A silent minority takes the wheel

Source: Toronto Star

Did you know that Indian-Canadians dominate driving tractor trailers?

The rain is coming down in torrents as Balwinder Gill pulls her silver Corolla into the Mattu Transport Inc. yard in Mississauga. She grabs an iron rod from the trunk and dashes toward a truck. She crawls between the front tires and knocks off chunks of icy snow beneath.

A mechanic tells her he has already checked the tires, oil and wiper fluid. Gill nods but checks the air pressure in the 10 tires anyway. And the oil. And the wiper fluid.

"I trust him but I still like to check everything before I leave," she says, swinging into the cab to pick up her trailer and the load for Montreal.

Daljit Dhillon, the mechanic, watches her leave in a blur of rain and mist. "Most drivers would've taken our word; not her," he says in Punjabi. "She's good."

For reasons cultural and otherwise, Gill, 32, is one of the few South Asian women in the GTA who drive tractor-trailers – an industry increasingly dominated by Indo-Canadian men

It shows that when people come to Canada. They will work very hard to contribute!

China: Hospital Refuses to Admit 1.4lbs Preterm Baby

Source: Weird Asia News

On December 18, 2008, in Zhu Ma Dian City, China, Yu Lan Zhou’s pregnant daughter-in-law, who was only 7 months pregnant, gave birth to a preterm baby boy in a local clinic.

Born way too early, he weighed only 1.4lbs at delivery and could not breathe properly on his own. The newborn boy’s heartbeat was very weak and his arms and legs were the size of an adult’s fingers.

The clinic suggested that the family take the baby to a hospital for immediate medical attention.

Zhou took her grandson to a local military hospital, but they refused to admit the baby when she could not come up with the required advance payment of 10,000 yuan, about $1,500.

Niiiiiiice. China must be the most capitalistic, money-greedy country in the world now. Not caring for a baby because of $1,500? Disgusting.

Reports indicate that because of the publicity the story had, many people from all over the world offered to send money to cover the medical costs.

The local hospital also agreed to admit the baby on the evening of the 28th, but the weather was too cold to move the fragile baby.

Unfortunately the boy was not strong enough to make it to the hospital and passed away at 4:00 am on the 29th. Reports indicate the boy passed due to lack of oxygen.

So only to save face did China react. People may hate America for it's capitalistic and cut-throat ways but this would never happen there. The baby's life would be saved first and then money would be calculated later. Heck Americans most likely donated to China to help this child that the hospital left for dead. Americans help everyone, even though they sometimes have a messed up way of doing it.

Rain, DBSK and Shinee Embroiled in Unauthorized Usage of Music for Performances

Source: Coolsmurf Domain

Ask any Korean and they get really really uptight when Americans remake their movies. For example the remaking of Oldboy.

But of course it's ok for them to steal music from America! Even songs that are not officially out yet!

In the aftermath of the completion of the various Gayo Daejuns in Korea, there was news last Friday that some singers had used some music for their performances without the required permission from copyright holders.

According to reports, DBSK leader U-Know Yunho and Rain had used Justin Timberlake Magic as the background music for their performances in the SBS Gayo Daejun and KBS Gayo Daechuk respectively. But the tune was apparently used without any permission being sought from the copyright holders. In addition, Shinee’s Taemin has also met with the same problem, using Usher Dat Girl Right There for his performance at the SBS Gayo Daejun.

A representative from SonyBMG who holds the rights for both songs expressed that Magic and Dat Girl Right There were songs that had not been released officially through any channels. They thus do not understand how they had gotten their hands on the songs. Although Magic was illegally uploaded in October last year but it wasn’t included in any of Justin Timberlake’s album thus they are wondering how did they get their hands on the track then.

Youtube Link

The Korean wave is over and they're out of ideas. They can only pump out so many films and tv series that involve sappy love triangles and guys too afraid to say "I Love You".

If I was Spielberg or Will Smith, I wouldn't touch Oldboy with a ten-foot pole. They don't deserve that honour.

USB Bra Warmer

Source: dannychoo.com

For those of you who prefer your oppai nice n warm while sitting in front of the computer - a USB Bra warmer. More pics at Impress. Retails for 1,980 yen. Any takers?

I'll take one. It gets really cold here in Calgary. For example right now it's -26C. Instead of wearing a thick sweater, I could just wear one of these :)

Japan Adds Boobs To Chemistry Books

Source: Akiba Blog

How'd you like to learn from this Chemistry book?

Moe book of humanized elements, " Genso Shuki -Moete Oboeru Kagaku no Kihon-" was out in Akiba on the 2nd. According to the book's information , "the total of 118 symbol of elements became into bishoujo characters! Let's find your favorite character!"

Bush chuckers target shoe discount

Source: Ananova

Customers hitting zones A-D can receive a discount from 20% to 50% off at the store in Wenzhou.

The activity, with a slogan "Hitting for world fame and good fortune", was so popular among shoppers that the store had to call police to maintain order.

During the first 30 minutes of the special promotion they sold 64 pairs of shoes and earned more £1,000. Several hundred pairs of shoes were sold on the second day.

"We were inspired by the shoe throwing incident in Iraq and hoped customers can get some entertainment while shopping," said the shop owner.

I'm not a great thrower but for 20% off I might have mustered up enough strength to aim for his head!

Asian Ripoff XXIII - Livin' La Vida Loca

Artist: Hiromi Go
Language: Japanese

Let's get the new year started with a good beat! Shake it!


Youtube Link

Soccer: Ten Asian Players To Watch In 2009

Source: Goal.com

As another year dawns, Goal.com Asia takes a look at ten players who may already be well-known in their respective nations, but could become a whole lot more famous in 2009.

10. Soe Myat Min (Finance and Revenue FC & Myanmar)
9. Vitaliy Denisov (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Uzbekistan)
8. Khalfan Ibrahim (Al Sadd and Qatar)
7. Sunil Chettri (East Bengal and India)
6. Shannon Cole (Sydney FC & Australia)
5. Le Cong Vinh (Hanoi & Vietnam)
4. Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo & Japan)
3. Ahmad Khalil (Al Ahli & UAE)
2. Lee Chung-yong (FC Seoul & South Korea)
1. Eshan Hajysafi (Sepahan & Iran)

Should be a fun year as Asian Cup 2011 Qualifying begins and World Cup 2010 Qualifying concludes.