NEW HOME for East of Main!

Dear East of Main readers:

We’ve moved to our new PERMANENT location… check us out at:

www.eastofmain.com

This site will continue until we have fully transitioned ~
Update your bookmarks!

Thanks again for all your support-

Ajay Puri, Andriy Mishchenko
Editors in Chief
East of Main

Israel continues offensive on the innocent in Gaza

UPDATE January 13, 2009

In 17 days 919 Palestinians killed by Israel including 284 children & 100 women, 4260 injured

UPDATE January 7, 2009:

• CEASEFIRE talks are finally being considered by Israel – there is hope but offensive on Gaza still in full-force [BBC]
• Estimated Death toll: 683 Palestinians since Israel offensive began (December 27, 2008). 7 Israeli soldiers have also died. [BBC]
• Estimated Injured: 3,085 Palestinians
• 3 UN-sponsored schools in Gaza have now been hit, with at least 45 dead [Manila Bulletin]
• Canada plans to provide $4 million in humanitarian relief to Gaza – 3 million go to the UN Relief and Works Agency and 1 million to Red Cross [CBC Radio | China News]

Snowmageddon continues to hit Vancouver, again

January 5th, 2009 UPDATE: Ok I’m stuck at home working today. I don’t mind it as it would have taken at least 2-3x longer to get to my work. Thankfully I have VPN. But I was taking to my colleagues and it took them up to 1.5 hours for their commute which usually takes 30min. And my current boss is stuck in Penticton! He was to come Sunday but is now on house arrest till Wednesday. What are British Columbians to do?

I really hope the snow melts away fully today (it is slowly doing so), if not- as Frances Bula mentions, we’re in trouble… Help us Raymond Louie!

January 4th, 2009 UPDATE:  Another 15 cm of snow dumped on Vancouver  Sunday.

INTERESTING FACT: Frances Bula reports in 2008, the City spent nearly $940,000 for snow removal (this was spent on the City’s only 47 trucks with ploughing and salting attachments). This was ~$200,000 more than expected due to all that extra white powder we received.

I highly suggest reading her commentary as she discusses why the side streets haven’t been ploughed as well as the main streets.

My only comments are

(a) it was surprising to hear that only 4 people called the City to complain about the snow on the side streets (as if anyone who walks around the streets will know there’s a lot snow!); but more importantly

(b) that when the side streets were attempted to be cleaned in 1993, residents complained about the noise the trucks made!

What is a mayor and council to do!?

Jan. 3, 2009 UPDATE: More snow continues to fall Saturday; an  estimated snowfall of 10-15 cm. Residents ask when will it stop?

Main St at Broadway – December 24, 2008

Main St at Broadway - December 24, 2008

Snowfall Record in Vancouver

Car-free Sundays on Main Street

This week Vancouver city council is considering a pilot having car-free Sundays this coming summer in various neighbourhoods across Vancouver: including Main St.s very own Punjabi Market (between 49th and 53rd).

Commercial drive already enjoys the car-free days. Having no cars on the street allows people to walk and shop more comfortably. It encourages shoppers to explore the area at leisure, increases the profits of the local merchants and also saves the environment. Overall having car-free Sunday’s will be good for the area socially, economically and environmentally.

It’s a Girl!

“Men are physically stronger often and larger, but what does that matter when we have machines? Even when we don’t have machines, when we must dig with shovel or carry on the back, the men may work faster-the big ones-but the women work longer….Often I have wished I was as tough as a woman.”-The Dispossessed

Dispossessed is an award winning science fiction novel set on another planet, among an alien species. The questions it tackles are as important today as they were when the book was first published in 1974. Ursulak Le Guin explores the class system and feminism in this classic novel. The discrepancies among the genders are not as bad as they used to be. Women can do anything today that a man can. Unfortunately, I am here to tell you that we will be judged as an uncivilized species if the report is based on how we treat majority of the women on this planet. Half of the human species is discriminated against. And according to infanticide and feticide rates across the globe it is done even before birth.