis - a ring of low rise, warehouse like buildings around a huge car park, the entrance to which was marked by a huge signboard with the corporate logos of the stores located there. Nothing much to see, I guess, but when we went back toward the station, we saw this:

This needs some contextualising - the earlier part of the morning had been rather bright and sunny, with bright blue skies that made it look like winter was over. With skies like that, it was hard to believe the Environment Canada warnings about a imminent snowstorm that was expected to bring along 15-20 cm of snow from a strom system that had developed in Texas and was tracking its way up toward Ontario. The storm was supposed to hit late Saturday evening, and snow right through Sunday. In this shot -- you guessed it, the blue part of the sky was the Northern part, and the clouds were seen over the Southern part. Pretty dramatic hur?

So, we took the streetcar back about 4 stops, and then got off, to cross this long overhead bridge that overlooked the Frederick G Gardiner expressway, a major arterial road that connects Toronto with Missisauga and other places.

A shot from the bridge. Serene will definitely complain that she looks 'photoshopped' into this frame, but what to do: she would have been backlit without the flash.

A shot of the park from the bridge:
There's not really very much to say.. we went to the park, we took pretty pictures, we felt cold, we went back. So, let me just show you the pretty pictures:







And the snowstorm? It did not arrive at all; it was so disappointing. This winter has become of record breaking proportions in terms of snowfall. Great. It would be quite sad if we were to have come all this way to a place that experiences winter to only get a piddling amount of snow.

ReNe: playing with ice

2 weekends ago (actually, the sunday after the zoo trip), it was a very cold day; -18C, and with the howling winds, the windchill was supposed to be -30C.

I've read accounts and seen pictures where people throw boiling water up in -40C temperatures and it comes down as ice. I'd like to do that one day too, but for now, we made do with -18C.


Apparently, at -18C (or -30C, as it was very windy outside), if your window is single-paned and the room is steamy, the condensation on your window will freeze... producing, literally, frosted glass.

The window panes were iced as well.
And so I got the brilliant idea to produce more frosted glass by splashing water on the outside of our double-paned windows. It froze within seconds.

What can I say? We were bored.

ReNe: zoos in general

This is directly related to the previous post about zoos, but more along a serious vein of: what are zoos for?

(It's not intended to be a through, serious discourse. More as an foot-note and rumination based on the zoo trip post.)

I won't deny I do enjoy going to zoos. They are interesting, especially to a city-kid. But zoos also have their negative aspects. Caging animals for humans to gawk at -- that's an ugly side of zoos. Sure, there is an educational aspect, but people *do* go to the zoos to be entertained, hence the popularity of animal shows and the unequal treatment of 'star' animals. More than that, do humans have any right to confine animals like that? Don't people feel uncomfortable when they read the information signboards that say, "this animal has a natural forage range of x square kilometers", and then realize that said animal is currently kept in an enclosure a tiny fraction of that range?

So zoos started off as a way to showcase the exotica. However, these days, we *know* of zebras and giraffes and other animals that would have amazed the masses a century ago. We can read about them in books and watch them in their natural habitat in documentaries... certainly those are more humane options and probably a lot more educational as well.

What other purpose do zoos serve? To allow people to see animals 'up close and personal'? I don't agree with that, and personally think it probably does more harm than good. Petting zoos seem rather traumatic for the animals, I should think. Personally, I think zoos only have one 'good' function left, and that's as a genetic repository. Sure, saving the habitat is important, but sometimes, there may not be a habitat left for that species -- zoos can play the equivalent of a sperm bank and safehouse. And not just for endangered species -- storing the genetic material of any species could possibly come in useful in the future. Of course, in that case, then the concept of a zoo would have to be drastically re-evaluated.

To sum, I enjoy going to zoos but if zoos were to be banned because, to put it a little clumsily, they were deemed unjust to animals, I would support that.

