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Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Acumen Fund New York
Just having returned from a trip to NYC for an event of a lifetime celebrating Acumen's 5th Bday, I can assure you that jetlag is a bitch to get over.
The trip was pretty fantastic. Got to meet all the great people of AF that work so very hard day and night to get the world to be a better place to live in, especially for the poorer people who have such limited choices.
Spent way too much money while I was up there, I mean seriously...what was I thinking? Not really thinking then was I.
Anyway so I realized my posts are beginning to become slightly boring, even moreso than they used to be so I will have to spend sometime pondering over ways to revitalize the life of this damn blog.
The problem is that a day in my life I manage to see quite a bit of things happen and I want to capture them all, yet I get so awestruck that I never am able to recall the best of any of the things I want to share. I suppose a photoblog would be the next best option.
Attaching some pics from my visit to NY. Enyoy!
The trip was pretty fantastic. Got to meet all the great people of AF that work so very hard day and night to get the world to be a better place to live in, especially for the poorer people who have such limited choices.
Spent way too much money while I was up there, I mean seriously...what was I thinking? Not really thinking then was I.
Anyway so I realized my posts are beginning to become slightly boring, even moreso than they used to be so I will have to spend sometime pondering over ways to revitalize the life of this damn blog.
The problem is that a day in my life I manage to see quite a bit of things happen and I want to capture them all, yet I get so awestruck that I never am able to recall the best of any of the things I want to share. I suppose a photoblog would be the next best option.
Attaching some pics from my visit to NY. Enyoy!
Monday, October 9, 2006
October 8, 2005: A Jolt Not Soon Forgotten
Cross posted at the AF Blog
On a Saturday, one year ago at precisely 8:50 A.M., I was in my bed, sleeping soundly. Suddenly everything began vigorously swaying left and right. At first, the shock of the motion had me confused, but as I opened my eyes I realized it was an earthquake. I got up to go stand beneath the beam of the bathroom door (dad’s orders since we were kids; apparently the safest place to be) but I couldn’t walk more than four steps without losing my balance and falling to the ground. The house was a big bowl of jello and I was somewhere in the middle of it all. This was the biggest quake I had ever experienced and was certain my house would collapse any minute.
Fortunately no serious damage occurred, although I was so scared after the 6 minutes had elapsed that I didn’t move from beneath the beam for a good 20 minutes.
Shortly after I learnt that a ten story apartment building in my city, Islamabad, had just collapsed. I hopped in my car and drove over to the site. There were hundreds of cars parked alongside the road as I approached and a shot of adrenaline rushed through my veins. Thoughts of all the people I knew living in that building sparked all kinds of fears. One of my friends was in the building with his mother, grandmother, sister and cousin when it collapsed. The latter three made it out, but his mother and grandmother stayed trapped inside at the ground floor level beneath the tons of rubble.
My friends had joined me as I arrived and we all promptly began helping everyone clear the rubble. Unfortunately, our fervor was not enough to lift enormous blocks of concrete that were weighing down the remains of the building, which was now only 20 feet above the ground.
As the day progressed, my friend feared his family may declare his mother and grandmother deceased and no amount of support would help eradicate the feeling of emptiness in his mind. We also soon learnt that what happened in Islamabad was only an iota of what the northern areas of Pakistan and north-western region of India had experienced during those 6 devastating minutes.
A friend of mine shot out a text message and asked that we all meet at his house the following morning to see what it is that we can do to help people up north. At the time, we were completely clueless at the magnitude of devastation and loss of lives. Regardless, something inside made us feel we had to act promptly before things got worse. We gathered at his house around 10 am and by 12 pm some folks had dropped off a few box loads of things that they wanted to have sent to the northern areas. We promptly decided to text others and ask them to give us any donations (clothes, money, food, etc) that they wanted to contribute and we decided to take my pickup truck and go up.
Shortly after, I left to go home and gather my things for the 8 hour drive and by 3 pm, as I returned to my friend’s house in my pickup, I couldn’t help but gasp for air. In the 2 hours I had been absent, people we all knew had managed to drop phenomenal amounts of donations that, when piled up, reached as high as 9 feet in the air and covered his entire garden, almost 40 square yards. I realized that my pickup was not going to be enough anymore.
We left for Balakot, the city we heard to be the most devastated, with 10 open back trucks (similar to the largest U-Haul trucks) and 4 personal cars, including my pickup. In all, we were about 13 people (originally only meant to be 3-4). We left Islamabad at 10 pm that evening and arrived at the entrance of Balakot at about 5 am, a commercial city that led to Saif-ul-Maluk, a beautiful body of water in a valley atop mountains (known as a jheel in Urdu). The road entering the city was broken and there was only one way into it so stood first in line, waiting for the road to be cleared.
As the bulldozer finally gave us way at 11 am, we entered not knowing what to expect. Maybe it was better that way because within the first few minutes, all we saw were solid houses leveled like houses made of cards and dead bodies laying everywhere!!
Recalling this trip is difficult, even now and I think the world and media has spoken enough about the details that came after. I am proud of the fact that my friends and I were the first to reach Balakot with the intention of providing relief goods to people in utter dismay.
Those 6 minutes had cost about 80,000 lives and forced over 2.9 million people to suddenly become homeless, foodless, downsized their families by generations and, well, it only got worse. I had no emotions to describe any of this at the time, no words, not even my photographs caught a glimpse of the enormity of damage. Like a giant stepping on a tin can.
I spent the next 3 weeks making trips up north with a variety of friends (kudos to all of them for the work we did together to help those we had no relations with) and eventually ended up leaving Nortel to join an NGO and head their relief activities for both the N.W.F.P. and Kashmir.
You know, it’s really interesting how one thing led to another during those few months. I had returned from the US, just a year prior to the quake, not sure of what I wanted to do with my life. Having recently graduated, I was confused about my options. I wanted to do something meaningful but unfortunately it had to be at the cost of so much suffering. One always feels so helpless about this work, yet if it is productively contributing to improving someone’s life, it feels right.
One year ago today, I found opportunity to apply as much of myself and those around me for a better future; one that provides a helping hand, rather than a crutch without stable ground to stand on.
I hope you do to, just don’t wait for it to happen like I did, do something now. Feed the beggar asking for charity. Discourage helplessness; encourage self-help instead.
There is opportunity in hope: My friend’s mother and grandmother were found 5 days later, alive…
On a Saturday, one year ago at precisely 8:50 A.M., I was in my bed, sleeping soundly. Suddenly everything began vigorously swaying left and right. At first, the shock of the motion had me confused, but as I opened my eyes I realized it was an earthquake. I got up to go stand beneath the beam of the bathroom door (dad’s orders since we were kids; apparently the safest place to be) but I couldn’t walk more than four steps without losing my balance and falling to the ground. The house was a big bowl of jello and I was somewhere in the middle of it all. This was the biggest quake I had ever experienced and was certain my house would collapse any minute.
Fortunately no serious damage occurred, although I was so scared after the 6 minutes had elapsed that I didn’t move from beneath the beam for a good 20 minutes.
Shortly after I learnt that a ten story apartment building in my city, Islamabad, had just collapsed. I hopped in my car and drove over to the site. There were hundreds of cars parked alongside the road as I approached and a shot of adrenaline rushed through my veins. Thoughts of all the people I knew living in that building sparked all kinds of fears. One of my friends was in the building with his mother, grandmother, sister and cousin when it collapsed. The latter three made it out, but his mother and grandmother stayed trapped inside at the ground floor level beneath the tons of rubble.
My friends had joined me as I arrived and we all promptly began helping everyone clear the rubble. Unfortunately, our fervor was not enough to lift enormous blocks of concrete that were weighing down the remains of the building, which was now only 20 feet above the ground.
As the day progressed, my friend feared his family may declare his mother and grandmother deceased and no amount of support would help eradicate the feeling of emptiness in his mind. We also soon learnt that what happened in Islamabad was only an iota of what the northern areas of Pakistan and north-western region of India had experienced during those 6 devastating minutes.
A friend of mine shot out a text message and asked that we all meet at his house the following morning to see what it is that we can do to help people up north. At the time, we were completely clueless at the magnitude of devastation and loss of lives. Regardless, something inside made us feel we had to act promptly before things got worse. We gathered at his house around 10 am and by 12 pm some folks had dropped off a few box loads of things that they wanted to have sent to the northern areas. We promptly decided to text others and ask them to give us any donations (clothes, money, food, etc) that they wanted to contribute and we decided to take my pickup truck and go up.
