Israel: “Apartheid State” (under US protection)

What is not remarkable is that John Kerry uttered the A word (which is common-place in the left universe led by Jimmy Carter). What is remarkable is that he made the point at all, in the face of humungous support for Israel from the American public. The Gallup poll shows it all:

A quick (if shallow) analysis shows that prior to 9/11 the factions of Americans saying that they have sympathy with Israel and those who claiming sympathy for both Israel/Palestinians were roughly equal. Things changed drastically after 9/11 and now Palestinians are completely in the dog house.

This unconditional support for Israel also is reflective in terms of the massive amount of aid and diplomatic backing that Israel receives. Israel, Egypt, and Pakistan have always been amongst the top in-countries for US civilian/military aid, the case for Egypt is actually that it agrees to respect a formal peace pact with Israel- thus a quid pro quo for US funding.

If the US wall breaks down (it will not), it is possible that Israel will face a lonely fight to the finish against the combined forces of the Arab League and the Euro-American Left (which is leading the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions campaign). Kerry’s words are an amber signal in that direction.
……..
If there’s no two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
soon, Israel risks becoming “an apartheid state,” Secretary of State
John Kerry told a room of influential world leaders in a closed-door
meeting Friday.




“A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real
alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid
state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that
destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state,” Kerry told the
group of senior officials and experts from the U.S., Western Europe,
Russia, and Japan. “Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality,
which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to
the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they
remain deeply committed to.”





According to the 1998 Rome Statute, the “crime of apartheid” is
defined as “inhumane acts… committed in the context of an
institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one
racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with
the intention of maintaining that regime.” The term is most often used
in reference to the system of racial segregation and oppression that
governed South Africa from 1948 until 1994.





Former president Jimmy Carter came under fire in 2007 for titling his book on Middle East peace Palestine: Peace or Apartheid. “Apartheid is a word that is an accurate description of what has been
going on in the West Bank, and it’s based on the desire or avarice of a
minority of Israelis for Palestinian land,” Carter said.

Leading experts, including Richard Goldstone, a former justice of the
South African Constitutional Court who led the United Nations
fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict of 2008 and 2009, have argued
that comparisons between the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians and
“apartheid” are offensive and wrong.





 
Kerry has used dire warnings twice in the past to paint a picture of
doom for Israel if the current peace process fails. Last November, Kerry warned of a third intifada of Palestinian violence and increased isolation of Israel if the peace process failed. In March, Democrats and Republican alike criticized Kerry for suggesting that if peace talks fail, it would bolster the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

…..
American
support for Israel really is quite extensive. The U.S. has given Israel
$118 billion in aid over the years (about $3 billion per year
nowadays). Half of all American UN Security Council vetoes ended
resolutions critical of Israel.
………

Link(1): http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/27/exclusive-kerry-warns-israel-could-become-an-apartheid-state.html
Link(2): http://www.vox.com/2014/4/29/5664444/kerry-compared-israel-apartheid-palestine
…….
regards

Imran Khan boarding the wrong train…as usual

Our great leader has taken the pulse of Twitter and Facebook (or heard good news from on high) and has decided to throw caution to the wind and board the anti-GEO bandwagon.
Sadly, once more, he may be boarding the wrong train. The army’s ability to swing itself into the harness and give orders has been slowly but steadily weakening for years. Zardari’s successful tenure (successful in not falling to a coup) and the peaceful transfer of power to MNS were baby steps. A major Paknationalist media empire deciding its time to openly challenge the ISI after its reporter is shot (by the ISI or by someone else) is a bigger step (because it means serious sections of the ruling elite feel it is time they can do this). This is not to condone GEO’s method of making the accusation, or their odious past record of labeling others as thieves, traitors, etc. That is all condemn-able and has been condemned in the past and should be condemned now. But their willingness to do so still indicates that they perceived a power shift.
The deep state (and its useful-idiot supporters in the PTI fan-base) have since mobilized to teach GEO a lesson and to show them who is still boss…but it is not exactly going  as planned. It took a few days, but liberal fascists (a term GEO and Hamid Mir freely popularized when they and the establishment were on the same page) continue to pop up to question the army’s right to label GEO (or anyone else) as traitors. More significantly, MNS does not seem to be cooperating. Astute politicians like Zardari will soon get the hint (if they have not already got it) that there is not going to be a coup and its time to stand aside and let the ISI expose itself and its remaining supporters for what they are: people out of step with Pakistani political reality. (Look at the dozens or at most hundreds of people showing up to wave pro-ISI posters at rallies).