ReNe: the toronto zoo

Two weeks ago, we went to the Toronto Zoo. It was part of Mike's coursework (I, too, want to take courses that do fieldtrips as a requirement; is it too late for me to become a geologist?) and I tagged along because I've not been to the Toronto Zoo yet.

So while Mike went to listen to a lecture and look at a rhino, I went around on my own. Unfortunately, we somehow decided that Mike should hold our only camera, which on hindsight was a little dumb because I saw a lot more walking on my own; he, on the other hand, took like a hundred shots of that *one* rhino.

So, there will not many pictures in this post.

It was 10am on a Saturday morning and it had been snowing heavily the week before; in fact, it was still snowing that day. When I was walking around the exhibits, the only people I saw were a few zookeepers, driving around in pickups.

It was pretty surreal. For one, snow, everywhere. Fresh, pristine snow, with no slush.

Two, no 'zoo-smell'. The fact that the temperatures were below zero probably had something to do with that.

And best of all, no crowds. It was a Saturday, and while I knew there were other people in the zoo (Mike and his classmates, at the very least) the only people I saw when I was walking around were a few zookeepers. A white, silent landscape around me; all I heard was snow crunching under my boots, and occasionally, the honking of geese as flocks flew by overhead.

I could very easily imagine I was walking in some Canadian nature park instead of a zoo.

Another reason I felt like I was in a nature park was because the exhibits, or at least the ones I decided to see, were pretty sparse and far apart. Unlike the Singapore zoo, the Toronto zoo could afford to sprawl out. In the first 15 mins, I had walked past the half-way point of the zoo and all I saw was a fast-food restaurant (coincidentally, the only eating place open during the winter season, with the exception of a snack bar near the ticket counter). I walked for another 15 mins before I saw a couple of cougars. They seemed pretty bored; it seemed like they heard me coming because they came out some warm shelter to stare at me when I walked past their cage, and went back in only after I walked away.

In other words, I spent a lot more time walking than I did on animal sightings. Moreover, with the sub-zero temperatures and falling snow, many of the animals were hiding. Getting closer to see the animals --that is walking off the main path and right up to the cage-- involved some tramping through knee high snow.

It was all rather fun.

The zoo is divided into several domains, based on geographical regions. I figured that the animals that came from a warm climate were probably kept indoors in winter, or they would not be active, so that ruled out the African and Indo-Malaya exhibits (probably two of the largest exhibits). I also figured that since I'm in Canada, I should go and see their local specialties.

So I went to the Canadian domain. There were only *nine* exhibits. I was pretty surprised; shouldn't Canada have more animal species? But then, I realized why. People go to the zoo to see 'exotic' animals. This is Canada, not Singapore. So if the zoo makes a decision not to keep animals that could be found in someone's backyard... no wonder the Canadian domain is the smallest. And the furthest away from everything, beyond a steep incline with a sign that recommended that wheelchairs and strollers should not go beyond that hill because it was so steep.

So there were nine exhibits. And not all nine were open. I recalled seeing the bald eagles, the arctic wolves and the bison. Not sure what happened to the rest. The eagles, well, it's hard to look majestic in a cage. The wolves, a pack of seven, were pretty active, pacing around their enclosure and looking right at home in the snow. That was probably my favorite exhibit. The bison were kept in a very large field; squinting, I could make out one bison and maybe a hundred geese (not sure if they were the zoo's or just visiting migratory birds). According to the signboard, the zoo has a herd of 73 bison. It must have been a very, very large field.

By then, it was 11:30am. I had spent an hour and half walking around in the cold and saw about five exhibits. I even got lost because a snow-covered service road looks just like a snow-covered walking path. I walked back to the fast-food place, noticing that there were two sets of footprints along the path to the Canadian doman; mine, on the way there, and also mine, on the way back.

I had lunch, and then met Mike and some of his classmates when they were done with class and needed food too. After their lunch, class was considered over and I followed Mike and a few of his classmates to the African Rainforest Pavilion.

Below are some of Mike's photos.