Shortly after, I left to go home and gather my things for the 8 hour drive and by 3 pm, as I returned to my friend’s house in my pickup, I couldn’t help but gasp for air. In the 2 hours I had been absent, people we all knew had managed to drop phenomenal amounts of donations that, when piled up, reached as high as 9 feet in the air and covered his entire garden, almost 40 square yards. I realized that my pickup was not going to be enough anymore.
We left for Balakot, the city we heard to be the most devastated, with 10 open back trucks (similar to the largest U-Haul trucks) and 4 personal cars, including my pickup. In all, we were about 13 people (originally only meant to be 3-4). We left Islamabad at 10 pm that evening and arrived at the entrance of Balakot at about 5 am, a commercial city that led to Saif-ul-Maluk, a beautiful body of water in a valley atop mountains (known as a jheel in Urdu). The road entering the city was broken and there was only one way into it so stood first in line, waiting for the road to be cleared.
As the bulldozer finally gave us way at 11 am, we entered not knowing what to expect. Maybe it was better that way because within the first few minutes, all we saw were solid houses leveled like houses made of cards and dead bodies laying everywhere!!
Recalling this trip is difficult, even now and I think the world and media has spoken enough about the details that came after. I am proud of the fact that my friends and I were the first to reach Balakot with the intention of providing relief goods to people in utter dismay.
Those 6 minutes had cost about 80,000 lives and forced over 2.9 million people to suddenly become homeless, foodless, downsized their families by generations and, well, it only got worse. I had no emotions to describe any of this at the time, no words, not even my photographs caught a glimpse of the enormity of damage. Like a giant stepping on a tin can.
I spent the next 3 weeks making trips up north with a variety of friends (kudos to all of them for the work we did together to help those we had no relations with) and eventually ended up leaving Nortel to join an NGO and head their relief activities for both the N.W.F.P. and Kashmir.
You know, it’s really interesting how one thing led to another during those few months. I had returned from the US, just a year prior to the quake, not sure of what I wanted to do with my life. Having recently graduated, I was confused about my options. I wanted to do something meaningful but unfortunately it had to be at the cost of so much suffering. One always feels so helpless about this work, yet if it is productively contributing to improving someone’s life, it feels right.
One year ago today, I found opportunity to apply as much of myself and those around me for a better future; one that provides a helping hand, rather than a crutch without stable ground to stand on.
I hope you do to, just don’t wait for it to happen like I did, do something now. Feed the beggar asking for charity. Discourage helplessness; encourage self-help instead.
There is opportunity in hope: My friend’s mother and grandmother were found 5 days later, alive…
Friday, September 29, 2006
Quakeflections: A year has passed
Cheezy? That's just too bad. Read on below
Moving on to the subject matter at hand...The earthquake in Pakistan/India (October 8th, 2005) is nearing its first anniversary.
The irony of an anniversary strikes me. People celebrate, people mourn...people think about things from all sorts of angles, yet what is it that they really think about?
Do you remember the feeling we all had when the ground started shaking? I can because it woke me up. I remember I was sleeping and as I got up to go towards the bathroom arch, I could barely walk 3 feet without falling down.
No balance. No stability. No traction.
My friend Sahir (also affectionately known as Seri), was in town from Isb yesterday and crashed at my place. We chatted about the quake relief days as though it was an episode in our past of more than 10 years. In the heat of the moment, I thought of my boy Sunny, working his hide off in the US, and gave him a buzz. We all chatted with im for a few and the conversation inadvertently ended up discussing the earthquake.
As it happens, Seri and I were together the night we drove to Balakot (the first night after the quake) and remembered how we spoke of this being his 1st and last trip up because of the toll relief work can take on you and me saying how I could keep doing this my whole life.
Today he is a successful logistics guru, while I work for a non-profit investment fund that puts money in to socially sustainable and scalable development projects (for those of you who are clueless...we (www.acumenfund.org) provide rich peoples services and products etc that are exlusively for the wealthy, to the poorest of the poor. I guess one can say that we were right and we were wrong.
So, what have we learned in this past year? That natural disasters occur only to shake people's faith and get them on the right track? At what cost? the lives of hundreds of thousands? I'd recommend not including religion in the whole realm and just taking it for what it is...a terrible act of nature causing the displacement of millions in a place where land is abundantly scarce.
The Earthquake of October 8th, 2005 was a terrible happening and we should continue to strive for ways to help. Giving money may not be the answer. Laying a brick for a house is, however, a step in the right direction.
I also heard about some book on FM 89 (our partners in kind who helped us gain support from the public during our days of gallantry in the mountains) written by a US returnee (a girl with a very soft voice) titled, "8:50 A.M" - Go check it out...apparently it's a job well done. Proceeds go to The Edhi Foundation and The Citizens Foundation.
Moving on to the subject matter at hand...The earthquake in Pakistan/India (October 8th, 2005) is nearing its first anniversary.
The irony of an anniversary strikes me. People celebrate, people mourn...people think about things from all sorts of angles, yet what is it that they really think about?
Do you remember the feeling we all had when the ground started shaking? I can because it woke me up. I remember I was sleeping and as I got up to go towards the bathroom arch, I could barely walk 3 feet without falling down.
No balance. No stability. No traction.
My friend Sahir (also affectionately known as Seri), was in town from Isb yesterday and crashed at my place. We chatted about the quake relief days as though it was an episode in our past of more than 10 years. In the heat of the moment, I thought of my boy Sunny, working his hide off in the US, and gave him a buzz. We all chatted with im for a few and the conversation inadvertently ended up discussing the earthquake.
As it happens, Seri and I were together the night we drove to Balakot (the first night after the quake) and remembered how we spoke of this being his 1st and last trip up because of the toll relief work can take on you and me saying how I could keep doing this my whole life.
Today he is a successful logistics guru, while I work for a non-profit investment fund that puts money in to socially sustainable and scalable development projects (for those of you who are clueless...we (www.acumenfund.org) provide rich peoples services and products etc that are exlusively for the wealthy, to the poorest of the poor. I guess one can say that we were right and we were wrong.
So, what have we learned in this past year? That natural disasters occur only to shake people's faith and get them on the right track? At what cost? the lives of hundreds of thousands? I'd recommend not including religion in the whole realm and just taking it for what it is...a terrible act of nature causing the displacement of millions in a place where land is abundantly scarce.
The Earthquake of October 8th, 2005 was a terrible happening and we should continue to strive for ways to help. Giving money may not be the answer. Laying a brick for a house is, however, a step in the right direction.
I also heard about some book on FM 89 (our partners in kind who helped us gain support from the public during our days of gallantry in the mountains) written by a US returnee (a girl with a very soft voice) titled, "8:50 A.M" - Go check it out...apparently it's a job well done. Proceeds go to The Edhi Foundation and The Citizens Foundation.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Movin around
So a time comes in everyones life when they must pack their bags and head out, challenge the world and live independently.
I took a job with the Acumen Fund as a Portfolio analyst/consultant, working on projects that have a social impact, develop a sustainable business that is scalable, ultimately helping reduce poverty levels in Pakistan. My project is based in Tharparkar - the desert that no one knows about, talks about or even cares about. This is not a generalization, but more a realization and it reflects on the time that Pakistan and India seperated in 1947, during which time the people of Thar had no clue about the events happening because they were always so cut off.
Unilever, Pakistan, has done significant work in Thar - providing water accessibility to communities and other such facilities that help provide basic needs.
Anyway - so I have had an awesome time so far, although the hassle of moving in to a new place, setting it up and dealing with the bullshit of people you need to get very essential things done from and the amount of money involved from bribes to "added service costs" etc.
But lo and behold, finally I have moved in and am slowly settling down. I have had friends coming over a few times to help break in the place and so far it seems to be going well. The only real issue is that the building comprises of families and I am one of two bachelors living there. Decent as we may be (who the hell am I kidding), it is still difficult because you have to be conscious of noise levels etc. Your friends may not give a shit, and frankly they don't have to, but it all comes down to the resident.
