Maa... Mother

Maa... Sweetest word when you say it,

Maa....softest touch to your ears.

Crazy as can be, it's true,

Who talks and touches, 

Unborn child, kicking and turning, 

Inside, inside a mom's circle of love.

Her circle of love, for ever.

Her womb, her bosom, her hands, 

Always in a circle of love, with warmth and strength.

Keeping close and protected, her child,her baby her entire world.

Mother's love, incomparable, 

Absolute infinite, absolute perfection.

Her strength...untouchable,

Her confidence ....Mighty.

My child's my world,

My mom's my eternity,her praying hands,

And mine, together...a circle of love, hope and wishes,

My connection to Almighty, now and forever. 

Gaza

What are we all waiting for? Palestinian holocaust by Jews, who claim to be a peace loving nation. Where the hell are all Arabs and Muslims? What is the use of having Nucs and not use them at this time? Its a genocide and the whole world is "lip sealed". Where is America, the saviour for humanity? America shook the the entire world after the Mambai blasts, why is the voice dead now? Why media is showing one sided stories and not showing how massive the attacks are or the correct figures of the casualties? This is not acceptable by any sane person let alone the whole humanity and the governments of the world. Please do something to stop the massacre in Palestine.Israel, leave the Palestinians alone!!

A GOOD DEED, INDEED!

A GOOD DEED INDEED AND A GOOD CHANGE FOR SURE.

Shoppers Drug Mart has stood out for the first time, not just for the high quality of products and customer service, or the high quality of “prices”, but for the high quality of humanism. It’s a quality which, generally speaking, is becoming rare in humans these days.
One Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist, Jag Maghera, has simply displayed this unique trait by one of his deeds. He recently hired a young man with Down syndrome.

This indeed is an act to be applauded. In this exceptional decision of hiring a person with Down syndrome as an employee, Mr. Maghera was not alone; his management, including his store manager, Trevor Evilly, and assistant manager, Harry Phu, stood by him. Along with the management, the whole staff welcomed this special employee with wide open arms.

This very special young person is, Adam Wright, who is 20 years old and has recently graduated from his special High school. He was hired to work at the store as a merchandiser.
Jag Maghera has his point of view of hiring Wright, “It isn’t some kind of a lab test. I thought of Adam as a perfectly normal kid. He is strong and responsive and above all neat and takes care of himself…He has brought his own unique personality to the store and everyone just loves him. And he loves everyone in return.”
“I just love it, love it here” says Adam.
“He repeats some words twice when he is emphasizing anything”, says Brittany, one of the supervisors at the store, “You should listen to him when he calls Harry, ‘hairy Harry’, because of Harry’s longer kept hair.”
People with Down syndrome are really sweet and sensitive by nature. They are not comfortable with seeing anyone in pain. “You should’ve seen Adam when there was an accident right in front of our store, he was so worried about the injured that he stood outside to talk to the paramedics just to make sure no one was hurt”, said Jag Maghera.
A person waiting in line is Adam’s priority even if he is working on the floor. He pages some one immediately. He is eager to learn anything new. The happiness and the glow that comes to his face when he does something on his own are angelic.

“Me did it”, Adam would say and hug you. If an employee is sick at work he would come and try to help him or her with what ever he could. “He would offer a hug and a massage at the same time”, says Brittany, “he truly is an angel.”