That leaves Imran Khan.

As expected, he has miscalculated. Thinking this whole sorry scheme of things entire may be wound up soon, he has boldly stepped forward (after waffling for a few days) and has now discovered that GEO is the enemy and he is ready to boycott them.
By doing so he stands ready to lose either way:

1. He is wrong and MNS and GEO both survive this episode, leaving him with abundant egg on his face after yet another failed “mobilization/revolution”.

OR

2. He has picked the “winning side” and the deep state will kill GEO and MNS (killing one without the other is not likely to be much help) on May 11th (the day Khan sahib and Canadian-gun-for-hire Tahir Ul Qadri are supposed to launch their campaign against this “corrupt system”). What then? He will find himself marked as a supporter of what will surely be Pakistan’s last and least successful coup. The inevitable disasters that follow will end his political career (and possibly more that that).

I present to you, Imran Khan, leader with impeccable (bad) timing:


Imran khan boycott on geo by zemtv

PS: foreign friends unfamiliar with the tenor of the campaign against Hamid Mir may understand better after an example. Here it is:

Hamid Meer and His Credentials
By Shah A Siddiqui
The episode of Hamid Meer is quite intriguing and merits comprehensive  investigation from the concerned authorities including the government and the independent agencies. He is a celebrated journalist with an executive portfolio in the GEO group. He has survived the attack on his life which not  short of a miracle. He is in the hospital and reported to be gradually recovering. Hopefully he would fully recover and join his family and his profession once again with the same spirit and zeal that he has always been displaying during his tenure in the field of journalism.
But factually the conduct and character of Hamid Meer has never been above board and he has remained under suspicion for his pro India stand and intensive publicity in favor of India. One of the manifestations and his controversial role is to be favorable towards India is the mission” Aman KI Asha” that the GEO television and affiliated newspapers have been drumming  up for several years now. ‘Aman Ki Asha’ apparently was an initiative launched together by India and the GEO and Jung Group of newspapers with lots of fanfare. Of course, such a high profile campaign cannot be carried on with meager means or alone by the finances raised by the Jang group. The funds and certainly in huge scale must have also been contributed by the other counterpart which is in this case is India.
As such when Hamid Meer has never been critical in the Indian role with regard to her suppression of the Kashmiri people and building of reportedly 22 dams on the water flowing down the rivers entering Pakistan ultimately causing drought and famine in Pakistan then independent observer start smelling something fishy. This inexplicable attitude on the part of Hamid Meer and his group of companies becomes more dubious  when he never let any chance go in reviling and defiling ISI and for that matter the Pakistan’s Armed forces.
Those people who believe that he has been attacked by the ISI for his support for the missing people of Baluchistan are outrightly mistaken or misguided.  The truth is that Baluchistan crisis has been lingering ever since the creation of Paksitan. If somebody wants to compare Baluch separatist with some other groups of saboteurs then the best prototype would be Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka. It is a well know fact that Pakistan came into being with the consent of the Baluchi people to join Pakistan. But over a period of time some self-styled liberators, supported and supervised by the local Sardars and feudal thugs launched a movement to cut that part from Pakistan like the former East Pakistan. The East Pakistan separation took place because of the Indian Army’s blatant intervention in East Pakistan that was a sheer violation of the international coveants governing the interstate realtions. The Mukti Bahini is similar to Baluch Liberation Army and incidentally, in this case too, India is supporting this separatist movement by remote control. India wants Baluchistan to be separated to secede from Pakistan for  the explicit reasons.
The most overriding reason is the Guwador port built and managed by the Chinese which India does not not like because her rivalry with China. So once pro-Indian elements take charge  of Baluchistan (God forbid) the Chinese presence would be over or jeopardized and India could take over. That’s scenario is far fetched. But if East Pakistan can secede and East European  countries can get  out of the Russian orbit then anything is possible.