Apparently there was talk that I had the "wrong kind of women" coming over...they are quite hilarious because the people complaining about this, i found out through a reliable source, are actually engaging in those lude acts and want a piece of what they believe I am getting. Unfortunately, sad as it may be, I am not interested in that because I have the best thing in the world with this chick (you know who you are you georgeous print maker you) and ain't nothin changing that.
I wonder now if anyone is actually even reading my blog. It is mostly my fault cause I never took the time to update for the longest period, but I'm trying to post every once in a while. You guys should check out the older posts like Dying Diety and such to get an idea of how philosophical I really tend to be.
Some pictures of my trip to Thar follow, along with the view from my apartment balcony.
I took a job with the Acumen Fund as a Portfolio analyst/consultant, working on projects that have a social impact, develop a sustainable business that is scalable, ultimately helping reduce poverty levels in Pakistan. My project is based in Tharparkar - the desert that no one knows about, talks about or even cares about. This is not a generalization, but more a realization and it reflects on the time that Pakistan and India seperated in 1947, during which time the people of Thar had no clue about the events happening because they were always so cut off.
Unilever, Pakistan, has done significant work in Thar - providing water accessibility to communities and other such facilities that help provide basic needs.
Anyway - so I have had an awesome time so far, although the hassle of moving in to a new place, setting it up and dealing with the bullshit of people you need to get very essential things done from and the amount of money involved from bribes to "added service costs" etc.
But lo and behold, finally I have moved in and am slowly settling down. I have had friends coming over a few times to help break in the place and so far it seems to be going well. The only real issue is that the building comprises of families and I am one of two bachelors living there. Decent as we may be (who the hell am I kidding), it is still difficult because you have to be conscious of noise levels etc. Your friends may not give a shit, and frankly they don't have to, but it all comes down to the resident.
Apparently there was talk that I had the "wrong kind of women" coming over...they are quite hilarious because the people complaining about this, i found out through a reliable source, are actually engaging in those lude acts and want a piece of what they believe I am getting. Unfortunately, sad as it may be, I am not interested in that because I have the best thing in the world with this chick (you know who you are you georgeous print maker you) and ain't nothin changing that.
I wonder now if anyone is actually even reading my blog. It is mostly my fault cause I never took the time to update for the longest period, but I'm trying to post every once in a while. You guys should check out the older posts like Dying Diety and such to get an idea of how philosophical I really tend to be.
Some pictures of my trip to Thar follow, along with the view from my apartment balcony.
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Happy Birthday zohare.blogspot.com
Yeah it's a little belated but who cares. Happy 1 year since Ii started this jibber jabber. hope you guys have enjoyed it. I have just recently started back up again so expect some sporadic ranting from me.
till soon...
till soon...
Friday, July 28, 2006
Back with a Bang!
Where have you been and why have you not called me for so very long?
Has it really been so long since I made a significant contribution to the blogger community? apparently, but this time i really do have a good excuse. If you followed allowing with my shit earlier in the year, you might remember the Acumen Fund being mentioned?
Well I was offered an opportunity to work with them in Karachi on a fantastic project which I will be very directly involved in. It's a secret at the moment so I won't be disclosing any details, but I will say this - if it works out, it will help more people than we can fathom in a place where this type of help has been tried in other forms and the success rate is kinda 50/50.
I am pretty excited about this and the fact that I get to travel a ton just like I did in the relief days up north. This time my target destination is the desert - Tharparkar
This place is outstanding and unbelievably intoxicating in a way that is undescribable in words...so I'm attaching some snazzy shots to this post. Will be there again in a few days, this time for a longer and more detail oriented stay so if you wanna know about the next trip and how the Thari's are fairing with this nut lurking in their backyards like Mr. Green loves to do - with a more pathetic intention in mind, then stay tuned...
Pictures will follow in another post...for now, i must go shop!
Has it really been so long since I made a significant contribution to the blogger community? apparently, but this time i really do have a good excuse. If you followed allowing with my shit earlier in the year, you might remember the Acumen Fund being mentioned?
Well I was offered an opportunity to work with them in Karachi on a fantastic project which I will be very directly involved in. It's a secret at the moment so I won't be disclosing any details, but I will say this - if it works out, it will help more people than we can fathom in a place where this type of help has been tried in other forms and the success rate is kinda 50/50.
I am pretty excited about this and the fact that I get to travel a ton just like I did in the relief days up north. This time my target destination is the desert - Tharparkar
This place is outstanding and unbelievably intoxicating in a way that is undescribable in words...so I'm attaching some snazzy shots to this post. Will be there again in a few days, this time for a longer and more detail oriented stay so if you wanna know about the next trip and how the Thari's are fairing with this nut lurking in their backyards like Mr. Green loves to do - with a more pathetic intention in mind, then stay tuned...
Pictures will follow in another post...for now, i must go shop!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
New Review and Listing Search Engine for Islamabad
Again having disappeared for a long time, I decided I would pursue some personal projects that I have been working on in my head for far too long.
One such project is www.foona.net, a restaurant search engine, directory listing, review and rating website for the outgoing of Islamabad (Pakistan), one service where everything is offered under one roof and plans to take Islamabad by storm.
I will release more information sooner to launch, but until then...be teased!
One such project is www.foona.net, a restaurant search engine, directory listing, review and rating website for the outgoing of Islamabad (Pakistan), one service where everything is offered under one roof and plans to take Islamabad by storm.
I will release more information sooner to launch, but until then...be teased!
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Public Press Release - Please Distribute Widely
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday 06 March 2006
Media Contact:
Dr. Awab Alvi
Cell: 92-333-2373493
Fax: 92-21-4313069
DON’T BLOCK THE BLOGS
In a recent development, the PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) has blocked access to thousands of blogs and websites being hosted on Google Inc's blogging hosting service - www.blogspot.com. PTA issued a notice announcing the ban of 12 offending websites which were promoting the blasphemous cartoons on the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and one of the offending websites was being hosted on the domain www.blogspot.com which also hosts more than four million other blogs and websites.
In a very blatant misuse of the power entrusted with the PIE (Pakistan Internet Exchange), the network administrator there has placed a block on the entire domain blogspot.com, hence blocking accessibility to all internet users in
Internet access is the key to the success of any business, and if the governing body of the Internet in
The Don't Block the Blog campaign ( help-pakistan.com/main/dont-block-the-blog/ ) and the Action Group Against Blogspot Ban in
About:
Action Group Against Blogspot Ban In
RSF Press Release
Cross posted from original link at www.rsf.org
Twelve websites, including blogger.com, blocked for posting cartoons
Twelve websites, including blogger.com, blocked for posting cartoons
Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the decision of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), to block access to twelve websites which posted the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed which appeared in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.
The PTA on 28 February ordered Internet Service Providers to block the website blogspot.com (or blogger.com), taking down thousands of weblogs hosted by this tool.
“We believe that the decision to ban a website should only ever be taken by a judge, at the end of a fair trial. It is moreover unacceptable that the order to block a site should go through the PTA, which while apparently aiming at one blog hosted by blogger.com, led to the filtering of all websites sharing the same domain name,” said the organisation.
This order from the PTA comes around ten days after a petition calling on the government to ban the spread of “blasphemous content” through the Internet, was submitted to the Supreme Court. The court on 2 March formally asked the government to take such a step.
The bloggers network Global Voices, which revealed the case on its site, has been posting information about campaigns launched by bloggers to condemn the filtering.
Local access providers have applied the PTA decision by blocking access to all sites whose URL incorporates blogspot.com, that is all sites hosted by this service. It is however technically possible to ban access solely to a blog causing a problem.
Go to Reporters Without Borders’ Handbook for Bloggers and Cyberdissidents, that gives practical advice about how get round Internet filtering :
Monday, March 6, 2006
Blog Ban in PK - Please redirect to Post title link
Please visit http://groups.google.com/group/AGABBIP for further details on blog ban.
www.blogcharm.com/zohare -- incase blogger is inaccessible by me in PK within next few days. so far so ok...
www.blogcharm.com/zohare -- incase blogger is inaccessible by me in PK within next few days. so far so ok...
