The Lahore Tribune

Some elements - in the media, that is where I heard them - are trying to portray the horrific events at Mumbai that lasted for at least three days as the 9/11 of India. Pathetic.

Some Indian official high on some very finely cut white powder perhaps, claimed immediately that Pakistanis are involved. This was during the attacks.

The Proof is in the ID cards, stupid

One terrorist was from Farid Kot, Pakistan, they claimed. I am sure not many of you have seen Farid Kot. It is near the city of Pakpattan, an odd 250 kms south-east of Lahore. Perhaps you also do not know that it is a group of houses and shops passing of as a ‘town’.

But that was the just the tip of this iceberg. All 11 of them turned out to be from the land of the pure, Pakistan! Heck, the terrorists seemed to have their ID’s on them when they were eventually - and thankfully - out to eternal rest by the Indian police/army/commandos. No seriously, that is part of the proof India has. Terrorists with NADRA ID cards! (See how easy NADRA has made the process of getting a National ID card, even terrorists are now doing it!). Now is not that convenient? It is like a terrorist blowing him self up with his ID card pasted on his forehead, comforted in his knowledge that it is his severed head that the investigation will find after he blows himself up.

Bring the love

The attackers came on a rubber boat. A rubber boat, people. They were 16 11 in total. They practically brought the metro city of Mumbai to a screeching, unwilling halt. Is it possible? Yes, in the world of commerical jetliners being hijacked with plastic knifes then mastefully flown into comparatively thin targets, yes, this is very much possible. And as people are very, very right fully pointing out, this is a very good time for both Pakistan and India to act maturely and think this through.

But this is not the Indian government trying to make Pakistan India’s Iraq. No, no. It is much worse. You see, with Iraq, the US first had to place Afghanistan in the picture for effect. With Pakistan, India had the finger ready and stretched, waiting to point eastwards to her neighbor the moment a bird misses a wing flap. And Mumbai attacks, the cruel, brutal, unjustfiable act of terror was more than just birds missing out on their duties.

India has offered to give proof that the Pakistanis were involved. Dick Cheney gave a presentation to lull the world into ’seeing’ the WMDs lying around in Iraq like twigs. India just indicated that they have proof. What proof? Well, did you not see the ID’s on the dead terrorists? Is not that undeniable proof?

How Pakistan is playing it?

Pakistan has played their cards well, if you call laying down their red carpets for any exceptionally silly allegations that walks their way. This does not bode well for Pakistan, obviously. This almost-cringing attitude might as well turn out to be proof enough that Pakistani establishment was involved after all!

Attackers came from Malta

Just hold your horses now, I do not know where the terrorists came from and don’t know anything more than you, the casual TV watcher. I do know that I have enough Photoshop skills to ‘prove’ that the attackers and even you, yes you the reader, came from Malta. Not the country, I can even prove you came from Malta, the fruit.

Obama, the man, did say that he would go over Pakistan even before he was elected as President. I, personally, do not have any political affiliation towards the US President elect. I did and do think that Obama is very elequont and very charming etc etc, but I have maintained for some time now that there will be ‘no change’ as such with Obama.

Unfortunately, I might be wrong. There can be change. For the worse. Check the following video:

To us Pakistanis, how can there be a difference? Do you really believe that all the shit that has been constantly hitting the fan in these past 8 years or so is George Bush’s doings? Seriously, you believe that? In fact, I question the probability of either one of the candidates having a long-lasting effect on the world even.

Musharraf was ‘planted’ by Bush, and now is replaced by Zardari, or orders of Bush. Hence ended the simplified guide to the universe.

Think about it for a moment now, Bush? Who finds it hard to form a coherent sentence with full concentration and both hands, that guy caused all of this? Yes, it was under Mr. Bush that we saw Americans carry out attacks that were merciless (merciless not because a lot of people died, merciless because till this day, there is no justification for it at all), we saw America lose more than just face in the international community, we saw the American economy nose dive like a dead bird, we saw a sharp rise in terrorism, especially in Pakistan, yes we saw it all when America was under Bush. But was he, this single man, the cause of all of this?

No.

The forces at play are much stronger, and are based on more than just a single person. And no, I am not saying it is a Zionist-imperialist conspiracy to control the world economy and the revolutions-per-second of your ceiling fan, please, stop giving credit where it is not due. The forces that lead to all of this are not focused around Bush, they are focused around a system. The system that automatically puts Americans at war (the world war) to pull out of thier much-touted depression, the system that automatically sends troops (of multiple nationalities) to war zones all over Asia and parts of Europe.