It is only the Pakistan army and ISI that have thus far successfully managed to thwart Indian malicious designs in further dismembering Pakistan. NowHamid Mir  created an anti-Pakistan storm for a few missing individuals to please India and to defame ISI and Pakistan army and even to be agreeable to truncate Pakistan. It is a sinster conspiracy which must be condemned and blocked by all possible means.
Hamid Meer is blowing out of proportions, the case of a missing person from Baluchistan, but does not talk RAW’s insidious role in Baluchistan and killing and kidnapping thousands of Kashmiris. This tendency  speaks for the duplicity and hypocrisy that Hamid Meir and his cohorts seem to suffer  from.  The truth is that to blame ISI, point blank by him and his brother Aamir Meir is purposely an effort which seems to be preconceived and a mindset that was tailored for this kind of propaganda. It is therefore incumbent upon ISI and Pakistan army to clarify their position which has been immensely tarnished as a result of  attack on Hamid Meer. One can  watch round the clock anti-Pakistan poisonous propaganda on Indian media not only against Pakistan government but also ISI and Pakistan army. Understandably India and Hamid Meer group appear to be on the same page and talking the same language and blowing the same trumpet.
The Pakistan army and ISI have always been targeted for protecting their motherland and saving lives of Pakistanis, whether fighting against India, fighting against Taliban and other terrorist organization. Our army and ISI have been blamed for defending the integrity and the land of the motherland in 1971 when Indian RAW and Indian army helped Mukti Bahini separatist to fight against the Pakistan army in the result East Pakistan was separated from us. BUT it is so unfortunate that instead of criticizing the Mukti Bahi, Indian RAW and Indian army our own “patriotic” Pakistani citizens condemned and tried to defame the army. The most popular puppets of India and Bangladesh are “Group of Five” patriotic Pakistanis who have been declared “Friends of Bangladesh” and awarded the highest civil award of Bangladesh last year on March 24, 2013.  The recipients of awards from Pakistan are primarily those whose fathers had opposed Army action in then East Pakistan and criticized the Pakistani regime. The prize was conferred for the reason of condemning Pakistan army who was struggling to keep his country from the culprits and enemies of Pakstanon. Hamid Meer’s father Prof. Waris Meer was one of those five “Friends of Bangladesh”. He was nominated for the award on the basis of his views about the 1971 military action in East Pakistan, He wrote hundred of columns against the army and against the Pakistani government, but at that time his columns were not allowed to publish, but later in 1985 the Jang group published all those columns in the book and the Bangladeshi Prime Minister was pleased to see the articles of a citizen of Pakistan who humiliated his own army and government. Four others were Salima Hashmy the daughter of Poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Asma Jahangir, the daughter of Malik Ghulam Jilani; Hasil Bux Bizenjo, the son of Ghaus Bux Bizenjo and the daughter of Habib Jalib. 
Shame on Salima Hashmy who said at the ceremony that “Paksitan government should formally apologize to the people of Bangladesh for the atrocities committed by the Pakistan occupation army during the war of Independence of Bangladesh” The Pakistani forces was not an occupied force but they were fighting on their own land to save it from the enemies. Pity. NOT only this, but when she arrived back from this anti Pakistan statement in Bangladesh Salima Hashmy was also presented by the government of Punjab by another “patriotic” interim Chief Minister of Punjab Najam Sethi nominated her provincial Minister for the console. Najam Sethi, who himself figured prominently in the Baluch insurgency in the seventies.
Today it is time for the Pakistan Army and ISI to act and file an FIR against the allegation of shooting Hamid Meer by the victim’s brother Amir Meer and GEO and Jung group of Publications. A considerable time has been passed, but no FIR has been filed so far by the victim’s family which is astounding. This blame game against ISI and Pakistan army should come to an end for ever after a judicial commission and other private commission reports comes out in public.
Our Pakistan army is # 1 in the world if we demoralize our army then who will confront the foes. The Pakistani nation is alive today because of our army. God bless Pakistan and God bless our Pakistan army.