A photo of his class. This was the wintry landscape of the zoo I had been attempting to describe, though a picture presents a far more immediate image.

Like I said, geese *everywhere*.

What most of the animals were doing.

Despite coming from a tropical climate, these Malayan tigers seemed to be all right. In another exhibit, some monkeys were all huddled around the heater...

One of the biggest and well-kept enclosures.

Another spacious and well-kept enclosure. I found it interesting that the big apes are housed in the best enclosures and given stimulating toys, while other animals were not. I think it has to do with their entertainment value; people like to look at big, impressive animals, and of the various biggish animals, the big apes are the most active.

Speaking of which, when we were at the orangutan exhibit, Gabriel, an ex-Singaporean who now resides in Canada, said suddenly, "Did you know? Ah Meng died yesterday."

ReNe: so this is british humor

I've heard of Monty Python for a long time, but hadn't actually known what their films were like. In fact, I actually thought it was one film, called 'Monty Python'....

Anyway. Recently, I've watched 'Erik the Viking' and 'The Meaning of Life'. I saw a bit of 'The Life of Brian' but didn't really like it so I didn't finish it. 'Erik the Viking' was all right, a little simple (I'm certain I've watched it before, when I was very young).

'The Meaning of Life' ... that was hilarious. It took a while to get into the plot, if there was one in the first place, but I'd say I really started enjoying it right after the Middle of the Film. It seemed random and all over the place, yet managed to come together. It reminds me very much of 'Little Britain', and especially 'Hitchhiker's Guide'.

Hm. What did I like about it? The story was simple, yet twisted. There were blatant (*extremely* blatant) sexual inneundoes, and some even more direct than that, everywhere. Bare boobs and outrageous scenes of gore. The sex-ed lesson. Mustn't forget the drag queens. And throughout it all, the extremely polite language.

ReNe: greening

One of the many things I like about Canada is their environment friendliness. A thought that strikes me whenever we go shopping at one of the nearby organic food shops, which we just did. So I'm rather pleased.

On the whole, I'd say Singaporeans are not terribly wasteful, and that's good. They buy less stuff and throw away less stuff than North Americans, though I've been noticing a shift towards more disposables in recent years. However, it was hard to recycle -- I can count on one hand the number of paper recycling bins that were in convenient locations for me, and it was even harder to find recyling bins for stuff other than paper. It was also hard to buy organic; organic produce in Singapore tended to be twice or thrice the price of non-organic produce, and I only know of *one* dedicated organic shop. In the whole of Singapore. And it's *expensive*. (In Toronto, there are *two* organic shops within 5 mins walking distance of our apartment.)

In St Louis, there were recycling bins in my apartment (in fact they were downright common), and it was easy to buy organic; they are usually not much pricier and commonly found in regular supermarkets. Plus, there are huge dedicated organic stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Buying second-hand stuff is also easy (a practice that is not so common in Singapore). However, as noted in the video clip 'The Story of Stuff' Mike posted a while back, it's not enough to take care of the back-end (that is recycling), one has to also take a hard look at the front-end (that is to buy less stuff). And unfortunately, the American culture is quite consumerist. People will buy trash bags while throwing away or recycling plastic grocery bags. While shopping at Whole Foods, I got the impression that some of the people who shop there do so not because it is more environmentally friendly, but because it is the 'in' thing to do these days. Someone I know likes to collect the Whole Foods paper bags because they're nice and sturdy but she does not re-use them when buying groceries; she looked rather stunned when I pulled out my own bag at the counter... And let me not go into the irony of buying pre-packed cut fruits/salads in plastic containers in an organic shop.

Toronto, in comparison, is more sane. There are recycling bins everywhere, and organic produce is easily available. I see loads of people walking and cycling to work, even in winter. The Canadian culture isn't quite as consumerist as the American culture, though it could be better. And what I really like is how green policies in Canada are passed and adhered to because people genuinely see a reason for it, and not because of the bottom line, as is often the case in $ingapore.