Sunday, March 5, 2006
Useless Trip to Pakistan
This was in the NYTIMES a few days ago:
Pointless Trip to Pakistan
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Published: March 3, 2006
At this moment in time, there is no more meaningful a place than Pakistan to illustrate the state of America's relations with the Muslim world. The country is ground zero in the fight against global terror. Anyone needing a fresh illustration need look no further than yesterday's bombing outside the American consulate in Karachi, which killed four people. Beyond the hunt for Osama bin Laden on the Afghan-Pakistan border, Pakistan is where radical fundamentalism is increasingly taking the moderate Islamic world hostage.
That's why President Bush's trip today to Islamabad could have been a chance to try to bridge this stretch of the chasm between Muslims and Westerners. Unfortunately, everything sets it up to be just the opposite, starting with the fact that it is being overshadowed by Mr. Bush's misbegotten nuclear pact with Pakistan's blood enemy, India.
Since Mr. Bush agreed to share civilian nuclear technology with India despite its refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Pakistanis have been demanding similar treatment. The Pakistanis won't get that deal, and any time spent discussing the issue is wasted time that could be spent on other ways in which America should be developing its relationship with the Pakistani people.
Mr. Bush's visit comes just as Pakistan is getting past deadly riots over Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. They came on the heels of American airstrikes that killed 18 Pakistani civilians in January — strikes legitimately aimed at Qaeda leaders that tragically killed innocents.
Clearly, this is the perfect time for the American president to do some nurturing. Too bad the nurturing that seems to interest Mr. Bush is with Pakistan's military dictator, President Pervez Musharraf. General Musharraf has yet to permit the democratic elections he has repeatedly promised since his coup more than six years ago, but the Bush administration, which says it wants democracy in the Muslim world, has put little pressure on him for reform.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bush is receiving little pressure from Mr. Musharraf to grant the one thing that could tangibly bind America to Pakistan in a way that no number of summit meetings or sales of F-16 fighter jets could ever manage: a free trade agreement.
An agreement like the one the United States has granted Jordan and Morocco and a host of other countries would mean more jobs in textile factories in Pakistan. It would mean fewer unemployed people on the street with nothing to do but listen to the exhortations of mad mullahs. It would cement the economic well-being of the average Pakistani to the well-being of the United States.
Alas, don't expect to see anything close to that coming out of this trip. The Bush-Musharraf summit meeting is one between two leaders far more interested in guns than butter.
Saturday, March 4, 2006
Blogger Blogged Out in Pakistan?
So what's this I hear? Blogger ports being banned on Pakistani soil? Just today I was discussing with someone how media and press have really become liberated in Pakistan that some countries that are already well into their developed stages such as the US and UK could take some lessons from us.
Now, it appears that I have to mark my words and take my foot out of my throat -- cause apparently that's how far down I managed to get it before I heard this. I find it quite ironic that on the day the President of the US makes his debut / landmark visit to this part of the world, showing that he has trust. The visit marks a tremendous amount of significance in the quality of our leadership, especially since the last few visits did not last more than a few hours.
Check this story out: Pakistan Blocks Blogs on Cartoons
You know, its funny that the court should issue an order that blogs be banned because of this belief, and that too the entire blogger network, not just specific sites. This is just outright shameful, pathetic and unconstitutional! People have a right to speak and people have an even greater right to read and know. This is the truest mechanism of transporting information to the remainder of the world, that which the local media colors with political agendas and uncivilized bias. This clearly shows how strong the effect of blogging is and I believe it is the civic duty of every individual to write and write responsibly. If someone is writing unconfirmed information or is publishing fallacies to pursue perfidy, then they should suffer the concequences...not the entire blogging network. This is not the military, this is real life and each individual is responsible for their own actions. It's time we take it.
Now, it appears that I have to mark my words and take my foot out of my throat -- cause apparently that's how far down I managed to get it before I heard this. I find it quite ironic that on the day the President of the US makes his debut / landmark visit to this part of the world, showing that he has trust. The visit marks a tremendous amount of significance in the quality of our leadership, especially since the last few visits did not last more than a few hours.
Check this story out: Pakistan Blocks Blogs on Cartoons
You know, its funny that the court should issue an order that blogs be banned because of this belief, and that too the entire blogger network, not just specific sites. This is just outright shameful, pathetic and unconstitutional! People have a right to speak and people have an even greater right to read and know. This is the truest mechanism of transporting information to the remainder of the world, that which the local media colors with political agendas and uncivilized bias. This clearly shows how strong the effect of blogging is and I believe it is the civic duty of every individual to write and write responsibly. If someone is writing unconfirmed information or is publishing fallacies to pursue perfidy, then they should suffer the concequences...not the entire blogging network. This is not the military, this is real life and each individual is responsible for their own actions. It's time we take it.
Friday, March 3, 2006
Nuclear Legitimacy
I caught this news article this morning and thought it may be of interest to you readers. Interestingly, I do not know the facts, although I have been doubtful of the integrity with which the nuclear program started. I have heard differently, but that is not a fact, just hearsay so we shall leave it at that.
Not many are happy about Mr. Bolton's appointment to the UN and here is the scoop with WPI on that.
In the meantime (PS: John Bolton's CV/Resume available on this site)
While Iran is seeking to ‘conceal development of nuclear weapons under the guise of a legitimate programme’ to generate nuclear power, Mr Bolton said: “India and Pakistan did it legitimately.”
His comments, made in response to an audience question following a speech to a meeting of the World Jewish Congress, appeared to go farther than the administration of President George Bush has previously gone in embracing Islamabad and new Delhi’s nuclear programmes.
They also coincided with the visit by President Bush to India in which Washington offered New Delhi de facto recognition of its nuclear arms programme.
At the same time, the Bush administration is pressing Iran to turn its back on a programme to enrich uranium on its own soil, a plan Tehran insists is intended only to produce electric power but which Washington insists aims to develop nuclear bombs.
Mr Bolton noted that neither India nor Pakistan had signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, intended to contain the spread of atomic arms, while Iran had done so.
“I give them (India and Pakistan) credit at least that what they did was consistent with the obligations they undertook,” Mr Bolton said.
“They never pretended that they had given up the pursuit of nuclear weapons. They never tried to tie what they were doing under a cloak of international legitimacy. They did it openly and they did it legitimately,” he said. —Reuters
Not many are happy about Mr. Bolton's appointment to the UN and here is the scoop with WPI on that.
In the meantime (PS: John Bolton's CV/Resume available on this site)
'India, Pakistan got nukes legitimately'
NEW YORK, March 2: The US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said on Wednesday the way India and Pakistan had obtained nuclear arms was legitimate, in contrast to Iran, which he accused of pursuing atomic weapons in violation of its international undertakings.While Iran is seeking to ‘conceal development of nuclear weapons under the guise of a legitimate programme’ to generate nuclear power, Mr Bolton said: “India and Pakistan did it legitimately.”
His comments, made in response to an audience question following a speech to a meeting of the World Jewish Congress, appeared to go farther than the administration of President George Bush has previously gone in embracing Islamabad and new Delhi’s nuclear programmes.
They also coincided with the visit by President Bush to India in which Washington offered New Delhi de facto recognition of its nuclear arms programme.
At the same time, the Bush administration is pressing Iran to turn its back on a programme to enrich uranium on its own soil, a plan Tehran insists is intended only to produce electric power but which Washington insists aims to develop nuclear bombs.
Mr Bolton noted that neither India nor Pakistan had signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, intended to contain the spread of atomic arms, while Iran had done so.
“I give them (India and Pakistan) credit at least that what they did was consistent with the obligations they undertook,” Mr Bolton said.
“They never pretended that they had given up the pursuit of nuclear weapons. They never tried to tie what they were doing under a cloak of international legitimacy. They did it openly and they did it legitimately,” he said. —Reuters
On this occasion
In honor of President Dubya, Captian of the 'W' Ketchup Family Corporation, I thought I would help promote the images of a fantastic ink artist in Tanzania, Nathan Mpangala, who is a recognized for his great sports art.
On another note, I am looking for verification regarding the Bird Flu having killed and / infected anyone in Pakistan in the last few days.
On another note, I am looking for verification regarding the Bird Flu having killed and / infected anyone in Pakistan in the last few days.
A Dubya Bush is comin'
Read All About It! Bush is comin' to town. Yes that's right folks, little man Bush, the dude who runs the company called America (the government at least) is coming to Pakistan.