Now, this may be harder to explain than I initially thought. Example: CIA. An intelligence agency working to secure American interests. As part of the whole, the CIA’s job is to gather intelligence and act upon it, given the system it operates under. Now, if the CIA sees a terrorist functioning freely say, in Peshawar, they will not just jump the gun and attack; they follow a system, a protocol of sorts. It does not involve taking permission from one single man called the President. What it does involve is the mobilization of other agencies (institutions in their own right) to gather resources. As per a set system, the CIA confirms from another agency (Pentagon, DOD, whatever, it’s an example here!), and as per their ‘legal’ right, takes action. From that angle, it is pure business operations. The President is not supposed to know. He plays the part of a Shepard, but a distant Shepard, the one who doesn’t know if the third sheep from the left has a hairline fracture or the fifth sheep from the right is planning to play dead. He doesn’t know because the system is set up as such. The CEO of the company does know of what has happened, but in a lot of cases, after it has happened, in the form of a report ‘first thing in the morning’. Imagine some business tycoon like Richard Branson knowing that some employee working for his company just overcharged a customer, deliberately. He, for all practical intents and purposes, can never know unless the customer complains, right? Right. Now, this is where the system, as always, steps in. The customer complains, but to whom? The shop manager? Or calls Branson directly? Of course, the shop manager. The shop manager may be in on it. IF the customer is not satisfied with the shop owner, he or she may call Branson directly, given that his direct phone number is available, which again for all intents and purposes is not (and for good reason, obviously). The system ensures that the number is not freely available. Imagine now for a second, that the pissed-off customer does manage to get Branson’s direct line, and gets to talk to him. After the complaint, the customer will be told that ‘I will look into it immediately’. After that, Branson will not call the over-charging store employee, he will call some form of a regional manager, who will then call the store manager, who will then talk to the employee. By this time, of course, the damage has been done. Heck, Branson, after satisfying the customer (which may involve just talking to him or her), might make the system more fool-proof, “who the hell gave him my number?”

I told you, it is hard to explain, but the system is such that you have to work within it. Even to change it. Systems never get changed from the exterior. They get ripped open and discarded from the exterior (e.g. revolutions), but they never get changed. Replaced, yes, changed, no. To change it, you need to be within it. This makes it all the more harder to change a system. Revolutions in most cases, are a result of either extreme frustration at the inability of the system to change, or the laziness of the revolutionaries to even try to change the system.

The benefits of a system always outweighs the absence of it. But in the case of American and world politics, this now seems to be untrue. The decisions taken by the grounds’ men (CIA etc) are not in line with the decisions taken by the front men (White House). There is no way within the system to know that the decisions are in tandem or not. We as public or as an interface of public do not know, as per system settings. So there is no one to blame. But it never gets to that. The President is there to blame, as per system settings. Heh. As part of the system, it is the President’s job to take credit or blame. The system itself, like every system, is one big mass of inertia that just does not like change. Obama talks about change. So that means he is good? Well, not really. Obama knows how to talk. Period. Only hindsight will tell us if the front man (to-be) of this magnificently cold system has the sheer determination and cartloads of luck to actually change the system itself. The only good thing is that Change is number one in his agenda.

But change is always a dangerous thing. Obama may change it for the better, or may change it for the worse, who knows? I am sure, not even Mr. Obama knows. I wish him all the luck, but as stated earlier, only hindsight will tell us. And hindsight doesn’t give a damn.

Originally Posted at Life ETC

The University of New South Wales’ ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence has reported the first silicon solar cell to achieve the milestone of 25 per cent efficiency.

via ScienceAlert

The News on Sunday has uncovered proof of super-hyphenated Musharraf (the ex-President-cum-Chief-of-Army-Staff of Pakistan, see?) bribing the leader of MMA, Fazl-ur-Rehman.

The bribe is termed as one of the reasons why the loud-mouth Fazl-u-Rehman suddenly became benign and turned into the dangerously friendly opposition to the Musharraf regime of the time. The News is linking the bribe to Musharraf’s bid to gain support in his election as President (which Musharraf did get in the form of a supporting Fazl-ur-Rehman). Although the connection is blatantly obvious, I think this might as well be one of many such gifts that our dear Musharraf had doled out to his friends (and apparent foes). Might.

200 kanals, gifted!

The Details: Allegedly, land covering a total of 1200 kanals was given to the close relatives and associates of Fazlur Rehman and the previous Chief Minister of NWFP, Mr. Akram Durrani. All of the allotted land is in the District of Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan, Pakistan). The spokesperson for Fazl-ur-Rehman has denied the allegations (surprise surprise), whereas the ex-CM Mr. Durrani has himself admitted that his close relatives and associates indeed were alloted the lands (actual surprise!) but he does not have anything to do with it (ah!).

This land is part of a total of 136,000 kanals that has been allocated to the Army by the provincial government. The Army is supposed to use this land for its scheme under which the “officers and JCOs and their families were allotted agri land of different sizes on the basis of their performance, seniority, sacrifice etc under a well-determined formula”.

Khuda Kay Liyae (in the name of God!): The so called Maulana (literally meaning ‘our leader/benefactor’) Fazl-ur-Rehman is not new to controversy at all. He is already called the Diesel Maulvee for his connections in some racket of shady petro deals during the haydays when the Taliban were the Mujahadeens. Couple that with his not-to-secret politcal deals he is known to cut right at the last minute. Nothing is more amazing than the fact that people like the unanimously controversial Fazlur Rehman can get votes and hence holds sway to any decision pertaining to NWFP province or the Federation. And the cherry on this fat and ugly cake is that his claim to fame is the religion of Islam. This is perhaps the only reason why there ought to be a separation between Politics and Religion (as opposed to the separation between State and Religion, a concept riddled with loopholes to begin with, with results ranging from mild success to horrid failure).

The Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami, part of the MMA, has expressed shock over the evidence of blatant corruption by Fazl-ur-Reham’s JUI-F (a faction of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam). JUI-F and JI were/are part of MMA (Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal) that had seen 5 years of power in the province of NWFP, during the tenure of Musharraf.  MMA, by all accounts, was/is considered an opposition party and had a *ahem ahem* role to play in the 9 years of Musharraf rule.

The Man: Musharraf ruled Pakistan from 1999 till 2008, starting as the military dictator (Nawaz Sharif’s government overthrown - Mr. Sharif had won by a record landslide) and then eventually retiring as a civilian President. From his quickly-subdued aspirations to be another Ataturk (please, we can do without one!) to his quick-witted appreances on world stage, Musharraf is a man of many shades. The economy of Pakistan saw a sharp rise in his tenure, and saw a sharp decline right before he resigned as President (he, for some odd reason, continues to live, till this day at least, in the house of the Chief of Army Staff!?!). A bestselling author of his biography and an ex-commando, Musharraf by many means, has seen it all and done perhaps more. This bribe that he had to give Fazl-ur-Rehman to buy support and this subsequent uncovering has proven once again that nothing can fix a quick fix and in the long run, truth sometimes does come out but with sharper teeth.

I tried coming up with a heading for this post, but just couldn’t. The tragedy that has unfolded for someone I do not know, and that the tragedy is being reported so openly and so widely has ensured that I remain short on words.

Well, what can one say? Over a short period of time, Jennifer Hudson’s Father, Mother and only recently her newphew have been murdered. Yes, murdered. In cold blood. The nephew’s body was found in the back seat of a deserted SUV.

The motives behind such killings are always hard to pin-point; this is a serial murderer at work and their motives are not always so easy to decipher. One ‘theory’ looks at the possibilty of the newly ultra-rich Jennifer Hudson being caught up in gang wars.

God give peace to the greaved.

Your marital status as reported by Facebook (after you set it yourself of course) can lead to your death!

So it seems:  Mr. Wayne Forrester, aged 34 took Facebook a tad too serious perhaps? Perhaps that is not the case, as reported by Daily Mail.

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If you are reading this, then congratulation, you belong to a very select few individuals out of the odd SIX BILLION that inhabit this planet. You belong to an exceptionally small number of people in this world who have access to a digital device (PC, mobile etc), has an internet connection and can read English. Now you may not consider yourself lucky (you’d be wrong though) if you do have the above mentioned, but you are darn lucky if you have access to food as well.

The good folks at Blog Action Day have rallied up the Internet to raise awareness about the issue of poverty. And they are using blogs exclusively. Have they done anything useful or just shout about something and then move on?

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Swiss professional pilot Yves Rossy, the world’s first man to fly with fitted jet fuel powered wings strapped to his back, flies during his first official demonstration above the Swiss town of Bex on May 14, 2008. Awesome! What a great invention, amazing! Please buy me one of these for my birthday

Rossy a.k.a. RocketMan or FusionMan, always dreamt of flying freely, but it took him four years of hard work on his jet design for the dream to become reality.

To achieve his bird-like status, the 48-year-old was taken up in a light aircraft, just like a normal skydiver.

After steeping out of the plane he appeared to plummet towards earth, before his fall turned to a glide and he ignited the four small jet engines attached to the carbon wing.

Once under power and using a lever to control the fuel, he had the freedom to soar where he chose.

Enjoying the demonstration, at speeds of up to 186mph, Rossy tipped his wings, flipped onto his back then levelled out again, performing a 360-degree roll.

The man then landed safely using a parachute.

He said: “This flight was excellent. It’s like a second skin. If I turn to the left, I fly left. If I nudge to the right, I go right.”

Now Rossy is planning an even greater challenge to fly across the Channel. Hmmm now what would that be, i wonder.

With only a handful of days left to Mother’s day, celebrated globally each year on May 11th (sunday) , a day when children express their great gratitude and appreciation for everything done by their mothers. Have you made some plans for it?

If you want to buy her something, it doesn’t have to be fancy and expensive. It can be a hand-made special gift or a card, wonderful bouquet of flowers, just a little something to entertain her, to express your love and affection towards your mother. Or maybe you can throw a surprise dinner party for your mom(as i plan to, Insha Allah! )

First make a list of all the family members or friends you plan to invite and send invitations. Then finalize dinner/lunch/brunch menu, don’t forget to include her all time favorite dishes.

Later set a clean lovely table, place attractive fresh flowers, arrange food in a special festive way and enjoy a lovely meal. A great gift for mom, isn’t it?

Can’t decide on anything yet, here’s a cool fun site to fuel your creative side.

1>>> Family Fun -Mother’s day.
2>>> Cards and gifts, ideas for Mother’s day.
In the end i just want to say, for all the work Mom does throughout the year she deserves to be pampered particularly on Mother’s Day!
Show her you Care!