Black money for (smooth) roads, (sturdy) lamposts

The most memorable (bone-chilling) promise made to the (about to be independent) nation by our esteemed first Prime Minister: 
“In an independent India,” Nehru declared in one of the first speeches he made on June, 1945, “such black marketeers will be hung from the lamp posts

Arvind Kejriwal on why Nehru’s party has (till very recently) been reluctant to retrieve black money hoarded in foreign banks (let alone call in the guillotine):

What will this notorious pot of gold get us? Lalu Yadav promised to use the black money for constructing roads (in Bihar) that will be as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks (if true this would be money well spent). We should be able to afford a few (metaphorically speaking) robust lamp-posts as well.

The names of the infamous black money hoarders have been finally disclosed. The only question is why the inordinate delay in releasing information from 2009? No need to answer that question though.

Well OK, it is only the Liechenstein Bank* and only a piddly count of 26 account holders. That said, this is a very promising crack in the Great Black Wall. We are confident that if the full power of the Indian state is made to bear the Swiss will also divulge the black-data (just like they have for the USA).

The actions of the govt today make us exclaim with joy: Yeh Dil Mange More”
……
The government on Tuesday has disclosed the names of all 26 account holders in Liechtenstein Bank to the Supreme Court. 

It has also made public the names of 18 account holders against who
proceedings have been launched and the names of the remaining 8 account
holders have been given in a sealed cover.
The names were given to India by Germany in 2009.

Out of the 18 names made public, 5 are from Dhupelia family who are
trustees of Ambrunova trust, 4 from Manichi trust, 4 from Ruvisha trust,
KM Mammen of Webster Foundation and two others.

……
Link: http://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/black-money-govt-submits-18-names-of-account-holders-in-liechtenstein-bank/
…….
regards 

MH 370 located in Bay of Bengal (maybe)

We have stopped covering this grisly business since there remains so much uncertainty. Now however there is a flicker of hope- there is actually a wreckage which has multi-element match with that of a Boeing 777 (not previously detected in the same sector).

If this is indeed confirmed it will be a major technical miracle.

On reflection, Bay of Bengal was always a more likely theater than Southern Indian Ocean, if there was foul play (likely) and especially if there was malfunctioning, it makes no sense that MH370 will continue to fly for so long.
……….
An
Australian marine exploration company has claimed that it has found the
wreckage of the crashed Malaysian plane in the Bay of Bengal, 5,000 km
away from the current search location in the Indian Ocean.


Adelaide-based GeoResonance said it had begun its own search for the
missing flight MH370 on March 10 and that it has detected possible
wreckage in the Bay of Bengal, 5000km away from the current search
location, the Star newspaper reported.

GeoResonance’s search
covered 2,000,000 square kilometres of the possible crash zone, using
images obtained from satellites and aircraft, with company scientists
focusing their efforts north of plane’s last known location, using over
20 technologies to analyze the data, company
spokesperson David Pope said.

He claimed his company used technology originally designed to find nuclear warheads and submarines.

Pope said GeoResonance compared their findings with images taken on
March 5, three days before MH370 went missing, and did not find what
they had detected at the spot.

“The wreckage wasn’t there prior
to the disappearance of MH370. We’re not trying to say it definitely is
MH370. However, it is a lead we feel should be followed up,” said Pope.  

