Canadian woman loses benefits over Facebook photo

From Yahoo News! Sun Nov 22, 1:20 pm ET

BROMONT, Quebec – A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave for depression says she lost her benefits because her insurance agent found photos of her on Facebook in which she appeared to be having fun.

Nathalie Blanchard has been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, for the last year.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday she was diagnosed with major depression and was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from insurance giant Manulife.

But the payments dried up this fall and when Blanchard called Manulife, she says she was told she was available to work because of Facebook.

She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on Facebook, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday.

Blanchard said Manulife told her it's evidence she is no longer depressed. She's fighting to get her benefits reinstated and says her lawyer is exploring what the next step should be.

Blanchard told the CBC that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems.

Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but did say they would not deny or terminate a claim solely based on information published on Web sites such as Facebook.

Embak: Jangan ghairah sangat tayang gambar kat Facebook. Banyak mata yang memandang!

Pakcik di 7-Eleven

Dah lama tak menulis; sememangnya tak ada ilham.

Tadi, kawan Embak tulis ni dalam Yahoogroup kami. Embak rasa amat kelakar..

****
baru kejap gi 7-11, beli roti... masa nak bayar Cashier tu cakap.." ada apa2 lagi..Pak Cik?"...saya pusing belakang..takde orang...

" RM8.20.." kata Cashier tu...saya pun bagi RM10.. "ada 20 sen Pak Cik?"... tambah Cashier tu.. saya pusing belakang lagi.. takde orang lain lagi... saya diam, Cashier tu pun diam dan bagi baki wang saya..RM1.80. .


Bila saya nak keluar ..saya dengar " Terima kasih Pak Cik..sila datang lagi..."


Heran saya....dalam kedai tu saya sorang saja....

Happiness is....

....finding good books for peanuts. Last Saturday at Payless Books Warehouse Sale at 3K Inn, Subang Jaya, I found these books which I will read in this order:

1. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. I will re-watch the movie to see how well the adaptation from book to film is.

2. Postcards by E.Annie Proulx. My frustration for not finding any book by Carol Shields was redeemed by finding this one.

3. A Confederancy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Never heard of this book but it is "a wildly comic masterpiece" that also won the Pulitzer Prize. The most expensive of the lot because it is a hardcover.

4. Possession by A.S.Byatt. I picked it up because I read somewhere that is a favourite of Marina Mahathir's or T.Elida's.

5. Reading Lolita in Tehran. Because I'm intrigued.

6. Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote. Because I like Capote's other book "In Cold Blood".

And all these for RM31!!! I am far from maxing on that RM1000 tax-relief for purchase of books. The next sale at the same venue will be held in December. Who wants to join me?

Why I Should'nt Have That Audi Yet!

In their book, You Have More Than You Think, David and Tom Gardner said that one of the most common financial mistakes people make is buying an expensive car using borrowed money. Here are some excerpts:

"...When you purchase an automobile, on average it loses 30 percent of its value one year after the purchase - and sometimes does so at the moment you roll it out of the lot....

We know you need a car. We do too. But from an investment standpoint, it's never a good idea to covet expensive automobiles, and buying it on credit. On average you'll pay 10% interest anually on the loan plus the value of the car depreciates by 30% the first year and 10% per year subsequently. In the business world, they'd call this sort of leverages transaction "dumb". We are gentler; we'll call it a mistake.

Buy transport. Buy utility. You are not your car.

Our recommendation is simply that if you can swing it, you pick an automobile that you can buy with cash, or the next best thing to do, as much in cash as you can. Remember, you are not your car. Impress your friends with your heart, your mind, those natural good looks, and your sense of humor...."

In another book, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and william Danko, after 20 years of profiling the wealthy, surmise that , "the flashy millionaires glamorized by the media actually represent only a tiny minority of America's rich. Most of the truly wealthy in this country don't live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue -- they live next door."

The authors say that the typical wealthy individual is a businessman who has lived in the same town for all of his adult life and owns a small factory, a chain of stores or a service company. He lives next door to people with a fraction of his wealth. Their survey indicated that while the paycheck-to-paycheck crowd drives new cars, most millionaires don't. They're not wearing expensive clothes and watches and their houses are relatively modest compared to their financial status.