Well, jokes aside...I was wearing my favorite Dubya t-shirt the other day to work and one of my colleagues dared me to wear the shirt and parade around the city in it tomorrow. Unfortunately, the city of Islamabad is going to be sealed tight as a baby on a nipple 'cause of security. He won't see me in it so what's the point, eh?
I was watching a terribly interesting tv show today on GEO - a program called 'Follow Up with Fahad', who was interviewing a few folks such as the Foreign Minister * Khurshid Kasuri *, some ex-ambassador to the US and a man named Amin Hashwani - India Pak CEO's Forum rep.
It was also being broadcast to the US in the auditorium of GW University where there was a live feed and a few guests were hosted by a lady there, i forget her name. Among the guests was a very wise man named Steven Cohen of the Brookings Institute. I have heard quite a bit about him from my friend Azeema who used to work under him in DC quite sometime back...the day's I was her chauffer. Anyway, that story another time...this discussion over the tele was really quite well done and very well rounded. They spoke on issues such as terrorism and Pakistan's committement, India-Pak relations, Nuclear issues, Iran/Pk pipeline for energy and some others that will be elaborated once Bush gets here.
We are all entitled to our opinions, that is one fundamental of a democracy, but whatever we may think of Bush's character, he is still the President of the US and no matter how much one may like or dislike him, working with him is essential for Pakistan to emerge above this fundamentalist aura that we are surrounded by thanks to the likes of Qazi Hussain Ahmad and his followers - a real bunch of sinners and hypocrites. There is enough dirt on them to have them hung for treason, but because the 'maulvi's' make such a large portion of our population, it would just be asking for civil war. While we are on this topic, I am going to reprint an old article of mine regarding my sentiments on the bearded fellers - mind you when I talk of beards, I mean the real long kind that has all kinds of gook stuck in it from breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have a beard myself, but its short, stylish and does not in any way represent my religious affiliation... if any.
Looking forward to Bush's arrival, not looking forward to being housebound while he is here...when it was Clinton, that was ok cause we liked him. Bush is just funny...no, not dave chapelle funny, just funny lookin'
Thursday, March 2, 2006
Get paid to blog?
Check it out... i get money to write shit, I think it won't be long before blogger starts something...or will they?
www.blogcharm.com/zohare
www.blogcharm.com/zohare
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Bird Flu Update #2
OLD FORGOTTEN POST
Sindh health department has once again alerted the health concerns throughout the province following the reports about confirmed H5N1 strain of Avian influenza in chicken in the NWFP. Additional Health Secretary said that no case of bird flu was reported to the health department till Monday evening, but in the wake of possibility for an outbreak of the deadly Avian influenza in the region, the district health officials had already been asked to take all precautionary measures.
According to the Ministry of Food and Livestock the virus is of a low pathogenic avian influenza and is of N-type virus. The Ministry had sent the samples to the World Reference Laboratory in Weybridge,
As the process of slaughtering of 16,000 hens and 11,000 eggs on the Abbottabad poultry farm began on Monday, the Livestock Department said that polyphonic bags filled with carbon dioxide gas would be used to kill the birds. They will then be buried in an eight-foot hole, which will first be sprayed with chemicals to protect the virus from spreading.
Livestock experts told Daily Times that eggs with dropping on them should be cleaned properly before handling. People should clean eggs properly as the bird flu virus could be transferred through finger(s).
CWS-P/A is currently watching the bird flu situation in the region and more news will be shared.
Disaster Response Unit (DRU)
Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
BIRD FLU: What you need to know
I thought it prudent to inform you of some key tid bits of info regarding the B-Flu, since it may be unnecessarily scaring the shite out of some folks:
*The following information was extracted from http://www.symptoms.name/birdflusymptoms.htm*
CDC
WHO
*The following information was extracted from http://www.symptoms.name/birdflusymptoms.htm*
Symptoms of bird flu (avian flu) in humans
In humans, it has been found that bird flu or avian flu causes similar symptoms to other types of flu:
Conjunctivitis
Cough
Fever
Muscle aches
Sore throat
(Severe cases) Breathing problem and pneumonia
Bird flu can be fatal.
Overview of bird flu (avian flu)
Bird flu, or avian flu is an influenza virus strain that typically infects birds - including wild birds like ducks and domestic birds like chickens.
There are many forms of bird flu, and most are relatively harmless, producing mild symptoms or even no symptoms. However, several strains of bird flu produce a highly contagious disease that kills quickly and can lead to a bird flu epidemic. These dangerous viruses are known as "highly pathogenic avian influenza." One such bird flu virus is currently spreading among chickens in Asian countries.
In recent years it was discovered that the bird flu virus can occasionally infect people who have close contact with live birds.
How dangerous is bird flu?
There have been a number of small outbreaks of bird flu since 1997, and people who get it appear to have a high mortality rate.
1997 Hong Kong - 18 people were infected and 6 people died.
2003 Hong Kong - Two cases and one death.
2004 East Asia- As many as 10 deaths have been linked to an outbreak in a number of Asian countries.
How can bird flu be treated?
Anyone with bird flu symptoms should see a health care professional immediately. Several antiviral medications used to treat human flu appear to be effective in treating bird flu, although the strain is resistant to some others. Consult your doctor.
How to Avoid Getting Bird Flu
The Centers for Disease Control recommends:
Other informative links:*travelers to clean their hands often with soap and water or waterless alcohol-based hand-rubs
*all foods from poultry, including eggs, should be thoroughly cooked.
*any travelers with a febrile respiratory illness returning from countries affected by H5N1 virus (bird flu) to seek prompt medical attention.
*avoid contact with live poultry and birds (if you are traveling to areas affected by avian influenza outbreaks)
CDC
WHO
Bird Flu (H5N1) Strain in NWFP
Alas, the flu has permeated our ever-so impermeable borders of NWFP. I'm sure the guys in the NSA and CIA laugh with me.
Anyway, so it has arrived, the long awaited Bird Flu a la Pakistan. Chicken prices have dropped, causing a loss of about 1 Billion PK Rupees to the indutry (US$ 16,666,666 approx). Two chicken coops have been quarantined until the results of the test samples are verified by the World Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, UK.
Click the links below for more details:
BBC Coverage on NWFP Bird Flu
The News Pakistan's Coverage on Bird Flu
Monday, February 27, 2006
Impak Summer Program
What if you had the opportunity to help the 3.5 million people affected by the earthquake that hit Pakistan on October 8, 2005 to rebuild their lives?
Impak is looking for dynamic, initiative-driven individuals to take on the challenge. Impak's QRSP offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn and make a difference, while living Impak's vision of building bridges and affecting positive change through meaningful work opportunities.
. . .
Impak Announces "Quake Relief Summer Program (QRSP)"
Following a successful pilot program, Impak has reorganized and is making preparations for another summer service corps experience in Pakistan. This year, Impak is focused on supporting reconstruction efforts in Northern Pakistan following the earthquake that devastated the region in October 2005. The 2006 program, dubbed the "Quake Relief Summer Program" (QRSP), places volunteers with established organizations working with people and on projects that serve to restore normality to the region. Volunteers work and live with the organization while Impak supplements the experience with orientation and group travel opportunities.
The QRSP represents a special focus for Impak in 2006; Impak recognizes the incredible circumstances of the earthquake and has made necessary changes from its 2005 program to fulfill Impak's obligation in providing support to this region. Details about the QRSP, including applications and program dates, will be available soon on our website at http://www.impak.org/ ; join our mailing list and stay tuned for updates.
About us:
Impak is a private, non-profit organization that seeks to bring positive change by connecting individuals abroad to Pakistan through meaningful work and volunteer opportunities.
Pakistan exhibits a potential illustrated in the ambitions of an emerging population seeking to bring positive change in the country. Impak believes that it can help strengthen this effort by building bridges with communities abroad; its underlying objective is connecting Pakistan's emerging civil society with individuals overseas who are motivated to make an impact.
Beyond serving as a facilitator, Impak seeks to bridge cultural gaps, promote understanding and give individuals an opportunity to experience first-hand the real potential of Pakistan. Individuals participate in an intellectual and cultural exchange that is the first step on the path towards progress and understanding.
For more information, please visit our website at http://www.impak.org/
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Donations
I would like to let everyone know that I am no longer accepting donations towards the earthquake relief. If you still feel you want to donate for quake related activities, please visit www.RSPN.org for donation details.