For those who don’t know what DS is, in a nut shell, according to the Kid’s Health Organization, it’s a medical condition in which an extra genetic material (chromosome) causes delay in a way a child develops and often leads to mental retardation. It can be detected by doctors even before or after the birth of such a child. These kids have similar
facial features like an upwards slant to the eyes, small ears and an enlarged tongue. Down syndrome is named after the British doctor John Langdon Down who first described this condition in 1887. However, in 1959, an extra chromosome was identified as the cause. It affects 1 in 800 babies (www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/genetic/down_syndrome.html).
This positive attitude of the store staff is appreciated by the customers too. According to the CSI survey, an independent system of evaluation conducted for services provided by Shoppers Drug mart, most of the customers for the store # 735 ( Maghera Pharmacy), are actually appreciating Magera’s decision to hire Wright. Initially, 60-75% of the customers participating in the survey had good remarks for the store. Bravo!
“It’s good to see big companies like Shoppers hiring kids like Adam. I really admire you guys when I see someone patiently training him”, said Mrs. Jean Wilson, a regular customer.
This kind of positive response from the community is important in order to bring adults and youth with DS out of their enclave to be a better and, most importantly, a regular part of our society.
For this Shoppers Drug mart store just one person has brought such a spirit of caring and compassion to all the employees as a whole, which surpasses any customer service in the store. The store employees, rather than feel pity or bad about him, they have actually learned a lot from him. Many others would consider hiring Wright a legal requirement or an act of pity, but for Maghera and the staff it has really become a blessing and a learning experience. They have truly grown from this lesson of being around someone with DS, which in no way is his weak point.
The customers as a community have responded well too. They have come to enjoy the assistance they get from Adam Wright.
Mr. Maghera could have hired someone who would classify as ‘normal’ to others and would be seen as ‘more useful’, the new employee has really taught the employees and customers something that may be any other employee couldn’t have done.
We are so possessed with every thing or rather anything that brings ‘change’. American presidential candidate Barak Obama has his whole campaign based on this slogan of ‘change’. For Maghera’s store, the change that looked a bit difficult to be accepted brought a new life to the store which is truly a fresh breeze of changed atmosphere for the store and the community. And for Adam Wright not something for ' special needs kids' but a dignified job like all other kids his age has , definitely a good change.

.

soaring gas prices

COMPUTER PRACTICES
Professor Paul Hambleton
July 17, 2008
By,
Samina Tauhid
GAS PRICES AND US.

It really is amazing how our daily lives are affected by one little hike in the price of gasoline. Common people like me are not educated enough to understand what and who is controlling the prices of gas and other commodities. We are more concerned with using our time to find a way to manage our daily budget instead of trying to investigate the cause. If you fall under the low income category, you really are a loser. And I mean it. You are a real loser. You lose on your daily groceries, you lose on your kids’ entertainment, because of so much stress you lose on your own health, ‘the most important gift’ from God, which we all take for granted.

A layman like me is not aware of the game played by real market players like Shell, Caltex, ESSO or any private distributors for that matter who are making their own profits by an artificial price hike. Just a peek in the quarterly reports of these giant oil companies shows what a huge profit these companies are making. Their economic outlook shows no losses.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations have increased their oil production just recently and still there’s no change, or rather, no cut down in gas prices what so ever. Why? And it’s a big WHY with a big question mark? I don’t know the answer to this question, as I’m not an economist, but I know one thing for sure: the soaring gas prices and that of the other commodities have made everyone’s lives miserable to some extent.

Like many others, the increase in gas prices directly affects me as well. I have consulted some of my colleagues, friends, and neighbors on the matter. They all shared the same opinion: they are in misery because of the gas prices. “I drive 55 km to work which is 110 km daily. My company is not paying for my gas,” says Omar, a friend. At the end of the month, he ends up paying more on his credit card bills. This is a relatable story to most people, like me, who drive back and forth from work, school, and home. We are under a tremendous stress. Our health is at stake.
Some of our friends have cancelled their vacations and they are not alone I stand with them. “We simply can’t afford to go anywhere,” says my husband Khateeb. Oh no! I cringed inside with anger. I had been planning on a vacation to visit my brother’s family in Florida for so long. “I deserve this vacation. I’ve been working full time and studying full time. Don’t you think I need a break?” I snapped back.
“Yes you do, take a break and stay home. No more vacations on the credit card. Otherwise, you’ll end up working harder to pay off the bills,” says my husband.
“I can check cheap tickets dot com,” my son popped in, but bogged down quickly as he saw his dad’s eyes staring at him.
Fun apart, if we look at the third world countries, we are a bunch of lucky ones. I talked to my father in Pakistan and I was shocked to hear the prices of gas and that of basic goods like rice and flour. The gas price ranges from Rs 85-95 per liter. That’s why more people are turning towards changing their car system to CNG, a natural gas kit. Poor people can no longer even afford to buy basic necessities such as food; they are relying on charities. The middle class society is working harder to get their means of income and expenses sorted out. The society on the whole is declining towards poverty.
We are lucky to be here in Canada. At least we are feeding ourselves and our families here and back home. Thank God for that. I’m sure none of us have slept on an empty stomach or have had to walk 20-30 km to work as most people are doing in the third world countries.
We must think rationally and use the three R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. If we all use car pool and walk to work or else where, it might help save some money at the end.

clear blue sky of Beijeng

This photo is sent to me by a very good friend of mine who lives in Beijing and runs a Cambridge( English) school. His name is Hadyn Adam.He is a true educationalist. Himself a Cambrige University grad, has travelled a lot but loves China more than any other country. He has made China his second home.This photo he took is in the context of an environmental issue raised by CNN and BBC.