Note to self: Live simply.

1 Syawal 1430H

Picture courtesy of Nedim Muhic - (Excellent picture btw. Note the bird at top left corner)

Here's me blogging at 5.51pm on Eid on the loft of my father's house. Some of my house guests are away visiting relatives; the other half are at a rented house 200 meters away from this house which we specially rent for this raya as my father's house is too small to accommodate 21 cucus from 5 households plus the 5 permanent residents. 5 or 6 people are at in front of the TV watching a stream of Raya programmes on ASTRO channels. At 4pm just now as I sat for my tea of more ketupat, I had a chat with Abah about our plans for next raya. We concurred that we need to procure a new house, big enough for everyone to enjoy Raya under one roof. May Allah grant us this wish.

This Raya around, I am blown away by the amount of food my nieces and nephews are capable of consuming. A marked difference from last year. Thank God, we have Angah who brought more sarung ketupat and for the first time she made ketupat palas, so the threat of food shortage was arrested. Last night's iftar and today's breakfast was chaotic; actually this happens every year with one or two new additions yearly for the last 18 years; but this year is the qauntum leap. The eldest nephew is 18 going 19. Not many more years to go before he gets a household of his own.

With the end of Ramadhan, life slowly comes back to norm. In about a week, Acu will return to Germany, and me to work. I have to get some money if I want to jalan-jalan next year. And also to look out for a new house before the next Eid. My Abah wants it to be within the same Taman as our current house. So it makes the search more focused. Allah help us.

Satu Malaysia

Baru-baru ini Embak berjumpa dengan seorang pelanggan lama, Puan E. Sebelum berbual bisnes, seperti biasa kami bercerita perihal keluarga dan semasa. Sampailah ke satu topik yang menjadi aspirasi PM Najib; Satu Malaysia. Puan E jelas tak setuju dengan aspirasi ini; katanya ini hanya untuk menjaga hati kaum bukan Melayu dan menidakkan hak keistimewaan Melayu. Embak kata, jangan risau, PM tak akan buat benda ni secara mendadak. Puan E berkata, anak sulongnya telah dimasukkan ke Sekolah Yayasan Saad di Melaka. Yang mendukacitakannya ialah dia dikenakan yuran sepertimana pelajar-pelajar bangsa bukan Melayu hanya sebab beliau dan suami bergaji lumayan. Anaknya telah bekerja keras untuk melayakkan dirinya ke sekolah tersebut. Sebagai ibubapa, Puan E berkata, mahu tak mahu , dia dan suami kena berbelanja RM20,000 setahun untuk membayar yuran. And I went like, WTH is this lady talking about? Kalau tak nak bayar yuran mahal, hantar saja ke sekolah biasa, atau sekolah berasrama kerajaan. Tak payah nak komplen.

Embak dengan secara diplomasi berkata, saya rasa sistem meritokrasi ini baik untuk Malaysia. Jadi semua orang akan berkerja lebih keras, lebih produktif. Orang Melayu yang selama ini mendapat hak istimewa kenalah baiki diri; lama kelamaan jati diri juga akan meningkat dan mertabat Melayu akan bertambah baik. Sampai bila orang Melayu nak menidakkan hak bangsa lain yang telah turun-temurun di Malaysia. Orang Melayu juga asalnya bukan dari Tanah Melayu. Saya juga berdarah campuran. Puan E pun cakap, dia juga berdarah campuran, tapi, blah, blah, blah……(masih tak setuju).

Embak pelik sebab kalau yang bercakap tu orang kampong yang tak bersekolah tinggi, Embak paham, tapi ini Puan E yang telah mengecapi nikmat DEB semasa kecil, ditanggungi kerajaan hinggalah ke peringkat universiti. Dan sekarang berjawatan bukan calang-calang di sebuah GLC. Bukankan beliau sepatutnya tidak lagi tergugat apabila biasiswa mula dibuka kepada anak-anak bangsa bukan Melayu yang miskin? Belum 100 peratus pun, masih pada peratusan yang rendah.

Siapa kata Malaysia ialah hak bangsa Melayu sahaja?

