Friendly fire

Friendly fire is an assault by a military drive on neighborly constrains while endeavoring to assault the foe, either misidentifying the focus as antagonistic, or because of lapses or error. Such assaults regularly cause damage or demise. Fire not expected to assault the foe, for example, careless or malevolent release, or conscious terminating on one's own troops for disciplinary reasons, is not called inviting blaze. Nor is unintentional mischief to non-soldiers or structures, now and then alluded to as blow-back.

Utilization of the expression "benevolent" in a military setting for partnered work force or materiel dates from the First World War, regularly for shells missing the mark. The term benevolent blaze was initially embraced by the United States military. A lot of people North Atlantic Treaty Organization militaries allude to these episodes as blue on blue, which determines from military exerciseswhere powers were recognized by blue flags and units speaking to Warsaw Pact compels by orange flags.

Calcium

Calcium is a mineral found in many foods. The body needs calcium to maintain strong bones and to carry out many important functions. Almost all calcium is stored in bones and teeth, where it supports their structure and hardness.

The body also needs calcium for muscles to move and for nerves to carry messages between the brain and every body part. In addition, calcium is used to help blood vessels move blood throughout the body and to help release hormones and enzymes that affect almost every function in the human body.

Calcium

Calcium ( /ˈkælsiəm/ kal-see-əm) is the chemical element with symbol Ca and atomic number 20. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. Calcium is also the fifth-most-abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate.

Calcium is essential for living organisms, in particular in cell physiology, where movement of the calcium ion Ca2+ into and out of the cytoplasm functions as a signal for many cellular processes. As a major material used in mineralization of bones and shells, calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals.

Accommodements raisonnables - Debate du jour

Friday, February 2, 2007


Reasonable arrangements, that's what everybody is talking about here.

What is it exactly? How much religious/cultural difference do we accept in our society before we say enough is enough?

As a whole, our society is homogeneous. Of course, if you are in Montreal, it is like being in New York. There is also lots of diversity in the Ottawa region and in Sherbrooke. But travel across the rest of the province and you'll see that 96% of us are French-speaking, catholic raised (not practicing) and descendant from the same few hundred men and women that came over to New France in the 17th Century.

When immigrants come to a new land, should they be expected to leave their cultural heritage and religious beliefs on the plane before they set foot in our country?

1) 1990: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or Mounties) allow Sikhs to wear a turban on the job

2) 2006: The Supreme Court of Canada overturns a school board's decision to ban the Kirpan, a Sikh ceremonial dagger. People say it is a weapon that should not be worn to school because other students are not allowed knives. The Kirpan is worn beneath clothes, sown into a sheath.

3) End of 2006 : a YMCA in the Hassidic area of the city wants to frost the windows because it distracts the Orthodox Jews who walk by it to see women working out.

4) Last week a police officer put up an MP3 titled "Ça commence à faire, là" (It's starting to be enough). Saying things like "If you don't like it here, you can leave" "Stop your musique or you'll have to go home" "we can't cave to every picky demand of every religion". The cop is now under review and an investigation is underway.

5)Last week, Hérouxville, a little town of 1000 people has written a "lifestyle guide" that must be adopted if you live there. You can't cover your face, you can't walk around with a weapon or anything resembling a weapon, no stoning women, a woman cannot be guaranteed a female doctor.

This town has no immigrants. One boy was adopted from Haiti when he was a baby, so he doesn't count since he was raised here.
Two neighbouring towns have since written up a similar code of conduct for their towns.

So, where do we draw the line? What is reasonable, what is not? I think that when it doesn't impact anybody else such as wearing the Kirpan (which is a religious symbol similar to us wearing a cross on a chain), then why make a big deal out of it? When it interferes with your position or job, then it should be banned. For example, wearing a turban rather than the protective gear you need on your head should not be allowed. Furthermore, a police officer is a symbol of neutrality and justice for all, you should not be wearing any symbol, anywhere on your body, that show you may have a penchant for one side or another.

But mostly, I think this debate has stemmed from ignorance. We don't know what a turban stands for, or what a Kirpan is. We (humans) fear what we don't know.

Also, I think that we ourselves are a minority in Canada, being French, and we have a hard time finding our identity in our own society. We lost a lot of our identity in the 1960s as we moved away from religion, lost our relationship with the land. The only thing we have left of our past is our language. And I believe learning about an immigrant's identity is forcing us to look at our own, and our fear is that we have none.

Need a job? What about Coyote to Cuba??

Need a job? What about Coyote to Cuba??

Since the embargo in 1959, letters and packages from the United States are not allowed to enter Cuba. There is however a way around this restriction. Just like Americans fly out of Canada or Mexico to go to Cuba, you can send items through a Canadian travel agency. How do they get this to happen? Well, people mail their package to this travel agency and you pay a certain fee according to what you are sending.

An unsuspecting couple in Montreal goes into this travel agency to buy a one-week all-inclusive holiday on the beach, because they just can't take this weather anymore. And the travel agent says, Hey, you can save 300$ on your vacation if you bring a suitcase down to Cuba for us.

So, you, the traveler, has to fit your clothes and stuff for the week in a carry-on bag so you can transport the luggage.

When you arrive at the airport, there are people waiting for you and they recognize the luggage you are carrying because they always use the same luggage.

If you transport the empty luggage back to Montreal, you get 10$ per bag...

Not a bad deal, if you're looking to save a buck.

And, it shows that the embargo is merely superficial and can easily be countered.... Wonder what will happen when Fidel's time is up??