..
Another GeoResonance spokesperson, Pavel Kursa, said several elements
found in commercial airliners were detected at the Bay of Bengal spot
identified by GeoResonance. “We identified chemical elements and
materials that make up a Boeing 777, these are aluminium, titanium,
copper, steel alloys and other materials,” said Kursa in a statement.

………
Link: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/missing-flight-mh370-malaysia-airlines-search-for-mh370/1/358097.html
……….
regards

Slum-dog vs. Hans Solo

John Oliver is a British comedian, an Emmy winning writer and has his own HBO show (Last Week Tonight with J.O.). He makes a few salient points about Indian elections.

Re: why America should care-“Don’t pretend you aren’t interested
in this, America. The last time you heard a rags-to-riches story about a
tea-selling Indian kid, you threw a fcuking Oscar at it.”

Re: evidence America does not care-   ….a clip of debates on American news
channels about the Indian elections, where a guest can be seen saying,
“India is not even in the same hemisphere and there’s no point of
discussing it.”

Re: Rahul Gandhi-
Rahul Gandhi, calling him ‘Indian Hans Solo’ and pointing out
how despite his political lineage is likely to lose to a ‘tea seller’
.
….. 
Re: Narendra Modi-
“No election is
complete—or entertaining—without a little scandal, a ‘je ne sais,
genocide’.”
 

Re: Western Media-
CNN in
India for using the title “One Billion Votes” for a story about the
election, when India actually has only 800 million voters, saying “Their
own graphic is wrong by the entire population of Brazil.”

Re: India Media-
“Do you have a ludicrous number of people
shouting at each other in a TV debate? Check.

.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO2U4wRYE1M
………

regards

Is Gypsy really a bad word?

First things first, Madonna: never call a Gypsy a gypsy.

_____

There are somewhere between 8-10 million Roma or Romani (derogatively referred to as “gypsy”, the lowercase “g” insinuating that it’s not a proper noun) currently living in Eastern Europe. It’s impossible to get an accurate count because of the number of Roma who are undocumented by governments that still refuse to claim them or to acknowledge their existence as anything other than outsider.
With the resurgence of hate crimes against the Roma throughout Eastern Europe, the Western World is starting to ask, “Who are these people exactly?” Even though the Roma have been persecuted and murdered in droves since well before WWII, it has taken the general global public decades to become interested.

– See more at: http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2014/04/dont-call-a-gypsy-a-gypsy.html#sthash.4IaW2q89.dpuf


From what I can remember the root of the word Gypsy is the same as Egypt or Copt (as the Gypsies were initially assumed to be from Egypt) so it’s not in itself derogatory.

In vein of this piece, I remember this paragraph by Steve:

Millions of people permanently lose the thread. Unlike academic specialists, they have other, more personally important things to think about than the changing names of distant ethnic groups. Thus, they never make the mental connection that the mysterious new Inuit their children are studying in school are actually those Eskimos that they liked reading about when they were the same age, or that these new-fangled Roma aren’t Romans or Romanians, but are actually the Gypsies who play that wonderful violin music.
In attempts to create a new name unburdened by old prejudices, the name game can end up dissipating the goodwill built up toward the old one.

Read more: Feature: Name game – ‘Inuit’ or ‘Eskimo’?

The part in bold is a nod to nonsensical name change in India in the 90’s. If India were to ever rename itself Bharat or Egypt to Misr that would trash billions of dollars of PR. As we learnt from the debacle of New Coke never f*ck with the brand people and there was no better brand than Bombay.

Having an insider knowledge

Steve Sailer references Siamak Ebrahimi Nehoray, the lawyer for Ms. Stiviano in the Sterling Clipper scandal

Siamak Ebrahim Nehoray is a graduate of Memphis State (maybe he met some ballers there?) and the University of Laverne College of Law. He was suspended in 2004 by the state bar association for playing fast and loose with a small amount of a client’s funds.