ReNe: lunar eclipse

Saw a lunar eclipse for the first time in my life last night. Not an earthshaking event, but memorable nonetheless. Very clear -- a reddish yellow moon -- and very cold. Not the eclipse of course, but we had to go outside to watch the eclipse and it was effing cold.

ReNe: dried up sugar

So even though I'm in a different country, it's still Earth. I expect to get startled by culture differences, but once in a while, I get startled by something else entirely.

In Singapore, one keeps biscuits and other crunchies in air-tight containers quickly (that is, within 20 mins) after opening, otherwise they get soggy. Here? Let me put it this way -- one keeps stuff in containers to keep them moist or damp. The other day, I finished our container of demerara sugar (the brown, sticky-damp sugar used mainly in coffee) and at the bottom was a layer of dried, rock-hard sugar. The formerly damp sugar *dried* out. Soft cookies, breads and muffins, I've noticed, will dry out as well.

The thing that tends to startle me more than culture shocks are environmental shocks, when 'natural' laws *change*. When the sugar dries out, when temperatures fluctuates by more than 20 degrees from day to day, when the time of sunset changes every single day... Simply shocking.

MiKE: Obay!

So we were on the Streetcar service 501, this time west bound, to the beach. It was a pretty long trip, especially since Queen Street West tended to be busy, and there were so many stops along the way. The windows were grimy and not the best to look out of. So after some time, I looked up, around the posters, and saw this ad:

The fine print on the bottle read: "If they can't see it your way, it's time for Obay". Mysterious. There was not even any URL to visit. Obay.com did not give anything interesting, a search revealed a Torontoist post about how the poster suspected that it could have been scientology - opposing psychiatric medication and all that, but eventually led to believe that it was something more innocent instead.

I just found it amusing. One of those things that gave passengers a smile on the face during a long streetcar ride.

MiKE: Don't store vinegar in the freezer

Ok. So, we went to T&T last evening. T&T is this huge Asian (predominantly Chinese) supermarket chain in Canada (someone said 'the biggest'). Let's just say that, like Ikea, it is rich enough to offer free shuttle service to and from convenient pick up locations. We bought quite a lot of stuff, including a 50-piece bag of Tako Yaki, which I just dumped into the basket without checking the price. The eventual bill exceeded $50, which was mysterious until we went home and found out that that bag of balls cost $17.99. Well, not the point of this post, I guess. Here are some pictures from T&T:

The entrance to T&T. This outlet was located at what seemed to be a near industrial estate part of the city, not far from downtown by straight line distance, but not well served by mass public transport. Large place, as you can see:

Outside, we were just next to a dock, with a pair of huge cranes that I think are used to lift vessels out of water and into dry storage; there seemed to be a storage area of sorts nearby. In this shot, you get bonus point for locating CN Tower:
And as you can see, the water is nearly frozen over. Made for a rather pretty scene.

We had dinner there. I bought supermarket sushi, which, even though was priced at 75c per piece, added up to a price that was comparable to that which you can get at restaurants. Sushi here, I've noticed, as with some other restaurants, tend to have rice which was mushed up, slightly too wet and slightly too compacted, not fluffy enough. Serene bought a dim sum set, which came with siu mai that was the juiciest that we had tasted in some time.

T&T has this free seating area, that does not have those odious large "NO OUTSIDE FOOD ALLOWED" signs. But then again, the closest place to here that sold food was at least 15 minutes walk away, so I guess they were in no danger of losing rent. I like the concept, a place where people could sit down, enjoy the food that they just bought, sit down for a rest after a tiring shopping trip, and generally feel attached to the place.

Ok, here's the part where I talk about the title. Like I mentioned, we bought a bottle of Mizkan Japanese brown rice vinegar. Brought it back, with no mishaps, then wanted to store it in someplace cool. The fridge was getting somewhat crowded, and I remembered that the Oden seasoning, water, salt, and flavourings, did not freeze in the freezer. So I thought to try the same; put the bottle in the freezer.

