Karima Mehrab Police case is still open

 

Yesterday, by the time I found out the name of the Toronto Police Service constable investigating Karima Mehrab’s case, he was gone for the day.  I was a bit more lucky today; I got to talk to Constable Butt. According to Officer Butt the case is still open but the initial determination has been made about there being no criminal activity related to Karima Mehrab’s death.  Did he discover Karima’s dead body?  No.  But he made the determination (by looking at the body) that there was no criminal activity.  Was Karima Mehrab found alive on December 21?  No, she was deceased by then.  Then why does the TPS web site say, ‘she was located Monday, December 21, 2020, at 9:15 a.m.’?  Constable Butt thought I should talk to a different division of the TPS that maintains the web site about this detail.

 

Labels: Karima Baloch, Baloch activist

The mysterious death of Karima Baloch

Karima Mehrab, a Baloch activist, left Pakistani Balochistan in 2015 and applied for political asylum in Canada.  She had been living in Toronto. On Sunday, December 20, she left home for a walk, never to come back. Her body was found the next morning. She was 35.  It was not clear where was Karima's body found--most probably floating in the water as the report suggests the cause of death was drowning; the police believe she took her own life. But many Baloch activists and Karima's friends believe she was killed.  By who?  Some say she was killed by the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI--to silence her, and to teach a lesson to other Baloch activists living in western countries and feeling safe; others say she was killed by the Indian intelligence agency RAW--to eliminate evidence of Indian involvement behind terrorist activities in Pakistan.  Who to believe?  Till Karima's husband and other family members do their investigation and prove that the Canadian Police version of the story is incorrect, we have no choice but to believe the Canadian Police.  Also, if Canada was such an easy place for foreign governments to carry out their clandestine operations, Israel would have taken care of all Palestinian activists living in Canada. Karima Mehrab was fighting depression; some patients of clinical depression do take their own lives.  Karima's death being suicidal cannot be ruled out.  Still, it is the second Baloch activist death by drowning in the last seven months, and that raises a red flag.

Photo, courtesy of The Guardian.

When the smoke from the forest fires covered San Francisco

 When the smoke from the forest fires covered San Francisco. That day it was very dark early in the morning, but slowly the growing sun made the day lighter.  Here are a few photos from Wednesday, September 9, 2020.

Mice Infestation?

Mice Infestation?

October 3, 2015

In response to my email message yesterday, I got this:

I’ll get some mouse traps today.

Thanks,

S came in the afternoon.  He put rat food on the two glue traps he bought with him and put the two traps in the attic at its very entrance from the garage.

He said the food smell was so strong, rats, if present in the attic, will be attracted to the trap.  He will come back on Tuesday to see if he got any mice in the trap.  If not, he will move the traps farther inside the attic, right above our bedroom.

Let's see how it works out.

BTW, I did not hear any mice activity our bedroom this morning.

A bright, sunny Saturday morning...ruled by a mild fear of rodents

A bright, sunny Saturday morning...ruled by a mild fear of rodents
October 3, 2015
The rodent saga continues.

This message went today:
Now that you have kindly trimmed the tree branches I can bet there are mice in the attic.  This morning I could hear them chewing on stuff in the attic, above the bedroom.
In hindsight, I think the dropping Hina discovered the first day, outside the garage toilet, could be from a rodent.
Please help.

Five year time capsule post

Five year time capsule post

October 2, 2015

Rodent Infestation Averted?

Wonder what it would be like one year from now.  Most probably we won't be living here.

I sent the following message to S:

A couple of days ago we were talking to Brenda, neighbor to the right, when we found out she is trying to solve her rodent infestation problem; she mentioned that her neighbor on the other side also has the same problem.  Subsequent to that conversation I started paying more attention to any noise coming from our attic.  Can't tell if I am being paranoid, but I do hear some rustling in attic late at night.  There is a tree in front that has its branches touching the roof surface.  Yesterday, when the gardeners came I talked to them about the possibility of trimming the tree branches; they said I'd have to talk to the owner (you). Thought I should bring all this to your attention, before this rodent problem really surfaces here.

S was here today.  He trimmed the tree branches.  He said in the last twenty-five years the rodent problem came up only twice and he was able to take care of it.  He said as a precaution he will put a few mouse traps, with peanut butter in them, in the attic.  He also thought what I heard late at night might be the neighbor's cats walking on our roof.

5-Year Time Capsule Post

9/30/15—Wednesday morning.  It is raining!  Before moving here rain or no rain was not such a big issue.  But now it is.  We are supposed to keep the lawns at this rental house green, and that means using water.  Water is expensive.  We want to cut down on our burn rate.  We have turned off the automatic sprinkler system.  We collect our used water in buckets and then use that water for the plants.  At the same time we are afraid that the owner will come unannounced—he has one garage opener—and will find out that we have the sprinkler system turned off; he won’t like it.  So, during the day I turn the system on, even when it is scheduled to water the landscaping around 3 am.  Also, since we are not that good in covering every corner of the front and backyard grass with the recycled water, we can see patches of brown grass.  Now that it is raining, hopefully those patches will turn green too.  Rain is great.  It has given me the best joy of this day.

Photo is from this summer.  Leaving Sydney for Auckland.

Chevy Bolt discharges when put on charger

Are other Chevy Bolt EV 2020 experiencing this problem of their car discharging instead of charging when put on a charger and the car is already charged for over 100 miles?

 

For example, The night of Friday, September 18, our Bolt showed a charge of 135 miles.  Next day we had to go to a place 75 miles away so we put the car back on charger, for overnight charging.  Next day i.e., Saturday, September 19, when we were ready to make the long trip, we found out the minimum mile range was 48.  Overnight, instead of charging up, the car had discharged from 135 miles range to 48 miles range.  What to do?  I am not finding anything online about such a problem.

[This older photo shows Chevy Bolt charging at a fast charging station at the Sacramento airport.]

When charging your electric car, PG&E's EV Plan is your best bet

When charging your electric car, PG&E's EV Plan is your best bet

PG&E's EV Plan gives you electricity at $0.17/kW-hr during off-peak times (12 midnight to 3 pm).  Over the weekend I used an EV Go charging station.  I was charged $13.50 for a 45-minute session.  In that session my Chevy Bolt was charged 29.210 kW-hr.  This comes out to $0.46/kW-hr which is almost four times the energy rate PG&E gives me.  As calculated before, the Chevy Bolt claims to give 3.8 miles/kW-hr.  For the 29.210 kW-hr charge, Bolt will run for 111 miles.  A gas car running for 111 miles will consume 3.7 gallons of gasoline (assuming 30 miles/gallon); gas being $3/gallon in northern California, the total cost of 111 miles will be $11.10.  In short, charging your EV at commercial charging stations is a bad idea.