Thank you for your support. I would love that one day, if all the international donors, could take some time to visit Pakistan and see what they have helped recreate.
Today, Pakistan is a better place thanks to the world that helped out.
Thank you for your support. I would love that one day, if all the international donors, could take some time to visit Pakistan and see what they have helped recreate.
Today, Pakistan is a better place thanks to the world that helped out.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
New Look + H5N1 Bird Flu
You may notice I took sometime to change the look and general appearance of the blog. Feedback is always invited.
So, bird flu...Iran has it, Afghanistan has it, India has it...how come our esteemed Ministers insist we don't have a threat? The only other H5N1 free area is the Arabian frikkin Sea. I don't knw about you guys, I'm slightly nervous.
It's times like this i think about the billboards with the cows holding up painted signs that read "Eat More Chikkin" (thanks Raza)
it's "Eat More Cow Now"
One newspaper article on the birdflu coming to PK and prices of chicken will drop, good time to stock up for those of you who can't live without their white meat.
So, bird flu...Iran has it, Afghanistan has it, India has it...how come our esteemed Ministers insist we don't have a threat? The only other H5N1 free area is the Arabian frikkin Sea. I don't knw about you guys, I'm slightly nervous.
It's times like this i think about the billboards with the cows holding up painted signs that read "Eat More Chikkin" (thanks Raza)
it's "Eat More Cow Now"
One newspaper article on the birdflu coming to PK and prices of chicken will drop, good time to stock up for those of you who can't live without their white meat.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Robert Fisk on Religion
I don't know whether I agree, but its entitled to receive opinions...
Robert Fisk: Don't be fooled, this isn't an issue of Islam versus secularism
'The Koran does not forbid images of the Prophet but millions of Muslims do'
Published: 04 February 2006
So now it's cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb-shaped turban. Ambassadors are withdrawn from Denmark, Gulf nations clear their shelves of Danish produce, Gaza gunmen threaten the European Union. In Denmark, Fleming Rose, the "culture" editor of the pip-squeak newspaper which published these silly cartoons - last September, for heaven's sake - announces that we are witnessing a "clash of civilisations" between secular Western democracies and Islamic societies. This does prove, I suppose, that Danish journalists follow in the tradition of Hans Christian Anderson. Oh lordy, lordy. What we're witnessing is the childishness of civilisations.
So let's start off with the Department of Home Truths. This is not an issue of secularism versus Islam. For Muslims, the Prophet is the man who received divine words directly from God. We see our prophets as faintly historical figures, at odds with our high-tech human rights, almost cariacatures of themselves. The fact is that Muslims live their religion. We do not. They have kept their faith through innumerable historical vicissitudes. We have lost our faith ever since Matthew Arnold wrote about the sea's "long, withdrawing roar". That's why we talk about "the West versus Islam" rather than "Christians versus Islam" - because there aren't an awful lot of Christians left in Europe. There is no way we can get round this by setting up all the other world religions and asking why we are not allowed to make fun of Mohamed.
Besides, we can exercise our own hypocrisy over religious feelings. I happen to remember how, more than a decade ago, a film called The Last Temptation of Christ showed Jesus making love to a woman. In Paris, someone set fire to the cinema showing the movie, killing a young man. I also happen to remember a US university which invited me to give a lecture three years ago. I did. It was entitled "September 11, 2001: ask who did it but, for God's sake, don't ask why". When I arrived, I found that the university had deleted the phrase "for God's sake" because "we didn't want to offend certain sensibilities". Ah-ha, so we have "sensibilities" too.
In other words, while we claim that Muslims must be good secularists when it comes to free speech - or cheap cartoons - we can worry about adherents to our own precious religion just as much. I also enjoyed the pompous claims of European statesmen that they cannot control free speech or newspapers. This is also nonsense. Had that cartoon of the Prophet shown instead a chief rabbi with a bomb-shaped hat, we would have had "anti-Semitism" screamed into our ears - and rightly so - just as we often hear the Israelis complain about anti-Semitic cartoons in Egyptian newspapers.
Furthermore, in some European nations - France is one, Germany and Austria are among the others - it is forbidden by law to deny acts of genocide. In France, for example, it is illegal to say that the Jewish Holocaust or the Armenian Holocaust did not happen. So it is, in fact, impermissable to make certain statements in European nations. I'm still uncertain whether these laws attain their objectives; however much you may prescribe Holocaust denial, anti-Semites will always try to find a way round. We can hardly exercise our political restraints to prevent Holocaust deniers and then start screaming about secularism when we find that Muslims object to our provocative and insulting image of the Prophet.
For many Muslims, the "Islamic" reaction to this affair is an embarrassment. There is good reason to believe that Muslims would like to see some element of reform introduced to their religion. If this cartoon had advanced the cause of those who want to debate this issue, no-one would have minded. But it was clearly intended to be provocative. It was so outrageous that it only caused reaction.
And this is not a great time to heat up the old Samuel Huntingdon garbage about a "clash of civilisations". Iran now has a clerical government again. So, to all intents and purposes, does Iraq (which was not supposed to end up with a democratically elected clerical administration, but that's what happens when you topple dictators). In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood won 20 per cent of the seats in the recent parliamentary elections. Now we have Hamas in charge of "Palestine". There's a message here, isn't there? That America's policies - "regime change" in the Middle East - are not achieving their ends. These millions of voters were preferring Islam to the corrupt regimes which we imposed on them.
For the Danish cartoon to be dumped on top of this fire is dangerous indeed.
In any event, it's not about whether the Prophet should be pictured. The Koran does not forbid images of the Prophet even though millions of Muslims do. The problem is that these cartoons portrayed Mohamed as a bin Laden-type image of violence. They portrayed Islam as a violent religion. It is not. Or do we want to make it so?
Robert Fisk: Don't be fooled, this isn't an issue of Islam versus secularism
'The Koran does not forbid images of the Prophet but millions of Muslims do'
Published: 04 February 2006
So now it's cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb-shaped turban. Ambassadors are withdrawn from Denmark, Gulf nations clear their shelves of Danish produce, Gaza gunmen threaten the European Union. In Denmark, Fleming Rose, the "culture" editor of the pip-squeak newspaper which published these silly cartoons - last September, for heaven's sake - announces that we are witnessing a "clash of civilisations" between secular Western democracies and Islamic societies. This does prove, I suppose, that Danish journalists follow in the tradition of Hans Christian Anderson. Oh lordy, lordy. What we're witnessing is the childishness of civilisations.
So let's start off with the Department of Home Truths. This is not an issue of secularism versus Islam. For Muslims, the Prophet is the man who received divine words directly from God. We see our prophets as faintly historical figures, at odds with our high-tech human rights, almost cariacatures of themselves. The fact is that Muslims live their religion. We do not. They have kept their faith through innumerable historical vicissitudes. We have lost our faith ever since Matthew Arnold wrote about the sea's "long, withdrawing roar". That's why we talk about "the West versus Islam" rather than "Christians versus Islam" - because there aren't an awful lot of Christians left in Europe. There is no way we can get round this by setting up all the other world religions and asking why we are not allowed to make fun of Mohamed.
Besides, we can exercise our own hypocrisy over religious feelings. I happen to remember how, more than a decade ago, a film called The Last Temptation of Christ showed Jesus making love to a woman. In Paris, someone set fire to the cinema showing the movie, killing a young man. I also happen to remember a US university which invited me to give a lecture three years ago. I did. It was entitled "September 11, 2001: ask who did it but, for God's sake, don't ask why". When I arrived, I found that the university had deleted the phrase "for God's sake" because "we didn't want to offend certain sensibilities". Ah-ha, so we have "sensibilities" too.
In other words, while we claim that Muslims must be good secularists when it comes to free speech - or cheap cartoons - we can worry about adherents to our own precious religion just as much. I also enjoyed the pompous claims of European statesmen that they cannot control free speech or newspapers. This is also nonsense. Had that cartoon of the Prophet shown instead a chief rabbi with a bomb-shaped hat, we would have had "anti-Semitism" screamed into our ears - and rightly so - just as we often hear the Israelis complain about anti-Semitic cartoons in Egyptian newspapers.