This morning, while preparing breakfast, I noticed a faint sour odour, which I could not trace to anything in particular; until Serene suggested that it resembled vinegar. And then I remembered. Here is a normal bottle of vinegar for comparison; this was the old bottle:

And this is what happened when the vinegar froze:



Pretty hur? Yes yes, I know all about water expanding upon freezing, but I really did not expect that the vinegar solution to freeze over too. Yes it was a waste, but anyway, it was useful in providing something of visual interest?

Update: The frozen vinegar melted away, and the bottle sort of disintegrated. It seems like the bottle had been held together by the label, and the bulk of the frozen vinegar preventing it from collapsing. I wanted to pick up the bottle, and it just broke up:

MiKE: Refreshing change of view.

Why should the US POV be the only legitimate one? Here's an article that takes a totally different tack. Stolen from: http://www.thebulletin.org/columns/hugh-gusterson/20080205.html

A Pakistani view of U.S. nuclear weapons

By Hugh Gusterson | 5 February 2008

"The [U.S.] Air Force has made substantial changes in its handling of nuclear weapons in the wake of a B-52 flight last August during which the pilots and crew were unaware they were carrying six air-launched cruise missiles with nuclear warheads."

-- "Air Force Alters Rules for Handling of Nuclear Arms," Washington Post January 25, 2008.

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, JANUARY 25--At a press conference in Islamabad today, Pakistani Brig. Gen. Atta M. Iqhman expressed concern about U.S. procedures for handling nuclear weapons. Iqhman, who oversees the safety and security of the Pakistani nuclear force, said that U.S. protocols for storing and handling nuclear weapons are inadequate. "In Pakistan, we store nuclear warheads separately from their delivery systems, and a nuclear warhead can only be activated if three separate officers agree," Iqhman said. "In the United States, almost 20 years after the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons still sit atop missiles, on hair-trigger alert, and it only takes two launch-control officers to activate a nuclear weapon. The U.S. government has persistently ignored arms control experts around the world who have said they should at least de-alert their weapons."

Iqhman also questioned the adequacy of U.S. procedures for handling nuclear weapons. He expressed particular concern about the August 29, 2007, incident in which six nuclear weapons were accidentally loaded under the wing of a B-52 by workers who did not observe routine inspection procedures and thought they were attaching conventional weapons to the B-52. The flight navigator should have caught their mistake, but he neglected to inspect the weapons as required. For several hours the nuclear weapons were in the air without anyone's knowledge. "The United States needs to develop new protocols for storing and loading nuclear weapons, and it needs to do a better job of recruiting and training the personnel who handle them," Iqhman said.

Iqhman added the Pakistani government would be willing to offer technical advice and assistance to the United States on improving its nuclear weapons handling procedures. Speaking anonymously because of the issue's sensitivity, senior Pentagon officials said it is Washington's role to give, not receive, advice on nuclear weapons safety and surety issues.

Iqhman pointed out that the August 29 event was not an isolated incident; there have been at least 24 accidents involving nuclear weapons on U.S. planes. He mentioned a 1966 incident in which four nuclear weapons fell to the ground when two planes collided over Spain, as well as a 1968 fire that caused a plane to crash in Greenland with four hydrogen bombs aboard. In 1980, a Titan II missile in Arkansas exploded during maintenance, sending a nuclear warhead flying 600 feet through the air. In a remark that visibly annoyed a U.S. official present at the briefing, Iqhman described the U.S. nuclear arsenal as "an accident waiting to happen."

Jay Keuse of MSNBC News asked Iqhman if Pakistan was in any position to be lecturing other countries given Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan's record of selling nuclear technology to other countries. "All nuclear weapons states profess to oppose proliferation while helping select allies acquire nuclear weapons technology," Iqhman replied. "The United States helped Britain and France obtain the bomb; France helped the Israelis; and Russia helped China. And China," he added coyly, "is said by Western media sources to have helped Pakistan. So why can't Pakistan behave like everyone else?"