Kita menunding jari pada orang putih di Amerika apabila mereka meminggir golongan kulit hitam dan minoriti lain. Apa kurangnya orang Melayu apabila menidakkan hak bangsa-bangsa lain di Malaysia? Kalau kita yakin bahawa setiap rezeki datang dari Allah,"insecurity" orang Melayu tak timbul. Allah juga sangat suka sekiranya kita berlaku adil.

Tahun lepas, kawan Embak, sepasang orang Melayu yang beranak pinak di Amerika memberitahu anak sulong mereka diterima masuk ke Standford dengan biasiswa penuh universiti. Kalau Puan E di Amerika tentunya dia juga mahukan anaknya diberi hak saksama seperti orang Amerika. Itu contoh terbaik meritokrasi. Nampaknya keadilan di Amerika telah bertambah baik. Ayuh Melayu, masa untuk berada di "comfort zone" telah tamat.

Introducing Zee Avi

I may be a little late here, but a video link in my friend Andreas Frangipani's facebook led me to discover this talent. Here's the writeup in wikipedia:

Zee Avi (born Izyan Alirahman,[1] also known as KokoKaina; b. 1986)[citation needed] is a Malaysian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and ukulele player. She was born in Miri, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. She moved to Kuala Lumpur when she was 12.[2] She studied fashion design at American InterContinental University in London.[3]

Zee originally posted a video of her first song on YouTube because one of her friends had missed her first performance in Kuala Lumpur, so she created a video on YouTube for him to watch. He convinced Zee to leave the video up, and soon she received positive feedback, which inspired her to put more videos on YouTube.[3] After she was featured on YouTube, she was signed by Brushfire Records, which is partly owned by Jack Johnson.[2] Her song "No Christmas For Me" is featured on Brushfire Records's 2008 Christmas album This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday.[4] Her single "Bitter Heart" was first to become available on the US iTunes store, and her full self-titled debut album was released on May 19, 2009. On the day of her album's release, YouTube featured her on the front page in Spotlight: Music Tuesday. She is currently (June - August 2009) touring the United States with Pete Yorn.

Her song "Monte" was featured in the second season finale of Private Practice.

This is the catchy song that made me research her other songs. Go Zee!

Adieu Yasmin Ahmad

I met Yasmin once on an Air Asia flight from Bali in 2006. (See blog entry here)

I, of course knew her films (at that time, she already had great success with Sepet and was about to launch Mukhsin) and her Petronas ads. So, I felt 'gabrah' when she chose to sit next to me, but she quickly put me at ease, and during the first half of the flight we chatted about a dozen of topics; general and personal. (During the other half, she busied herself with a portable computer game). She surprised me when she said she believed all Malays have Chinese ancestors. I thought she wanted to play with me and see my reaction. Probably because yours truly look like one. I too have Chinese ancestors, she said. And she was going to do a film about May 13th. I said, why would you want to do that? That is so risky! I wish I can recall what her response was.

When the stewardess came with the food trolley, I purchased a maggi-in-a-cup, and Yasmin, tuna and crackers. She partook of the maggi with me. She spread tuna on the crackers, and offered them to surrounding fellow passengers.
She joked with the cabin crew. She made everyone feel comfortable with her, a celebrity on board. I am glad to have that chance encounter, albeit a brief one. She was very personable, very warm and down to earth. Genuinely a nice person.

I was sad to learn about her passing this morning from Roz. Memories of that flight came to my mind instantly. Tributes are pouring from all around the globe speak volume of the impact this talented director had left to us all through her works.

Truly, we are all given a limited time to do as much good as we can for this life and the next. There is no more once the time is up. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihirajiun. From Him we come, and unto Him we return. Rest in peace, Yasmin.

'Angela's Ashes' author McCourt dies at 78

NEW YORK – Frank McCourt, the beloved raconteur and former public school teacher who enjoyed post-retirement fame as the author of "Angela's Ashes," the Pulitzer Prize-winning "epic of woe" about his impoverished Irish childhood, died Sunday of cancer.

McCourt, who was 78, had been gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and the cause of his death, said his publisher, Scribner. He died at a Manhattan hospice, his brother Malachy McCourt said.

Until his mid-60s, Frank McCourt was known primarily around New York as a creative writing teacher and as a local character — the kind who might turn up in a New York novel — singing songs and telling stories with his younger brother Malachy and otherwise joining the crowds at the White Horse Tavern and other literary hangouts.