ANGEL IN DISGUISE....IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD

ANGEL IN DISGUISE ….IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

Who says there are no angels in this world? I believe in God and angels: I also believe there are angels around us who are in disguise. They look like you and me, ordinary people. God sent them to our world for our help. They could be in the shape of a doctor, a bus driver, a teacher, or just someone next door. You never know who they may be or what form they may appear as.
My next door neighbor, Gina, believes in angels too. She is an accountant, a single mother and has raised two boys. Her beliefs became stronger after an incident, or rather, an accident.
Her teenage son had invited some of his friends to his house a few weeks back. Gina and her younger son left the house to give the kids some privacy. Her eldest son, James 17, and three of his friends were having a good time, until one of them suggested to go to his house. James offered his services in driving his friend to his house near Square One. To remind you, this is happening in my neighborhood, which is Derry and Mavis, quite a distance from Square One. Additionally, James does not hold a driver’s license; he only had a G1 at the time. The teenagers got excited and no one tried to put sense into James’s head.
Unfortunately, Gina had left her car home not thinking about such an incident occurring for obvious reason of James’s lack of proper license.
James put all his friends in the car and left home. While they were still in the neighborhood, James thought of just driving inside the Crescent: luck or God’s grace was playing its part here.
He drove around slowly at first, and then picked up the speed in the excitement. The second time they came to the curve of the crescent, another car, speedily driving on the wrong side of the road, was about to come crashing into James’s car. James had to turn all the way to his right in order to avoid a head on collision. He managed to do that, but hit the curb sliding and crushing three trees on his way. The car was so badly damaged between the trees that they were unable to push it down to the road.
Here comes the angel; a man, another neighbor, Ted Phu, who had been sitting outside had witnessed the whole accident and he came to the rescue of these careless teenagers. He tried his best to help them physically, but couldn’t do much. So, he called a tow truck right away on his expense. Ted stayed with the boys till the tow truck arrived and provided his support till the end. James told him about his G1 license and Ted was not shocked since it’s nothing new for a teenager to get excited to drive in order to impress his friends. According to Ted, the other guy was either drunk or was on a cell phone since he was the one who was driving on the wrong side. “He didn’t call the cops, thank God! Otherwise, I would’ve been in big trouble and my mom might have had a heart attack,” says James. James went to a nearby ATM to reimburse Ted for his generous loan. Good thinking, James!
James learned his lesson the hard way. His mom was so shocked that she couldn’t even talk to anyone for a week or so.
“What if the cops had come? What in the world would’ve happened if they had collided or had gone to the Mavis road? What if Ted wasn’t there? I was worried to death thinking about the other boys,” Said Gina. Gina conveyed her gratitude to Ted the very next day, “I was speechless, I cried in front of him, and he understood…I didn’t even have a CAA membership and can’t afford a hike in my insurance.”
Ted is a young guy who used to live at the corner of our street, but has recently moved to another place. Our angel, as Gina and I named him, has spread his wings and gone elsewhere. He must be watching over other kids in some other neighborhood. Wherever he may be, his neighbors are extremely fortunate.

My son's graduation photo.

Hi Paul and my friends, here's a picture of my son's graduation. He graduated from Father Michael Goetz secondary school. The graduation ceremony was very colorful, though the main color was blue because of the graduation gowns. The official color of the Gators is green. Mayor Hazel Mc Callion was the guest of honour.I cried through all the speeches even though my son had warned me against it,and shooting the ceremony with my camcorder at the same time. My son was telling the student next to him that the only lady in the crowd who is crying is my mom.It was really an emotional moment for me and an important mile stone for my baby. As time passes fast I can see him graduating from the university soon.