Iqhman's deputy, Col. Bom Zhalot also expressed concern about the temperament of the U.S. public, asking whether they had the maturity and self-restraint to be trusted with the ultimate weapon. "Their leaders lecture us on the sanctity of life, and their president believes that every embryo is sacred, but they are the only country to have used these terrible weapons--not just once, but twice. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the plane that bombed Hiroshima, said he never lost a night's sleep over killing 100,000 people, many of them women and children. That's scarcely human."

While Iqhman glared reproachfully at Zhalot for this rhetorical outburst, Zhalot continued: "We also worry that the U.S. commander-in-chief has confessed to having been an alcoholic. Here in Pakistan, alcohol is 'haram,' so this isn't a problem for us. Studies have also found that one-fifth of U.S. military personnel are heavy drinkers. How many of those have responsibility for nuclear weapons?"

John G. Libb of the Washington Times asked if Americans were wrong to be concerned about Pakistan's nuclear stockpile given the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan. Colonel Zhalot replied: "Millions of Americans believe that these are the last days and that they will be raptured to heaven at the end of the world. You have a president who describes Jesus as his favorite philosopher, and one of the last remaining candidates in your presidential primaries is a preacher who doesn't believe in evolution. Many Pakistanis worry that the United States is being taken over by religious extremists who believe that a nuclear holocaust will just put the true believers on a fast track to heaven. We worry about a nutcase U.S. president destroying the world to save it."

U.S. diplomats in Pakistan declined comment.

ReNe: vote hillary!!

It's really irritating and depressing to read about the US elections. Personally, I like Hillary Clinton and hopes she wins. Now, my personal opinion of her aside, what gets to me is the way the media, public and other politicians treat her. To me, it shows how far, or not, female equality has come.

Who cares about the clothes she wears or how she looks? Should one vote for a president as they would 'America's idol'? And *even* if outer appearance is important, why aren't the male candidates given the same treatment? "Oh, look at his balding head (cue sniggers)" or "Why does he keep wearing the same boring navy suits over and over again?"

WORSE. Who cares if she can cook or not? Again, are they voting for a president or a cook? What's with all this scrutiny about her gender? Why do people always associate the kitchen with females? Did anyone even ask Obama if he can cook? DOES IT MATTER? Many say, and I agree, that the American public is not ready for a female president, regardless if there is a capable female candidate or not. To me, that's akin to being told there is a wonderful partner for you out there, gorgeous, smart, witty... but sorry, YOU'RE not ready for them.

I've heard that the Americans would rather vote for a black man than a woman -- the fact that racial/gender lines are even drawn is disgusting. Sure, who you are, your background and genetic makeup, all do determine in a large part the person you are, but an overly disproportionate amount of bitching, sorry DEBATE, seems to be devoted to this. If I had a vote, I would vote for Hillary Clinton because she is (more) experienced and capable. That's it. Not because she's a woman, not because the only other choice is a black.

I've also heard that Americans would rather vote for a gay than an atheist. And that's another interesting, and irritating and depressing, topic all together.

ReNe: snowstorms

In addition to the snowstorm last Friday, which apparently dumped 20cm of snow, there was another storm last night, a mix of snow, ice pellets and icy rain, that dumped another 5-10cm of snow. (Sounds like a lot but the snow melts quickly.) More snow is expected later this afternoon, about another 15cm worth.

Schools are closed, some public transport routes are not running, and the office is now pretty quiet. About half of the people do not seem to be around, and those that did come in came in came in later than usual. The same thing happened during last Friday's storm.

Fun. Really, it is. I quite like walking through the snow and the city looks especially different with snow. It's not as bad as it sounds, and certainly easier to walk through than a heavy rain storm in Singapore. I've walked through flurries and snowstorms on my commutes to and from work, and unlike getting caught in the rain, most of the snow falls off when you're moving, and it is easy enough to brush off most of it once you reach your destination.