But there was always a book or two being formed in his mind, and the world would learn his name, and story, in 1996, after a friend helped him get an agent and his then-unfinished manuscript was quickly signed by Scribner. With a first printing of just 25,000, "Angela's Ashes" was an instant favorite with critics and readers and perhaps the ultimate case of the non-celebrity memoir, the extraordinary life of an ordinary man.

"F. Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives. I think I've proven him wrong," McCourt later explained. "And all because I refused to settle for a one-act existence, the 30 years I taught English in various New York City high schools."

The book has been published in 25 languages and 30 countries.

McCourt, a native of New York, was good company in the classroom and at the bar, but few had such a burden to unload. His parents were so poor that they returned to their native Ireland when he was little and settled in the slums of Limerick. Simply surviving his childhood was a tale; McCourt's father was an alcoholic who drank up the little money his family had. Three of McCourt's seven siblings died, and he nearly perished from typhoid fever.

"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood," was McCourt's unforgettable opening. "People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty, the shiftless loquacious father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests, bullying schoolmasters; the English and all the terrible things they did to us for 800 long years."

The book was a long Irish wake, "an epic of woe," McCourt called it, finding laughter and lyricism in life's very worst. Although some in Ireland complained that McCourt had revealed too much (and revealed a little too well), "Angela's Ashes" became a million seller, won the Pulitzer and was made into a movie of the same name, starring Emily Watson as the title character, McCourt's mother.

Author Peter Matthiessen, who became friendly with McCourt after "Angela's Ashes" came out, said he was "stunned" when he read it.

"I remember thinking, 'Where did this guy come from?" Matthiessen said. "His book was so good, and it came out of nowhere."

The white-haired, sad-eyed, always quotable McCourt, his Irish accent still thick despite decades in the U.S., became a regular at parties, readings, conferences and other gatherings, so much the eager late-life celebrity that he later compared himself to a "dancing clown, available to everybody." His friend and fellow memoirist Mary Karr once kidded him that her idea of a rare book was an unsigned copy of "Angela's Ashes."

McCourt told The Associated Press in 2005 he wasn't prepared for fame.

"After teaching, I was getting all this attention," he said. "They actually looked at me — people I had known for years — and they were friendly and they looked me in a different way. And I was thinking, `All those years I was a teacher, why didn't you look at me like that then?'"

But the part of it he liked best, he said, was hearing "from all those kids who were in my classes."

"At least they knew that when I talked about writing I wasn't just talking through my hat," he said.

Much of his teaching was spent in the English department at the elite Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, where he defied the advice of his colleagues and shared his personal stories with the class; he slapped a student with a magazine and took on another known to have a black belt in karate.

After "Angela's Ashes," McCourt continued his story, to strong but diminished sales and reviews, in "'Tis," which told of his return to New York in the 1940s, and in "Teacher Man." McCourt also wrote a children's story, "Angela and the Baby Jesus," released in 2007.

More than 10 million copies of his books have been sold in North America alone, said Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.

"We have been privileged to publish his books, which have touched, and will continue to touch, millions of readers in myriad positive and meaningful ways," Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy said in a statement.

McCourt was married twice and had a daughter, Maggie McCourt, from his first marriage.

His brother Malachy McCourt is an actor, commentator and singer who wrote two memoirs and, in 2006, ran for New York governor as the Green Party candidate. At least one of his former students, Susan Gilman, became a writer.

McCourt will be cremated, his brother said. A memorial service is planned for September.

___

Associated Press writer Tom McElroy contributed to this story.

Embak's Notes: I have Frank's 3 books and Malachy's book in case anyone wants to borrow. See my old post on Frank McCourt in 2007 here.

MRSM Old Boys and Girls

As a custom, the (old) boys and girls of MRSM KB Batch XX will sing the alma mater song everytime we convene. When the MC calls for all to stand in attention, the brain starts to work its magic, frantically combing out that hidden compartment that stores the words to the "Lagu Maktab", which we routinely sang at our weekly assemblies many, many moons ago. That's what we did recently when we gathered to celebrate the appointment of one of ours as Timbalan Menteri. (That's me in the middle in white tudung).