Furthermore, in some European nations - France is one, Germany and Austria are among the others - it is forbidden by law to deny acts of genocide. In France, for example, it is illegal to say that the Jewish Holocaust or the Armenian Holocaust did not happen. So it is, in fact, impermissable to make certain statements in European nations. I'm still uncertain whether these laws attain their objectives; however much you may prescribe Holocaust denial, anti-Semites will always try to find a way round. We can hardly exercise our political restraints to prevent Holocaust deniers and then start screaming about secularism when we find that Muslims object to our provocative and insulting image of the Prophet.
For many Muslims, the "Islamic" reaction to this affair is an embarrassment. There is good reason to believe that Muslims would like to see some element of reform introduced to their religion. If this cartoon had advanced the cause of those who want to debate this issue, no-one would have minded. But it was clearly intended to be provocative. It was so outrageous that it only caused reaction.
And this is not a great time to heat up the old Samuel Huntingdon garbage about a "clash of civilisations". Iran now has a clerical government again. So, to all intents and purposes, does Iraq (which was not supposed to end up with a democratically elected clerical administration, but that's what happens when you topple dictators). In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood won 20 per cent of the seats in the recent parliamentary elections. Now we have Hamas in charge of "Palestine". There's a message here, isn't there? That America's policies - "regime change" in the Middle East - are not achieving their ends. These millions of voters were preferring Islam to the corrupt regimes which we imposed on them.
For the Danish cartoon to be dumped on top of this fire is dangerous indeed.
In any event, it's not about whether the Prophet should be pictured. The Koran does not forbid images of the Prophet even though millions of Muslims do. The problem is that these cartoons portrayed Mohamed as a bin Laden-type image of violence. They portrayed Islam as a violent religion. It is not. Or do we want to make it so?
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Apologies from Denmark.
FYI Readers - Time to get over it and start finding solutions. Here's a start...
There are three independent apologies with regards to the cartoon issue (Courtesy of Danske Jens - warofvalues.blogspot.com):
1. Another Denmark - 14,800+ Danes
2. Jyllands Posten Newspaper
3. Prime Minister of Denmark
I suggest everyone circulate this information. The faster we spread positive changes towards a remedy for this situation, the quicker we can re-establish order and discipline in the Muslim world.
Who knows, it might even prevent the Pakistani protestors from burning themselves and everything around them.
Yours,
Zohare
There are three independent apologies with regards to the cartoon issue (Courtesy of Danske Jens - warofvalues.blogspot.com):
1. Another Denmark - 14,800+ Danes
2. Jyllands Posten Newspaper
3. Prime Minister of Denmark
I suggest everyone circulate this information. The faster we spread positive changes towards a remedy for this situation, the quicker we can re-establish order and discipline in the Muslim world.
Who knows, it might even prevent the Pakistani protestors from burning themselves and everything around them.
Yours,
Zohare
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Let’s talk about it
So now the issue on my blog is the question of whether the cartoon publishing is impeding on the respect of other people.
To contend the last comment: Whoever said the thing about you not liking it if Muslims made fun of Jesus, well he should wake up and look around to see how much of a joke Jesus has become in the western world. Take Jesus Christ Superstar for example. It is a pure parody of the life of Christ and his image. Since some western societies, usually synonymous with Christianity, have found it reasonable to jest about Christ does not provide them the liberty to involve other religions. Frankly, I personally believe that no one has the right to impede on another and presume it is ok. I really think it would be reasonable to say that in any country, even Denmark, walking into someone else’s house, moving things around, sleeping in their bed, sharing their wife, using their shower, eating their food, driving their car and taking things they like without permission would be quite unacceptable and insulting, especially if it is someone you DO NOT know.
If that example is not vivid enough, let’s take African Americans, a race the Dutch know very well from past experience. If one was to draw images of them in shackles and publish them for the purposes of humor, it may seem funny to some but in reality it is quite humiliating and, well, rouses some buried sentiments that took many centuries to forgive, let alone forget. It is not about being able to do something; it is really about respecting others place alongside yours on this planet and not disrespecting them.
I believe it is one of the 10 commandments that say: Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself. Think about that and then think about what is ok and how you can group an insult to an entire religious group (the 2nd largest in the world) and say that it is in the name of Freedom of Speech, knowing full well that image depictions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are strictly forbidden and punishable by death in Islamic Countries. There must be a good reason for that. This is not a social taboo one unearths by exposing in a public forum type fashion, hoping for a global catharsis. This is burning the principles of a belief because you have the physical ability to do so with complete disregard for the value it has to others.
I appreciate that a few Danish folks have taken the time to provide some insight on how religion is perceived in
The question now is how to fix this. Since it is done, can the Muslim community forgive the Danes? I suppose the first step would require the Danes to be a little more ashamed of this, the government specifically, and plea for the Global Muslim leaders to engage in some conciliation, since it is obvious we cannot spend the next few generations burning down things. Or if you take the incidents in
What is the next step; any insight,
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Bad ideas go to print - undone
It is a terrible predicament the Danes have gotten many other western countries dragged into. Unfortunately for many countries that did not endorse the printing act, they are now suffering.
Here is an idea for those of you who are keen upon rioting and protesting; in New York City, around the time of New Years (2005-2006), the Metropolitan Transit Authority (aka MTA) went on strike for various reasons, mostly pertaining to their livelihoods and their survival with increasing living expenses and stagnant salaries. They protested by staying home. Not a bad way to force your employer to give you sometime off work and have more to spend with the family. The point is that by spending time at home, they were protesting their dislikes towards their employers in a peaceful and harmless manner. Now the interesting part: MTA suffered extreme financial damage during the week or so that the MTA workers were on strike.
Now for all you number crunchers, here are some figures that might help you understand the devastation a peaceful strike / boycott may have: The 33,000 MTA workers that did not show up for work the first day cost the city of New York approximately $400 Million, that is 400,000,000 US Dollars just for the first day. The following two days cost approximately $300 Million per day in losses ranging from ticket sales to cancelled events and transportation congestion, overtime payment to workers and police officers. The pre-strike estimates suggested $1.6 Billion in loss to the city of New York.
Think about it hard, I am not suggesting you strike against your respective cities...for those of you who missed the point. I am merely suggesting that even a peaceful strike can have harsh repercussions, if not harsher than violent and destructive demonstrations. The latter only suggests that we are, in fact, as backwards and under-developed as the West may portray us in the media. Much of the damage Muslims incur today is essentially due to their own mistakes in the past that are now coming back. We have done much of this to ourselves. Why are European countries banding together, despite their differences in economics, politics and global affairs, just to mention a few? Simply because even disagreements between nations can also be solved by unifying resources. The EU is a strong entity today and the EURO is a strong currency today because they managed their policies and people jointly and for the greater good. Why do countries, such as Turkey, want to join the EU today? Because they delivered on their promise of becoming a unity which spreads better living standards and controls essential needs for people's survival such as security, foodstuff, employment (with the exception of Germany today).
Lesson is, protest peacefully, if you want to cause harm, don't crack your own skulls, and instead boycott Danish products in your country. Financial loss bears heavily on the target, more than aggression. Think about it, what is the difference between aggressors breaking and burning buildings in the streets and monkeys? There is a good chance the latter won't show such aggression upon themselves.
Going back to the issue, this has caused massive amounts of panic amongst the leaders of the Muslim world and now the OIC will convene and this will be a hot topic on their plate full of discussions. The last thing we need now is counter-productive measures of taking all the years of hard work done by countries to bring peace and betterment to developing countries and flushing them down the toilet, bring about a global religious war. Terrorism is already synonymous with Islam; the Danish newspaper certainly could not have been so ignorant as to not know the potential consequences of their irresponsible act. Now they will reap what they sew. I only hope that all parties involved directly will tread cautiously.
Lesson learnt: Don't put your finger in a pot unless you know how hot it is...
Here is an idea for those of you who are keen upon rioting and protesting; in New York City, around the time of New Years (2005-2006), the Metropolitan Transit Authority (aka MTA) went on strike for various reasons, mostly pertaining to their livelihoods and their survival with increasing living expenses and stagnant salaries. They protested by staying home. Not a bad way to force your employer to give you sometime off work and have more to spend with the family. The point is that by spending time at home, they were protesting their dislikes towards their employers in a peaceful and harmless manner. Now the interesting part: MTA suffered extreme financial damage during the week or so that the MTA workers were on strike.