An anonymous commentator wrote:


Anonymous said…

The Wikipedia says that Siamak is a Persian name. A Google search for Nehoray brings up some Israelis. The lawyer could be an Iranian Jew.4/28/14, 7:52 PM

I’ve posted a comment but it’s pending but this is sort of the immediate flicker of recognition about the name. Siamak is a name from the Shahnameh and is rife with Zoroastrian/Aryan/Shahi connotations whereas Ebrahimi is a super-orthodox Muslim Semitic name (Abraham). Now an Iranian with a Shahi Zoroastrian first name and a Muslim family name is quite common* but to have an authentically Persian first name and super-strong Semitic middle name is a stretch too far for most Iranians, who are virulently divided in the cultural chasm between Islamism & Iranianism. Baha’is can bridge the gap but even so rarely will their names reflect such a stark divide** so the only ethnicity left would be the Iranian Jews. Of course the fact that he was a Persian Californian lawyer only reinforced the immediate connection.

*People can’t pick their surnames though some do change them, I thought Trita Parsi had changed his but turns out he’s actually Zoroastrian but I never the Iranians to have Parsi as a surname.


** If anything Baha’i names will have a Western name somewhere since we are more globalist in our approach. Ergo even though I’m written as Zachary alot of people tend to call me Zachariah (I don’t notice that).

Why Hamid Mir was shot..

This video will give you an idea

It is about 2 years old. On this particular issue, he has been (surprisingly) vocal from day one. For that he should get credit. A lot of people are digging up old segments in which Hamid Mir professes the kind of Paknationalist idiocies and Islamist fantasies that are a staple of mainstream media in Pakistan. And yes, he is certainly capable of those. He is, after all, a mainstream Pakistani journalist. Others have pointed out that his behavior within the GEO organization was rather haughty and he did not treat his colleagues and staff in a nice manner (for example, a journalist complained that she was told by a flunkey to leave the elevator because “sahib is coming”…it was Hamid Mir coming to work). That may be true, I have no idea. But he has certainly tried to publicize the Balochistan issue when no one else in the electronic media was touching it. And for that, he may have been shot.
It is still possible he was shot by someone else. Possible, but hardly likely.

His own article about this shooting:

Hamid Mir
Monday, April 28, 2014

Karachi is the largest city of Pakistan but some consider it the most dangerous city as well. When Geo — the biggest Pakistani TV channel — was launched in 2002 from Karachi, I stayed there for three months for training.
During the training, one morning a powerful bombing took place near the US Consulate while I was busy in my training session at a 5-Star hotel not far from the consulate. The explosion was so powerful that many pieces of broken glass fell on me. The deafening sound of the blast gripped me and many of my colleagues. We completed our training in this very incomprehensible fear.
When I returned to the capital as Bureau Chief of Geo TV, high-ups in the government followed me and tried to instill in my mind that ‘Geo TV is an anti-state channel and that a patriotic journalist like me should stay away from it.’
My response was very simple: “This country is run by an army chief. If I am shown the proof that Geo TV is anti-state, I would quit the channel.”No proof was shown; however, the torch-bearers of patriotism got angry with me.
In Pakistan, the start of private electronic media was not so pleasant. The government in power wanted to keep the channels under its thumb in order to get results of October 2002 general elections of its liking. On the one hand, to please the West, the Musharraf government initiated the farce of giving freedom to the media, while on the other hand dangers for media persons started increasing.
The media persons were the most favourite target of extremists as well as the secret agencies. Some journalists became spokespersons for secret agencies in the name of patriotism. Some started supporting the extremists in the name of Islam. Some of them were caught in the cobweb of nationalists.
Space started narrowing for media persons in the country conceived by Quaid-i-Azam. Killing and kidnapping of journalists became the order of the day and the media industry started losing the sense of protection.
Gen Pervez Musharraf’s emergency of 2007 divided the media in two distinct groups. One group became a plaything in the hands of powerful secret agencies. The other group that stuck to the right was dubbed ‘traitor and anti-state’. This division was not restricted to the media alone, it made its appearance among the politicians too.
When on the orders of the Supreme Court, the case of high treason for violation of the Constitution was initiated against Pervez Musharraf, this division assumed the form of confrontation. Musharraf’s trial started sending many important national issues to the backburner. The biggest problem Pakistan faces today is terrorism. Some said if drone attacks stop, terrorism will come to an end. However, terrorism persisted even after no drone struck for 100 days. Some said if talks with the Taliban are held, everything will be hunky dory. Drones stopped and negotiations with the Taliban also started, but still terrorism continued unabated. The Geo TV arranged a special discussion on this vital issue.
I proceeded to Karachi by air on the noon of 19 April. I have conducted many programmes in Karachi but I must admit that my every journey to Karachi started with an unspecified fear. It is very easy in Karachi for the sleuths of secret agencies to eliminate unwanted media persons. However, if a journalist like me shies away from going to Karachi due to this lurking fear, how can I claim to represent the popular sentiments? These very thoughts encouraged me to overcome the old fear with respect to Karachi and I decided to go on with the visit.
I asked my wife to sacrifice a black goat, as weak media persons like me consider such a sacrifice sufficient for their safety. After this sacrifice, I proceeded to Karachi on Saturday morning. As soon as I landed at the Karachi Airport, I received a message from my co-producer that Asad Umar of PTI who had to represent his party in tomorrow’s special discussion had regretted that he would not be able to attend. I asked the co-producer to invite PTI leader Shah Farman from Peshawar.
Engrossed in these thoughts I came out of the airport and got into the car. I asked the driver about the security guard. The driver told me that he was standing outside the airport. After a short while the security guard also got into the car which came out of the airport. Once again, I started sending an SMS to my co-producer asking the time of the next day’s meeting.
Meanwhile, I was discomfited to hear firing shots. When I saw the right window of the car smashing, I realized I was the target. A bullet had already pierced my shoulder. I asked the driver to look sharp. But we were caught in a jungle of traffic.
Firing continued and bullets were penetrating my legs. When the motorcyclist and car drivers realised that a car was being fired upon, they started making way for us. Firing still continued and I felt another bullet piercing the left of my waist. I started reciting the Kalima Tayyaba. The attackers were still following our car and went on firing without a gap. I started telling my colleagues in the office that I am being shot at. I asked the driver to rush to a hospital as two more bullets had pierced my belly. Wading through a flood of traffic, hounded by the attackers and myself perspiring profusely, we somehow were able to reach the Emergency of the Aga Khan Hospital. Darkness began to appear before my eyes. I mustered the courage to come out of the car and fell on a stretcher. Then I lost consciousness and do not know what happened.
On the third day of the attack, I regained consciousness and doctors began to disclose gradually that I had received six bullets but was safe. At that time, I was thinking about the animosity the attackers could have had against me. Then I concluded that the culprit was not the attacker but the one who had planned the attack.
Faces of many ‘planners’ flashed before my eyes. I could ignite new pits of fire by narrating incidents taking place within the first two weeks of April alone, and this could ignite a horrible fire and bring more destruction. Then I thought that in that case there would be no difference between me and a terrorist. Those who dubbed Geo TV traitor in 2002 are once again dubbing it traitor today. They neither had any proof then, nor do they have now. I leave all this to my Allah Almighty and to the courts.
I only want to share my feelings with you. I wish to tell you about so many ups and downs of the acute pain during the seven days of stay at the Aga Khan Hospital. But one thing is certain: the excruciating pain I passed through has only served to consolidate my faith, my courage and my determination. I express my profound thanks to all those who stood by me in this hour of trial and prayed for my health. I am feeling great pain even now as I write these lines. I am bearing this pain only to promise you that I will use the cuts made by six bullets in my body to illuminate the nation to dissipate the darkness of illiteracy.