Here are the words:

wahai putera puteri bangsaku
ayuh segera menuju
mengikut gerak langkah maju
bersatu mencari ilmu
di zaman sains dan teknologi
negara perlukan jasamu
janganlah rasa malas lagi
bersatu memegang teraju
di maktab rendah sains m.a.r.a
tuntut ilmu jangan jemu
ikrar taat setia pada guru
berdisiplin selalu
hari ini hari mulanya
hari esok berjaya
lengkapkan segala yang ada
ke kuliah kita segera...

Note: This is actually a shameless, bragging post to let y'all know that I have friends in high places. Ehek.

Especially for you _deli

The following words I copy verbatim from MasterclassLady.Com.

"I was absolutely flabbergasted when I saw this video.

Apparently, young Gina suffers from autism, but this learning disability cannot diminish the astounding vocal talent of this young lady.

Her vocal passion and enthusiasm are absolutely inspiring and should be a source of encouragement and hope for all families who have to cope with a loved one with a similar disability.

When God closes one door, He most certainly opens another one!

Brava little Gina!"

Tips Hapuskan Lipas

Diambil dari email kawan Embak Ray, tuan Pak Malim, kucing yang alim. Embak belum cuba jadi tak tahu keberkesanannya, tapi Embak suka nak cuba sebab Embak tak tahan bau spray Baygon, Ridsect dan seumpanya.

1. Membunuh lipas dengan cara yang tidak bijak

Memijak atau memukul lipas dgn kasut atau suratkhabar atau penyapu.
Lipas betina ada ribuan telur halus dalam perutnya. Telur ini tidak pecah kerana sangat kuat. Ia akan bertaburan merata-rata tempat. Jika dah terbuat jugak, pastikan tempat terpenyeknya lipas itu dibersihkan dan dilap betul-betul dgn air dan sabun.

2. Membunuh lipas dgn cara natural tanpa insecticide dan tanpa racun

Sediakan botol yang ada kepala spray. Masukkan air yang telah dicampurkan dengan sabun mandi. Bila nampak aje lipas, spray ke atasnya. Lipas akan mati cepat sebab tidak dapat bernafas kerana ia bernafas dari kulit kepala sehingga ke kulit badan. Air dan sabun akan menutup lubang nafas mereka. Dapatlah jimat duit sikit daripada dok memperkayakan pembuat Baygon dan Ridsect. Gunakan duit tu untuk bersedekah.

3. Memerangkap lipas dgn cara natural tanpa insecticide dan tanpa racun

Sediakan botol kaca yang terbuka mulutnya seperti botol jam dan madu. Letakkan sedikit serbok kopi atau koko dalam botol.Letak berhampiran dinding atau tempat yang biasa nampak lipas. Biasanya lipas boleh panjat masuk botol tapi tak dapat nak keluar. Bila dah terperangkap, spray dgn air sabun.

Jika lipas merangkak-rangkak dan berterbangan macam filem ngeri Omputih, maka terpaksalah menggunakan racun untuk mengurangkannya. Buat racun buatan sendiri yang tidak sebahaya spray insecticide. Namun racun buatan sendiri ini tetap berbahaya, maka jauhkan daripada kanak-kanak.

4. Bahan-bahan untuk racun buatan sendiri:
Satu bahagian serbuk borik acid ( ini yang pembuat mee kuning dok kasik kita makan tu walaupun dah diharamkan oleh kerajaan )
Dua bahagian tepung gandum
Satu bahagian koko

Gaulkan dan letak di di dalam kotak kertas yang kecil. Jangan terhidu tau. Sebelum start process, ikat sapu tangan atau singlet kat muka supaya hidung tertutup.
Letakkan di tempat-tempat gelap seperti bawah kabinet dapur dan belakang almari dan sebagainya. BASUH TANGAN ANDA !!!!!!!!

Bahan-bahan ini menarik perhatian lipas. Lipas makan dan suapkan pula pada anak-anaknya yang dok lepak dalam telur warna cokelat. Anak-anaknya akan mati dan tak sempat membesar dan membiak.

Semoga info ini membawa manfaat pada yang mempunyai masaalah lipas.

Tribute to the Late King of Pop

A moving tribute with images from various stages of his life. How happy and cute he looked in his early years.