Now for all you number crunchers, here are some figures that might help you understand the devastation a peaceful strike / boycott may have: The 33,000 MTA workers that did not show up for work the first day cost the city of New York approximately $400 Million, that is 400,000,000 US Dollars just for the first day. The following two days cost approximately $300 Million per day in losses ranging from ticket sales to cancelled events and transportation congestion, overtime payment to workers and police officers. The pre-strike estimates suggested $1.6 Billion in loss to the city of New York.
Think about it hard, I am not suggesting you strike against your respective cities...for those of you who missed the point. I am merely suggesting that even a peaceful strike can have harsh repercussions, if not harsher than violent and destructive demonstrations. The latter only suggests that we are, in fact, as backwards and under-developed as the West may portray us in the media. Much of the damage Muslims incur today is essentially due to their own mistakes in the past that are now coming back. We have done much of this to ourselves. Why are European countries banding together, despite their differences in economics, politics and global affairs, just to mention a few? Simply because even disagreements between nations can also be solved by unifying resources. The EU is a strong entity today and the EURO is a strong currency today because they managed their policies and people jointly and for the greater good. Why do countries, such as Turkey, want to join the EU today? Because they delivered on their promise of becoming a unity which spreads better living standards and controls essential needs for people's survival such as security, foodstuff, employment (with the exception of Germany today).
Lesson is, protest peacefully, if you want to cause harm, don't crack your own skulls, and instead boycott Danish products in your country. Financial loss bears heavily on the target, more than aggression. Think about it, what is the difference between aggressors breaking and burning buildings in the streets and monkeys? There is a good chance the latter won't show such aggression upon themselves.
Going back to the issue, this has caused massive amounts of panic amongst the leaders of the Muslim world and now the OIC will convene and this will be a hot topic on their plate full of discussions. The last thing we need now is counter-productive measures of taking all the years of hard work done by countries to bring peace and betterment to developing countries and flushing them down the toilet, bring about a global religious war. Terrorism is already synonymous with Islam; the Danish newspaper certainly could not have been so ignorant as to not know the potential consequences of their irresponsible act. Now they will reap what they sew. I only hope that all parties involved directly will tread cautiously.
Lesson learnt: Don't put your finger in a pot unless you know how hot it is...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Way to go Denmark
As you may all know, the Danes have recently been involved in a heinous act of incalculable proportions. To be more specific, some Danish folks thought it would be funny to throw a match in a drum full of gasoline and stand around to watch the flame grow on its own like a wildfire. Interestingly enough, what puzzles me is that people in Pakistan
I got a text message today from a friend in Peshawar which said “If Jews wish to destroy Muslims and Pakistan
To fill you in, some Danish newspaper published some cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammad, the founder of Islam, depicting him in a very insulting way. I think that there is an unspoken limit to everything we do. No matter how bad something seems, there is always something worse. That imaginary limit never gets crossed because it’s always a step ahead of whatever is happening. Unfortunately, what the Danish newspaper did was to lift up the standard for limit-pushing acts, push it over the imaginary line and drop it to set a new standard for lowest, most despicable acts.
There are some things you just don’t do, no matter how bad you want to be. Danes just don’t understand that. Even though I am not religious, I do maintain some respect for religions, be it Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and so forth. I doubt that when the newspapers published those images, they had even an inkling of an idea what would result in Muslim countries. Pakistan Pakistan
Please keep in mind that I am not generalizing and grouping all Danes under one umbrella. There are many who disagree very seriously with what happened and that is just as much a right as agreeing with the act itself. Burning a flag may be inciting as much trouble as publishing pictures of the Prophet (PBUH). Keep things in perspective, keep your pride above, don't lower yourself beneath people who try to antagonize you.
What no one seems to understand is that by burning down a foreign bank or burning up 19 passenger buses, we are not harming anyone but ourselves? Simply because they belong to foreigners, we cannot just presume any old foreigner is involved. You want to target someone, be specific, but then again don’t be violent. Your violence only makes the Danes laugh at us saying “look at those monkeys Helga; they are beating themselves up because we insulted their prophet. This is fun, let’s insult another prophet and see if we can stir up world war III.”
Protest peacefully, show them that we are, in fact, civilized people and that we are willing to do things that will hurt them such as boycotting Danish dairy products. When you destroy foreign owned businesses, think about the things we don’t destroy, the things we wouldn’t think of destroying because we can’t live without them. All the imported goods we consume in Pakistan
Shame on us…we are only proving to the Danes what they set out to test. We are savage, whatever the cost, we don’t think about the consequences of the decisions we make, especially when we cloud our judgment with emotion.
Shame on you Denmark Denmark
Friday, January 20, 2006
In the News
Some articles about my involvement in relief efforts
Cyberspace comes to aid of
13:44 30 Nov 2005
Repeats story first sent on Nov 30.
NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - As Pakistan and India were still floundering to respond in the early hours after the Kashmir quake, a convoy laden with supplies snaked its way along the debris-cluttered road to one of the worst-hit areas in Pakistan.
The mission of mercy began with a simple SMS in
The armies and emergency services of
"The authorities appear to have been very inefficient and poor with their response and efforts," said Zohare Haider, a project coordinator at Nortel in Islamabad who helped organise that early convoy and has been arranging more support since through his Web log, or blog,
"The Sunday after the quake, a friend sent an SMS saying we should get together and help out," wrote Haider, replying to an Internet message. ""We all met at his house ... and that's when things just went out of control."
Haider has now quit Nortel to work for a relief agency.
Within hours, the group had scraped together 12 truckloads of food, blankets, medicine and supplies and about 1.7 million Pakistani rupees ($28,000) and were on their way to Balakot in
DONATIONS BY SMS
Spurred by the success of blogs on the
SMS, or text messaging, has also been used for everything from coordinating aid to letting people in the United States make donations a few cents at a time and have it added to their monthly cellphone bill.
Blogs such as Quakehelp (http://quakehelp.blogspot.com) have had tens of thousands of hits, many in the early days of the
Contributors include aid groups and ordinary Net surfers. Because they act in a way like community noticeboards, putting people in touch with each other, bloggers say they have no way of knowing how much aid they raise.
It is not the first time blogs have helped in the wake of a major disaster. They were prominent after the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Many of those behind
Mumbai-based writer Peter Griffin, one of a loose group from around the world that set up Quakehelp, said their Katrina blog drew more than a million hits a day at its peak.
"I'd put that down to the much higher Internet access in the
The sensitivities involved in Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, where both armies are faced off over a ceasefire line, have made aid work harder, bloggers say.
"The information hasn't been easy to find," said
Quake survivors in Indian and Pakistani Kashmir complain official aid was slow to reach them in the critical early days and some say their armies were too slow to respond.
But the armies were also hopelessly short of resources for dealing with a disaster on such a colossal scale, as well as being badly hit by casualties themselves, and have been praised by aid agencies for the way they have built up their efforts.
($1 = 59.8 Pakistani rupees)
((SOUTHASIA-QUAKE-BLOGS; Editing by Simon Denyer and Sanjeev Miglani; Reuters Messaging: terry.friel.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Wednesday, 30 November 2005 13:44:31RTRS [nDEL75887 ] {C}ENDS
To find out more about Reuters visit www.about.reuters.com
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of Reuters Ltd.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Emergency Appeal
EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR CGI DONATION
This is an emergency appeal for donations towards the purchase of Corrugated Galvanized Iron Sheets, commonly known as CGI sheets. These are metal sheets used as roofs in the earthquake affected areas.If you have seen any photographs of the affected areas, you will notice that the roofs are generally made of a curvy shaped tin top, that is a CGI sheet. It usually takes about 8-10 to make a complete roof, housing about 7-10 people.
The cost of one CGI sheet is approximately $16-18 dollars per sheet (970-1100)
The specifications are:
Each sheet will be 10 ft X 34 inches
24 gauge
.55 MM thickness
The cost in the open market is:
Rs. 70,000 / ton
72 Sheets / ton
Any amount of donations submitted will be used for purchasing CGI sheets. You can use the donation link along the right menu area, below the archives section to donate using PayPal.
We desperately need your help! Please remember that the winter is worse than we anticipated and it is progressively getting more difficult to help on our own, we urge you to donate!
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