To me, it's a very novel feeling -- the city slowing down due to the weather. Singapore Inc. operates around the year; temperatures remain largely the same year-round, and there's no 'natural disasters' and hence no excuse for missing work or even coming in late. Breaks are all planned (i.e. public holidays). It's a well-oiled machine and it, as well as its workers, are not expected to 'break down'. When an ex-colleague was describing the typhoon warning system in HK, where she worked for a while, us Singaporeans were amazed. "And the company lets you go home??"

The not-so-fun bit is the cost... Cleaning up is expensive and guess who pays...

Anyway, some numbers and quotes from the local newspaper (The Star):
Amount budgeted snow removal budget: $67 million
"About halfway through the winter season, the city is at or slightly above its budgeted spending for winter maintenance"
Cost to clean up last Friday's storm (20cm): $3 million
Cost to clean up storm on Dec 16 (30cm): $5 million
Total amount of snow that has fallen on the Toronto area since Nov 1 2007: 98cm

MiKE: Wait, there's more..

Was sorting through some pictures, and came across some more good photos that I forgot to put up yesterday. Here they are:

Another shot of sunset at Balmy beach, this one with the obligatory silhouette of CN tower just so that people know this is Toronto (yes yes, it's possible to 'shop it in anytime):

Balmy beach again, this time with the moon in view already:



And one more from the beach at Woodbine:
Isn't that sweet? Yes, not us, but hard for us to take such a pic. Let's just say we were doing something like that too :)

ok, some of you may be wondering how cold it is here. This is our bottle of fruit/flower tea, left by the window, indoors, and as you can see, it has started to freeze:

But, not to worry though, even though the outside air is pretty cold, the heater indoors is very warm; in fact, the reason why we had to open the windows is that if it were not, the apartment would be too stuffy.

MiKE: picture diarrhea

So, we've been taking pictures. It's been snowing, with a major snowstorm over the last weekend; and also, we've discovered the TTC day pass, which allows individual access to the TTC (that's the bus, subway, and streetcar) on weekdays, and family access on the weekends. Which makes a lot of sense. Because we would recoup the cost of the pass by simply making a return trip. There are a lot of pictures here, so I'd spare the opening narrative and write around the pictures:

On the advice of a friend, we took the 501 streetcar service, apparently (one of?) the longest streetcar routes in N. America. It brought us to the beach on the east coast of Lake Ontario, which has to be seen to be believed. It is not called one of the great lakes for nothing - at the beach, it feels for all intents and purposes, like a beach in an ocean. So much so that Serene had thought that it was the Atlantic. It even has its own breakwaters, like this:

except that, unlike other places we've been to, this one has icicles hanging off the rocks. That day we visited it was very cold, the weekend saw a minimum temperature of -15ºC; when this picture was taken, not only was it cold, it was windy..

Part of the reason why we went to the beach that day was that it was a clear sunny day.

And like most other clear sunny days, the sunset was beautiful:

Here's another shot that that correctly exposes the rock, so you can see more detail. Once again, it was interesting to see ice on the rocks; yes, call us frog-in-the-well, whatever, this was our first time.

A shot of the coastline. I am no geography major, but I remember from a long time ago that wave action creates a characteristic pattern on the shoreline:

And a shot of us in the sunset. The lighting became very red, reminding me of a wisecrack a prof said recently about how it was all thanks to 'oxides of nitrogen and sulphur"

Looks all sunny, but it was very cold; within 15 minutes of being there, Serene was complaining of numb toes and fingers, and wanted to get out of there:

And a shot of us.

When waiting for the streetcar to arrive, the sun took its time to set, making the silhouetted scenery you see below:
And so that was our first trip out to the east and the beach. Overall, it was quite a pleasant way to spend the Saturday: wake up late-ish, have brunch at St. Lawrence Market, take the streetcar east to the beach, freeze up while at it, and then come back, after shopping for groceries at Sanko, someplace which I'd like to go, but usually don't because it is quite a distance away. We were convinced into buying 2 Oden sets, which don't look like much, but when cooked, turned out to be a bit too much for one sitting.


