MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL... WHO’S THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL?

I went to my relatives’ place a couple of days back on my way home from university. The moment I entered the house I was dragged aside by my uncle and was told to quietly tip toe through the house and avoid looking into the drawing room. Curious as I was, I still peeked in and to my surprise there were just a bunch of aunties and uncles sitting together and talking. I had no clue what all the hush was about. As I went inside the bedroom, my aunt came rushing towards me, “Don’t you dare go out! They are here to see your cousin. If you go out, they might like you and reject her”. Of all the things that could have happened, this was the reason why I was told to crawl through the house like a worm.

Stranger things have happened in my family before but this was something I had not expected. The one hour I was made to sit in the room, while people came in time and time again to give me updates about how handsome the guy was or how he and my cousin were talking since the last 20 minutes, got me thinking that if I did go out would it really change the fate of my cousin for the worse? Is it because of her looks only that these people had come to see her? I knew her to have far greater qualities than that and had half a mind to go and tell those people about them, only to notice the glare from my aunt and sat back down again.

It’s not just my family, but rather the perception of the whole community these days. People have made themselves believe that if they sit up straight, have a size zero figure or learn how to cook the best dishes in town, they can ‘grab’ the seemingly perfect male for themselves. They seem to have forgotten what really binds relationships together: compatibility. I am not wise enough to lecture on marital issues, but old enough to understand the problems one can face if they don’t love the person they marry. Beauty or fine dressing sense doesn’t define a person neither is it the criteria for marriage.

Recently another friend of mine had gotten engaged to a guy from UK. The whole family couldn't stop mentioning this fact to every other person and the never seen relatives suddenly started turning up at their house with their daughters behind them. In all this hustle and bustle nobody remembered to ask about the guy’s family or his past. Six months after the engagement, he ran away with his ‘gori’ girlfriend. The engagement broke up and the girl’s parents shouted about how their respect was lost in the ‘biradri’. Need I say here that if some inquiry would have been done, this could be prevented? We fail to see the bigger picture in life and things that are more important and run after those which seem good for our image temporarily.

It is a sad fact that despite of all the modernization we have gone through and how literate we have become, we still are unable to move away from the idea of materialism and the importance of social image which is deeply rooted in our minds. It is not necessary that the figure you see in the mirror reflects the reality behind it.

Originally Published in The Express Tribune on 9th July 2010

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/461/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-whos-the-fairest-of-them-all/?sms_ss=facebook

JUST ONE PUFF...

BY: NAFEESA JOHAR

There was a time when smoking was termed as the icon of cool. The leather clad heroes and the queens of the silver screen all looked incomplete without the little white stick in their hands. But not anymore.

Recently we have been seeing a continuous decline in the concept of celebrity smoking or celebrities endorsing such products publicly or off-screen. The once much glamorized phenomenon that was adopted by almost every teenager has now been shunned by celebrities and deemed extremely harmful for their personal and professional life. But has it effected teens yet?

Earlier advertisements showing rugged men in shiny cars, a cigarette in their mouth and women by their side were posted all over the world encouraging youngsters to follow suit. Indeed the first Marlboro advertisements featured cowboys smoking in a barn with the slogan “The Marlboro Cowboy” printed all over the cigarette box. According to The University of Minnesota Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center 60-80% of the teenagers between the ages of 13-18 had started smoking the time when the first dozen cigarette advertisements were aired. These seductive ads not only persuaded first time smokers to give it a try but assured the on-going smokers that smoking was still “in fashion”.

A 24 year old student Ali says that he had first started smoking when he was just 12 years old, after his friends had told him that it was cool. “I was encouraged by my class mates to join them in their after school smoking session. I had seen them smoking before and it seemed cool to me so I joined in”. What started as a puff or two quickly turned into an addiction as Ali says that now he can’t give it up no matter how much he wants to.

Ramsha another student says “My male friends smoked long before I did, but then my female friends started the habit too. They got a lot more attention from the guys. A friend of mine dreams of losing weight by smoking as she had seen some model do the same. It’s pathetic to see them waste their lives”.

According to an article published in people.com in 1998 former Calvin Klein model Christy Turlington was diagnosed with emphysema at the age of 26, soon after which she quit smoking. The disease was diagnosed after she had started to shed a lot of weight and had visited the New York hospital for a voluntary scan. Now she has started campaigning against smoking.

In 2004 U.K had put a ban on celebrities who smoke on-screen which was later on followed by U.S.A in October 2009, because it encouraged teens so much. The after effects of smoking were displayed publicly when close up shots of stars such as Lindsay Lohan, Johny Depp, Shahrukh Khan and Bipasha Basu were taken having patchy skin or bloodshot eyes. Celebrities were reported developing lung and heart related diseases. In June 2008 Amy Winehouse, was diagnosed with early-stage emphysema- a disease that strikes people above 40 years of age. The then 24 year old singer said that it had been due to her addiction to smoking and drugs. Similarly the original Marlboro Man, actor David Mclean died in 1995 due to lung cancer caused by excessive smoking. All these incidents were caused due to extreme smoking habits. Now the oh-so-cool trend seems more sleazy than stylish.

7th-Graders Discover Mysterious Cave on Mars

A group of seventh-graders in California has discovered a mysterious cave on Mars as part of a research project to study images taken by a NASA spacecraft orbiting the red planet.



The 16 students from teacher Dennis Mitchell's 7th-grade science class at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, Calif., found what looks to be a Martian skylight — a hole in the roof of a cave on Mars.The intrepid students were participating in the Mars Student Imaging Program at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University. The program allows students to frame a research question and then commission a Mars-orbiting camera to take an image to answer their question.


The newfound hole on Mars resembled features seen on other parts of Mars in a 2007 study by Glen Cushing, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist.Cushing suggested that these anomalous pit craters are like skylights — places where a small part of the roof of a cave or a lava tube had collapsed, opening the area below the surface to the sky.


The caves are thought to result from volcanic activity on the red planet. At some point lava channels likely carved out caverns in the rock, and then left behind tunnel, or "lava tubes," when the eruptions were over. They would have been covered when a solid ceiling of cooled material settled on top, and then sections of the ceiling likely collapsed at some point to form the skylight entrances.

Scientists aren't sure what type of materials or deposits could be stored inside. "This pit is certainly new to us," Cushing told the students. "And it is only the second one known to be associated with Pavonis Mons."He estimated the pit to be approximately 620 by 520 feet (190 by 160 meters) wide and 380 feet (115 meters) deep at least.


The young researchers had initially set out to hunt for lava tubes, a common volcanic feature on Earth and Mars."The students developed a research project focused on finding the most common locations of lava tubes on Mars," Mitchell said. "Do they occur most often near the summit of a volcano, on its flanks, or the plains surrounding it?"

The class commissioned a main photo and a backup image of Mars' Pavonis Monsvolcano, targeted on a region that hadn't been imaged up close.The pictures were taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter using its Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument. Both images showed lava tubes, as the students had hoped.But the backup photo provided another surprise: a small, round black spot. It was a hole on Mars leading into the buried cave, researchers said.

The students have submitted their site to be further imaged by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which could reveal enough detail to see inside the hole in the ground.

"The Mars Student Imaging Program is certainly one of the greatest educational programs ever developed," Mitchell said. "It gives the students a good understanding of the way research is conducted and how that research can be important for the scientific community. This has been a wonderful experience." SPACE.COM

Hiding In Plain Sight

HELENA, Mont. – The aging Frank Dryman, a notorious killer from Montana's past, had hidden in plain sight for so long that he forgot he was a wanted man.

In an exclusive jailhouse interview with The Associated Press, Dryman detailed how he invented a whole new life, with a new family, an Arizona wedding chapel business — and even volunteer work for local civic clubs."They just forgot about me," said Dryman, in his first interview since being caught and sent back to the prison he last left in the 1960s. "I was a prominent member of the community."That is, until the grandson of the man he shot six times in the back came looking.

Dryman had been one step ahead of the law since 1951 when he avoided the hangman's noose, a relic of frontier justice still in use at the time.Less than 20 years later he was out on parole. Not content with that good fortune, he skipped out and evaded authorities for four decades. After a while he even forgot about hiding and signed up for V.A. benefits from his days in the Navy in 1948.

Now the 79-year-old Dryman is back behind bars, likely for what remains of his life.He was caught only after his long-ago victim's grandson got curious and started poking around.Dryman was hitching a ride from Shelby cafe owner Clarence Pellett on a cold and snowy day in 1951 when he pulled a gun and ordered Pellett out of his own car and began firing.

Dryman does not deny the crime — just that he's not the same man today. He has been Victor Houston for decades. At the time of the murder, and after being discharged from the Navy for mental issues, he was going by yet another name: Frank Valentine."That kid, Frank Valentine, he just exploded," Dryman says of his crime. "I didn't shoot that man in the back. That wild kid did. That's not me."Victor Houston tried to make up for it by being an honor citizen."

Dryman says he served his time, which he did until paroled. But a Montana Parole Board not accustomed to leniency on those who walk away from supervision was not impressed with Dryman's subsequent good deeds. Last month the board sent him back behind bars to serve what remains of his life sentence.Dryman said he disappeared from parole in California to get away from a wife he didn't like. He said he's not sure why he just didn't leave the wife and remain on parole.

But once gone, he said, he didn't look back. His new wife and family knew nothing of his past. He put down roots in Arizona City painting signs, a trade learned in prison, and performing weddings."I never thought I was a parole violator. I was Victor Houston. I never looked over my shoulder," Dryman said. "I just forgot about it."
On his birthday he used to get two cards from his brother: one for Houston and one for Valentine."I thought it was cute. I had no fear," Dryman said. He said the details of his past are just coming back: the shooting, his original sentence and the cause he became for opponents of the death penalty, and his first stint in prison."Only since I have been back here did I start to think about it," said Dryman. "To be honest, I didn't even remember the victim's name."

Dryman understands he is not likely to get out again now. And he is not kindly disposed to the victim's grandson, the Bellevue, Wash., oral surgeon who became intensely interested in a piece of family history he knew nothing about. Clem Pellett compiled reams of old documents and tracked down his grandfather's killer with the help of a private investigator."I can't blame him for what he did," Dryman said. "But I think it was so wrong he spent so much money getting me here. I feel it is unfair."

Many in the Pellett family do remember the murder. A dozen descendants showed up at the parole hearing when Dryman was rearrested to testify against his release, saying the killing had forever changed the history of the family. They said as kids they lived in fear of hitchhikers — even in fear of Dryman. Some remembered Dryman's courtroom outburst at his first trial that resulted in conviction and a hanging sentence.

"He turned to the judge and said, 'I'm going to kill you,' he turned to the jury and said 'I am going to kill you' and he turned to the crowd and said some stuff like that," said Clem Pellett. "He was an angry young man who felt powerless." Pellett only learned the details of the case last year after cleaning out boxes of old newspaper clippings. His own parents never talked about the murder. He had never even really known the Montana side of his family, where the pain of the killing still lingers.

Pellett, without even talking to those relatives, began a quest to learn more, compiling old records, court transcripts, ancient arrest records for Dryman's petty crimes prior to the shooting — all of which he used to track down his grandfather's killer.

Pellett said he was driven by an intense curiosity, and would now like to meet with Dryman to fill in holes in the story that he may chronicle in a book. Dryman doesn't think he will agree to the meeting.

He also denounces the allegation that he made a courtroom death threat, which Clem Pellett said was confirmed through his research. Dryman lives in a low security wing of the Montana State Prison, wears prison-issue clothing and due to failing eyesight walks with a cane to avoid tripping. Being interviewed in the same parole board room where was he returned to prison for life, Dryman said of Clem Pellett, "He's already got me here, he should be happy. I think they got their pound of flesh, and I accept it."

One of the original prosecutors in the case also never forgot about Dryman. "It was a very notorious case, perhaps the biggest of the time," said John Luke McKeon, now 85. McKeon, a very young assistant attorney general assigned to the case despite his own opposition to the death penalty, said the Montana Supreme Court threw out the hanging sentence amid some of the most intense arguments over the death penalty the state had seen.

McKeon wrote a letter to the parole board in late May asking for leniency, telling the board he thinks Dryman has paid for his crime. But it got there after the board made its decision. The former prosecutor doesn't see any way out for Dryman this time. "I don't think the governor's going to give him exoneration," he said. "I think he is going to die in prison."

Campaign to save the Arabic language in Lebanon

When Randa Makhoul, an art teacher at a school in Beirut, asks her students a question in Arabic, she often gets a reply in English or French.


"It's frustrating to see young people who want speak their mother tongue articulately, but cannot string a sentence together properly," she said at the Notre Dame de Jamhour school in the Lebanese capital. Mrs Makhoul is just one of several Lebanese teachers and parents who are concerned that increasing numbers of young people can no longer speak Arabic well, despite being born and raised in the Middle Eastern county.