The six bullets and seven nights spent at the Aga Khan Hospital have convinced me that it is not the common populace of the country that in fact wields the real power and rights. It is someone else. The destination of pure independence is still far away. Disappointment is a sin. The last to laugh will be the common man. We still need lots of sacrifices to reach that destination.

Selfie (833AM), self-less (834AM)

Often we see youngsters going for study/work while listening to music, texting etc. in the bus/train without paying any attention to what happens around them. We frequently read about fatalities caused by this behavior and each time anxiety mounts: are our loved ones next on the grim reaper’s list?

Now a new fad is up and running and (apart from the business of self-harm) now one has to worry about collateral damage (that famous word again). It is sad that a young lady had to die to make the point, but this being the “young invincibles” generation, we are not sure what else will get the message across. Our sympathies are (unfortunately but firmly) with the 73 year-old gentleman who is sure to have nightmares for the rest of his life.


Please do not take selfies while driving. Do not text. Do not update Facebook. Do keep your attention (every moment) on the road. 

……..
A woman has died in a head-on collision on a US
highway just seconds after she posted selfies and updated her status on
Facebook, police have said.




At 8.33am on Thursday a post appeared on 32-year-old Courtney
Sanford’s Facebook timeline which read: “The happy song makes me so
HAPPY.” At 8.34am police were called to reports of a crash.

Officers
said Ms Sanford was alone in her car when it crossed the central
reservation, crashed into a recycling truck and burst into flames,
forcing the other vehicle off the road.

She was on her way to work
along Interstate 85 in North Carolina at the time, and police said they
found no evidence that drink, drugs or speed were factors in the
collision.

The link to Facebook only emerged this weekend after
friends of Ms Sanford came forward to tell police that a number of her
posts online appeared to come from a similar time to the incident
itself.

High Point Police Department spokesperson Lt Chris Weisner
told the WGHP TV station that the crash was a real-life public service
advert “showing what happens when you text and drive”.

Lt Weisner said that as well as the status update seconds before the
crash, evidence from Ms Sanford’s social media profiles showed she had
also been taking pictures of herself while on the highway.

“In a
matter of seconds, a life was over just so she could notify some friends
that she was happy. It’s really not worth it,” he said. “As sad as it is, it is also a grim reminder for everyone… you just have to pay attention while you are in the car.”

Police said that the truck was being driven by 73-year-old John Wallace Thompson, who walked away unharmed.
…….

Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/selfie-crash-death-woman-dies-in-headon-collision-seconds-after-uploading-pictures-of-herself-and-happy-status-to-facebook-9293694.html
………..
regards

How to safeguard against the coming extinctions

I was reading that one of the most heavily fortified facilities in the world is the Seed Centre in the Arctic, which preserves flora & fauna biodiversity so that if the day ever comes that we are threatened with mass crop extinctions (the cavendish banana, which is 90% of the world production & consumption, is threatened by a virus that wipes out the crop, each banana is an identical clone of another) we have a bio bank to start over.

During my travels it’s increasingly obvious to me that English is the new Latin. Maybe a millennia from now different planets will spawn their own Vulgar English dialects that will emerge as lingua Franca in their own right. But as of right now the ongoing linguistic consolidation (the Tesot mother speaks Luganda as a first language and will only speak to her children in English) means that Uganda’s tremendous linguistic & tribal diversity (in the dozens) is soon going to become Luglish (Luganda + English. Hinglish is not an isolated phenomenon..
Perhaps we need a linguistic bank where we record native speakers and record their language to store (after all our data capacity is rising on a geometric if not exponential level, apparently the internet weighs a millionth of an ounce) for the long years ahead.
Of course Baha’u’llah for saw this and cautioned us 150yrs ago to set an auxiliary language so that we both have global unity but maintain local diversity. But while we wait for the New World Order it may be prudent to save the bulk of the 6,000 or so languages that will soon diminish to a few hundred..
Brown Pundits