Calgary Strikes

Calgary was the host of Red Wings tonight, for the third game of the 2nd round. They played fantastically and downed Detroit, 3-2. They lead the series 2-1. The next game is this Thu. in Saddledome again.
(Photo: Kiprusoff stopped 27 shots and was selected number one star of the game by Mastercard)

What's New With The Friends?

Elena's still in touch with me, writing almost everyday. Renay, the pretty, nice East Indian girl sent me 2 e-mails as a forwarded message and I replied back. She stopped sending me. I also send a card for her birthday but she never answered or e-mailed me back. It means it's over. East Indians are real racists. I barely see an East Indian girl with a guy from anywhere else or an East Indian guy with a girl of another race. As I mentioned before she thought I was Gujarati and sent me her number, showing her interest in me. Gujarat is in western India.
I met a Colombian woman in Superstore, while we (me and Keiv) were leaving. I gave her my number and she gave me her. We met in a Second Cup in Signal Hills and talked for 2 hours. Luz Elena's a middle-aged woman, I can say in her late 30s, having 3 kids. She told me that she broke up with her husband after 15 years just 2 days before I met her in Superstore! She speaks English with strong Spanish accent. Very Bad!

Canadians vs. Americans

In the second round of 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs 3 Canadian teams face Americans ones. Calgary versus Detroit (Seed 1 of Western Conference) , Montreal versus Tampa Bay (Seed 1 of Eastern Conference) and Toronto fights Philadelphia (Seed 3 of Eastern Conference). You can easily tell that they have rough time ahead.

Operation Eagle Claw

Not longer after 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, few stupid university students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days. The story of that raid is not goin' to be said here 'cause it's a complicated, long and controversial one, which will be discussed in detail, hopefully, later.
What is gonna be narrated here is what Americans did after negotiations failed with Iranian authorities, after a six months period to free the hostages: Operation Eagle Claw.
On the evening of April.24.1980, six C-130s left Masirah Island, Oman, and eight RH-53D helicopters departed the USS Nimitz in the Arabian Sea. Both formations headed for the location code-named Desert One, a remote area close to the city of Tabas in Khorasan province, west of Iran. The operation has been planned and exercised for months.
What happens after that seems a bit complicated 'cause what we know is what Americans say and you can't trust them. They claim that helicopter pilots were told to fly at or below 200 feet (about 61 m.) to avoid radar. This limitation caused them to run into a dust storm, that they could not fly over without breaking the 200 feet limit. This statement seems ridiculous as everything has been planned and they knew that Desert One is a dusty area!
Not all of the aircraft reached the rendezvous 1 hour late (A few didn't make it because of a malfunction and few others because they lost their sight) And here is another inexplicit point: It's said that one of the helicopters moved to another position and drifted into one of the parked C-130's and immediately both the C-130 and RH-53 burst into flames. Why did the pilot do that?! Nobody knows! It resulted to death of 8 crew members.
The C-130 was evacuated and the order came to blow the aircraft. However, in the dust and confusion the order never reached the people who would blow the aircraft. There were wounded and dying men to be taken care of and the aircraft had to be moved to avoid having the burning debris start another fire. Because of this failure to destroy the helicopters, the Americans left behind them 5 RH-53D intact fell into the hands of the Iranians.
(Photo: Debris of an exploded C-130. It might have been bombed by Iranians 'cuase they did so the day after failed operation!)

Special Offer

I received a text message on my cellular phone, last week, stating that I was awarded a 5 day trip to a Caribbean beach, including hotel and food. I smelled a rat immediately. Also told myself that I can't go for several reasons. I don't have my PR Card, I may not be able to take 5 days off the work and ...
So I forgot about it. Yesterday I decided to call Telus Co. to find out what's goin' on. The answer was something that didn't make me surprised: That was a fake message! A scam!

The Dalai Lama in Canada

China invaded Tibet in 1950. That’s the first thing says about Tibet. I really don’t know if it’s a true statement or not ’cause Tibet is a land attached to China or as Chinese government claims, it’s part of the main land. So it’s like saying Canada attacks Nova Scotia and takes over it.
I guess no one knows the truth. Chinese claim that Tibet is part of China and Tibetan and Western countries blame China for killing Tibetan and occupy the independent state.
Anyways the Dalai Lama, which is the general name for Tibetan spiritual leader, (I guess this is the 13th Dalai Lama) is in Canada now. He first went to Vancouver. Many people get there to meet with him and listen to him, including some from Washington State of the US. He then went to nation’s capital and met Paul Martin. This is the first time that a Canadian prime minister accepts the Tibetan leader. This will have negative effects on China-Canada relationship.
I personally like Dalai Lama. First time I knew about him was when I watched the movie Seven Years in Tibet, a movie based on true story of an Austrian who goes to Tibet and shortly after that the Second World War began and he was taken hostages by British, while heading home from his failed climbing to one of the highest mountains in Himalayas.
I love the movie and I have watched it at least 5 times. Bard Pitt has a tremendous performance in it.

Note: My Chinese friend, Dr. Quping Hu, whom I met first in U of C, objects Chinese invasion to Tibet and belives Tibet has been part of China for ever. He lives in Toronto now. I'll write about him more.
(Photo: The Dalai Lama, (means ocean of wisdom), spiritual leader of Tibet)