So, one of the weekends, we heard drums. Wondering what it was, google gave us the answer within a couple of minutes: there was a demonstration and a march from the Bloor Street United Church (which, incidentally, had a rainbow flag at its signboard) to the Parliament. Apparently these people were demonstrating for the right of US war resisters to remain in Canada, whereas the government was deporting them back. Browsing the page, it seemed that most (all?) of these people were US military 'deserters' (depends on who's doing the name calling, eh?) who refused to serve the second term, or who refused to go to war in Iraq; some of them had applied for conscientious objector status and were denied. So, they gave up and just moved here, and decided not to go back. Isn't that great? That people of another country would fight for your right to disobey your own government, even to the point of petitioning their own to allow you to break your government's law? No, seriously, I mean that with no sarcasm whatsoever. People with an attachment to higher values, and enough empathy to be activist about it.


So, that night, it snowed, lightly, and then we noticed this on our window sill: It was very fine snow, and the temperature was cold enough that it did not melt:


This past weekend, we decided to go to the beach again. So, after brunch of a veal and eggplant sandwich (with everything on, including the hot peppers), we walked toward Queen Street to take the 501 east again. We passed by this church, and as you can see, it had been snowing quite heavily the day before. It was beautiful; dark brown tree branches trimmed with white snow:


On our way to the streetcar stop, we came across this. Seems people have a sense of humour here.

And then we arrived at the beach; this time a different part of it. Once again, you can see the coastline; it does not look like what I would imagine a lake to be at all:


It had snowed 15-30cm, downtown near where we stayed, lots of it got ploughed off the roads and the pavements salted so that much of it melted to become a dirty slush. But out here, it was relatively untouched. You can see just how much snow actually fell:


The inside of a TTC streetcar:

Shooting out the window, we came across this:
Oh, for those of you lazy enough to scrutinise the picture, it says: "A PROPOSAL: TILT THIS BUILDING 5 DEGREES TO THE RIGHT"

Sunday, we went to the Christie Pits park, apparently a part of a river which had been filled in. the result is that there was a natural depression, which, when filled with snow, equals many fans of kinetic energy out in force to take advantage of the lowered friction of the slopes. On the way there, we came across this quiet street. Toronto has ever been described by people as a city that works; I like it; unlike other more densely populated cities, there are hardly any significant parts of the city that are built up with high rise blocks - I am thinking in terms of the 40-50 floor concrete monstrosities in Hong Kong, for example. There is a certain amount of sprawl, but not like American suburbia, where it becomes so desolate and isolated that there is no sense of community and living together but rather a place where many individuals happen to be sited close together. Anyway, this side street makes a good picture for me because it is just off Bloor West, a fairly busy street, yet this looks so peaceful that I would stay here. And not to mention the white-snow-on-black-branches look. I like it:

So as I was saying, we went to see the park, and noticed this one kid who loved the snow he was deliberately falling onto it; guess it is nice to be a kid with nobody (inside) telling you what to do or not to do. He was running up the slope, and then when he found a deep enough pile, would throw himself onto it, and then repeat the process:

Parkas and scarves hung aside, people would have just taken cardboard boxes and slid down the slope:

And then there were this 4 Japanese people who came with an inflatable sled. The guys just had a turn, so it was the gals' turn; they get ready:

One of the guys got tired of waiting, and then gave them a shove:

While the other waited midslope to take a picture. Here you can see it is not going well, they have turned 90º:

And they end up falling off the sled and sliding on their clothes:
The gals spent quite some on the snow; it must have hurt somewhat, or it was just fun to be lying there.

At the park, there was actually a skating rink. And this guy was pushing his baby stroller along:

And finally, parting shots, us walking back, near someone's house, admiring the effect of the snow on the trees: