TEGSA’s AUTUMN COMEDY NIGHT

TEGSA members came prepared to laugh, to have fun and be merry and of course to dance at the Comedy Night presentation held on Friday, September 19, 2008. And they were not disappointed! Patrons arrived on time and after grace, a generous snack plate was served with delicious savouries like potato chops, patties, meat croquettes, fish tarts, chutney sandwiches etc. followed with a bowl of fresh fruit salad. Our thanks to PATSY, our caterer. As usual tea, coffee and cookies were included. During dinner our guest artist, Jay Franco the ONE MAN BAND entertained us with light music and a violin solo performance.

Then came the moment we were waiting for – our star performer Mel Collie. Mel is an accomplished Banjo player and is the resident comedian at Herongate Theatre in Pickering. He kept us in splits of laughter as he entertained us with his tales interspersed with his Banjo playing.

Our next item was a performance by Team E.H.S. led by Humphrey Fernandes. The dance routine was called “GO GREASED LIGHTING” and was professionally done. Next was a rendition of BHANGRA dancing admirably performed by Ruth and Vasanth Kumar. Dancing soon took over as Jay, the One Man Band kept us on our toes until it was time for BINGO.

It was a fun filled evening thoroughly enjoyed by all. We now have an hours extension and yet no one seems to want to leave. And the beat goes on …..

Our sincere thanks to the Executive Committee for continuing to give us such classy entertainment and in particular to our Social Secretary, Martha Menezes and her husband, our M.C. Joaquim Menezes.

Toronto Seniors Night in Goa

When a Night in Goa comes to mind, you would imagine sandy beaches and a beautiful sunset, while sitting beneath some palm trees on the Indian coastline with a group of friends and a glass of feni, listening to the sounds of lovely Goan voices singing in the background. The only thing missing from this fantasy on Friday, October 3 at the sold out event organized by TEGSA was the tropical scenery. It was a night filled with laughter, great food, lively music and wonderful entertainment. Definitely the place to be!

Our MC Joachim Menezes welcomed everyone and then introduced His Excellency Bishop Max Rodriques of Hyderabad, who in turn said a few words and said grace. We then dined on a delicious dinner of king fish curry and rice, beef cutlets, caesar salad, rolls and mango mousse for dessert, all catered by Konkan Delite. There was also mango juice, tea/coffee and cookies to be had.

During the evening, an assortment of music was provided by DJ Symphony for our listening and dancing pleasure. Soon after dinner was done, a group of four performers dressed in traditional outfits entertained the audience with a Goan dance. To everyones delight later in the evening, this same group - Yolanda Gracias, Ruth Kumar, Juliet Matkar and Agnelo Gracias sang a medley of Konkani songs.

A group of singers led by Maurice and Clarina Coutinho also provided entertainment, while the audience could not help but join in the singing of many well-known Konkani songs. As usual, the evening ended with a couple of Bingo games and a few happy winners. Overall the night was a tremendous success thanks to the planning and hard work of the social committee headed by Martha Menezes. It was a night comparable to none!

Religious folks behave better -- with a catch
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, October 03, 2008
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=2f608f0e-0cd2-451c

UBC psychologist's study finds believers need to think God is watching to be on their best behaviour

Religious people tend under certain conditions to be more helpful and generous than others because their belief in God assumes the existence of an all-knowing "supernatural police" force that monitors their behaviour, says University of B.C. psychologist Ara Norenzayan.

The prestigious journal Science published an article on Thursday by Norenzayan and his assistant, Azim Shariff, that concludes that religious people generally act more ethically than atheists -- but only on two conditions.

One: Religious people behave better when they believe their good acts toward strangers will be noticed and will enhance their reputation among their peers, Norenzayan said Thursday.

Secondly, experiments show religious people generally behave more kindly and generously when they have been freshly reminded, in a casual and subconscious way, of a morally tinged God or supernatural being.

If researchers remove those two conditions, Norenzayan said, "all of a sudden you don't find any differences" between the behaviour of the religious and non-religious.

Emphasizing that he is not out to either defend or attack religion, Norenzayan said the Science article goes beyond mere anecdotes and opinion about religion and looks at the "hard scientific evidence" that anthropologists, psychologists, economists and others have gathered during the past 30 years.

Norenzayan, who has gained international attention for his psychological experiments into how religion affects the way humans act, said the five-page Science article does not necessarily contradict those who argue religion exacerbates conflict between cultures.

That's because the UBC researchers discovered in their survey of all the research available that religious people are often more generous and helpful (or "pro-social") to members of their own religion, not necessarily to outsiders.

The Science article, titled "The Origin and Evolution of Religious Prosociality," shows that even though religion has been helpful in creating moral behaviour, it has no monopoly on producing honest and empathic people.

The beneficial role that an all-knowing, morally concerned God has played in history, Norenzayan said, is in some cases being replaced by non-religious mechanisms -- such as effective policing, courts and social surveillance.

While Norenzayan found some people behave more ethically when researchers have reminded them of their belief in God, he said many of us behave more ethically simply because a police cruiser drives by or a convenience store contains a surveillance camera.

Still, Norenzayan said, religiously motivated virtuous behaviour has played a vital role throughout history -- by encouraging cooperation among large groups of genetically unrelated people. For instance, Norenzayan said, recent anthropological studies have suggested there is more cooperation among religious societies than non-religious ones, especially when group survival is under threat.

Economic studies, meanwhile, have shown religiosity increases trust, he said. Experiments have shown a random sample of people will tend to give more money to people they are told are religious.

Such trust findings have political ramifications, said Norenzayan. Even though non-religious Canadians generally trust their secular governments and courts, he said that's not the case in countries such as Russia and Iran. "In those countries religion may be the only thing that works" at keeping citizens functioning in an ethical way, he said.

In addition, various psychology experiments, some conducted by Norenzayan himself, have shown belief in God reduces cheating and selfish behaviour.

In one psychological experiment out of dozens surveyed by Norenzayan and Shariff, children were explicitly instructed not to look in a box and then left alone with it. "Those who were previously told that a fictional supernatural agent -- Princess Alice -- was watching were significantly less likely to peek inside the forbidden box," says the article.

Norenzayan said he is grateful the global scientific community has become much more open in the past six years to researching religious behaviour. In the past, any exploration of religion and spirituality was stigmatized by most academics in secular universities. "The debate has been so polarized in the past. All I want is for scientists to set aside their likes and dislikes and look at the empirical data." dtodd@vancouversun.com

To read Douglas Todd's blog, click here

French Church Seeks Designer Dress For Virgin Mary
http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/story.html?id=770a210b-8e4f
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - French parishioners have turned to world-famous fashion designers in the hope of giving their church's centuries-old statue of the Virgin Mary a modern-day makeover. The Notre-Dame de la Daurade basilica in the southwestern city of Toulouse has housed a black virgin statue since the fifth century, and the revered madonna's wardrobe of just four outfits is wearing thin.

"Our black virgin has always been dressed by benefactors from the city or the region. This time, we asked ourselves if the top global designers, most of them French, would agree to make a gesture for her," said Annie Dreuille, a member of the society for the preservation of the basilica.

Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and Paco Rabane were among the French designers they had asked to dress the more than 2-meter (6-1/2-foot) tall statue, in addition to Italian brands Gucci, Prada and Valentino, she said.

"Maybe one or several of them will agree to give a dress as a present to our virgin and to Jesus, whom she is holding in her arms," she added. The churchgoers, who have not set any restrictions on the designs, are now awaiting replies.

(Reporting by Nicolas Fichot; writing by Francois Murphy, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

BOOK REVIEW: The Tailor's Daughter by Ben Antao
Reviewed by Cornel DaCosta on www.goanet.org
Wed Oct 1

[To obtain a copy go to our Goan Books Section click here for the link]

Power and intrigue in personal relations in Goa. A review of Ben Antao's "The Tailor's Daughter" by Cornel DaCosta. Because of a substantial academic background in sociology and education, I have inevitably been drawn to issues relating to macro and micro power relations in societies. One aspect of this interest has focused on the Hindu caste system and how it has penetrated, to varied degrees, other religions like Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, and Roman Catholicism that essentially reject the concept and practice of caste. Consequently, I have written extensively, in cyberspace and elsewhere, about the significance of caste to caste adherents among Roman Catholics in Goa. Their caste hegemony has been effective for almost half a millennium, despite conversion to Catholicism in the period of Portuguese colonialism and beyond in Goa.

The key emphasis in my writings has been that Roman Catholic and Hindu caste beliefs are entirely incompatible as ideologies and religious belief systems and cannot be sustained simultaneously by individuals. Furthermore, at root there is no caste in Roman Catholicism. Notwithstanding this unassailable argument, the Catholic Church in Goa has been hand in glove with caste for generations. The existence of such hypocrisy is well known in the literature and everyday life in Goa.

The novel, The Tailor's Daughter by Ben Antao, is largely about the enigma of caste among those proclaiming to be Catholic practitioners in Goa. The story is primarily one of entangled human emotions but at a deeper end there is a profound exploration into the complexity of relationships between people separated by proclaimed caste differences. In this scenario, the dominant characters in the novel are the tailor's daughter, Eliza, who in Goan circles would be deemed to be of low caste, and Jorge, the son of a landowner, deemed to be of the upper caste. Nevertheless, accidental contact has led them to become romantically involved and there is much in the novel about intrigue and strategy within such a romantic association.

Click here to read more

Electric cars legalized in Vancouver
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/10/01/bc-electric-vehicles-legal

The ZENN electric car seats two people and is roughly the size of a Mini-Cooper.
(Courtesy ZENN Motor Company)

Vancouver city council voted Tuesday afternoon to give a green light to low-speed electric vehicles. Under city bylaws, they will now be able to travel on Vancouver streets which have a posted speed limit of 50 km per hour or less, meaning they will be able to travel on most city streets.

But staff remained concerned about the safety of the vehicles since they don't meet the crash standards for regular vehicles. They are typically larger than electric golf carts and look more like small compact cars. Most low-speed electric cars, however, don't have impact absorbing bumpers or airbags, according assistant city engineer Jerry Dobrovolny, making them a case of buyer beware.

"That's why the federal government limits their operation to 40 kilometres [per hour] or less. And so that's a decision that each individual buyer will make for themselves," said Dobrovolny.

City staff and Vancouver police will have three years to see how the new vehicles work on city roads, and iron out any wrinkles, before reporting back to council. The small light cars are already allowed under B.C. law to travel on roads with a speed limit of 40 km per hour or less, but are only allowed on roads with faster speed limits when municipalities vote to permit them. The first municipality in B.C. to permit them was the Victoria suburb of Oak Bay on southern Vancouver Island. They were also made legal on some roads in Quebec under a trial project launched in July.

Oldest rocks, 4.28 billion years, on Earth found in Quebec, researchers report
Published: Thursday, September 25, 2008
Canadian Press: Merita Ilo, THE CANADIAN PRESS
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/science/080925/g09259A.html

MONTREAL - The discovery that a section of bedrock in an Inuit village in northern Quebec may be as old as 4.28 billion years sheds more light on our continent's mysterious beginnings and may provide the first traces of life on Earth, researchers said Thursday.

The Earth's oldest rocks are located along the eastern bank of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec in an area known as the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt.

Canadians won't have to travel too far to touch the Earth's oldest rocks. New research has discovered that rocks (shown) as old as 4.28 billion years are found along the eastern bank of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec in an area known as the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-McGill University-Jonathan O'NeilCanadians won't have to travel too far to touch the Earth's oldest rocks. New research has discovered that rocks (shown) as old as 4.28 billion years are found along the eastern bank of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec in an area known as the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-McGill University-Jonathan O'Neil

While the rocks were discovered seven years ago, it was only last spring that a group of scientists from McGill University, the University of Quebec in Montreal and the Carnegie Institute for Science in Washington D.C. were able to put a date on them.

"First when we got these results we didn't really believe it," Jonathan O'Neil of McGill's department of earth and planetary sciences said in a phone interview.

"We reanalyzed the rocks and then said 'Wow, it must be true.' We keep getting the same results," said the 29-year-old researcher from Dunham, Que.

While the age of the Earth itself is estimated at 4.6 billion years, most of the original surface has been crushed and recycled through the movement of giant tectonic plates across the planet's surface. This discovery pushes back the age of most ancient remnants of Earth's crust by 300 million years.
Continue Article

"Geologists now have a new playground to explore how and when life began, what the atmosphere may have looked like and when the first continent formed," O'Neil said.

By measuring tiny variations in the chemical composition of the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone, the researchers were able to date various rock samples to between 3.8 billion and 4.28 billion years ago. O'Neil spent the last four years studying the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone, especially one specific type of rock in the belt that the scientists decided to call "faux-amphibolite", for it was a very unusual rock.

"It turned out that we got an age of 4.28 billion years for that specific rock, which makes it the oldest portion of continent that we can find at the surface of our planet," O'Neil said.

Researchers used isotopic dating, a new dating technology previously used to date meteorites, which analyzes the decaying of a radioactive material contained within the rock. The technology can only be used to date rocks that are 4.1 billion years old or older.

"The data from these findings will give researchers a new window on the early separation of Earth's mantle from the crust in the Hadean Era," said O'Neil.

One of the findings already puzzling researchers is the discovery of a type of rock that would need an ocean to form.

O'Neil said the discovery would imply that a shallow ocean already existed 300 million years after the Earth's formation. He said that a lot of geologists think that bacteria, or bugs are needed to precipitate the iron from the ocean to form this type of rock. "So if that's the case, and I say IF that's the case, it could actually be the earliest traces of life on the planet."

Many questions remain as to whether the whole formation is 4.28 billion years old or whether it is a younger belt made of older rocks. One thing is for sure. The Inuit village where the bedrock is located is likely to become the Mecca of the world's geologists.

"I'm pretty sure now it's going to be a very, very busy place, " said O'Neil, adding that the team of scientists is grateful for all the support of the Inuit community. "They're pretty proud to have in their backyard actually the oldest rock on the planet." Asked about how he felt working at the site of the Earth's oldest rock, O'Neil took a deep breath and then said: "You're just walking on this first piece of continent and you can just imagine yourself 4.3 billion years ago." "It just feels awesome."