She welcomes a government campaign to preserve Arabic in Lebanon, called, "You speak from the east, and he replies from the west". "This campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of protecting Lebanon's official language," says Amal Mansour, media spokesperson at the Lebanese ministry of culture.

"We encourage the learning of foreign languages, but not at the expense of the country's mother-tongue."

Polyglot country

Arabic is the official language of Lebanon, but English and French are widely used.

I regret that my parents did not concentrate on developing my Arabic... It's too late now, but maybe for the younger students in the country something can be doneLara Traad Student, aged 16

Most Lebanese speak French - a legacy of France's colonial rule - and the younger generation gravitates towards English. A growing number of parents send their children to French lycees or British and American curriculum schools, hoping this will one day help them find work and secure a better future. Some even speak to their children in French or English in the home.

Even with Arabic, there is a big difference between the classical, written form of the language and the colloquial spoken Lebanese dialect. The classical language is almost never used in conversation - it's only heard on the news, in official speeches, and some television programmes.

As a result, many young Lebanese struggle with basic Arabic reading and writing skills, and it is not uncommon for students as old as 16 or 17 to speak only broken Arabic.

Wider problem

The problem is seen in several parts of the Arab world where foreign schools are common - the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and most North African states.

Campaign flyers show Arabic in the web-friendly Latin script Citing the wide gap between the formal language and its various colloquial forms within the Arab world, Egyptian philosopher Mustapha Safwaan once wrote that classical Arabic is theoretically a dead language, much like Latin or ancient Greek.

But language expert, Professor Mohamed Said, says classical Arabic is a unifying force in the Arab world. "Classical Arabic is the language of communication, literature, science, philosophy, the arts - it is something that unites the Arab world," says Mr Said, a senior Arabic language lecturer at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

According to Mr Said, colloquial dialects in the Arab world should not be seen as separate linguistic entities, but a continuance of the classical Arabic form. Lebanon's language campaign is the first of its kind to be launched by an Arab government. The culture ministry organises talks in schools to raise awareness among pupils about the importance of protecting their mother tongue, and encouraging them to take pride in it.

Mrs Mansour, the ministry spokeswoman, says the government hopes that protecting the Arabic language in Lebanon will in turn protect the country's identity and heritage. Whether the initiative is enough to change how Lebanon's youth communicate and express themselves is another matter.

Mexico prison gang fighting kills 28

A clash between rival gangs in a prison in Mexico's north-western state of Sinaloa has left some 28 inmates dead. The violence came as dozens were killed on another day of apparent drug-related violence in Mexico.

In the western state of Michoacan, 12 police officers were killed in an ambush by suspected drug cartel gunmen. Both Michoacan and Sinaloa are home to rival drug gangs that have been fighting turf wars and battling security forces. Most of the prisoners killed in Mazatlan jail in Sinaloa were shot dead.

Members of one gang armed with pistols and an assault rifle had forced their way into a cell-block holding prisoners from a rival gang and began shooting, officials said. Two police officers and a prison guard were wounded as they tried to stop the violence. Police and soldiers later regained control of the prison. Local media reports said some of the victims belonged to the Zetas drug gang, which has been fighting the Sinaloa cartel for control of smuggling routes.

Sinaloa state governor Jesus Aguilar warned last week of serious overcrowding at the prison, and asked that serious offenders be transferred.

Ambush

The ambush in Michoacan hit a federal police convoy as it was returning to Mexico City, officials said. Ten police officers were killed in the ambush by suspected cartel gunmen Gunmen blocked the road with trucks and machine-gunned the police vehicles outside a school in the town of Zitacuaro. Police say they killed and wounded some of the attackers, who fled.

Michoacan is the headquarters of La Familia, one of Mexico's most violent drugs gangs. Last year the cartel was blamed for the murder of 12 federal agents, whose tortured bodies were dumped on a highway in Michoacan. At least 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon ordered the army and federal police to combat the cartels.

On Friday, nearly 40 people were killed in two separate attacks blamed on drugs gangs - one in Ciudad Juarez on the US border, the other in Ciudad Madero in north-eastern Tamaulipas state. BBC NEWS

Alienated

I am walking on the shores of the sea, waiting for the waves to touch my feet
The blazing sun and the clear blue waters are new to me
I am not of this world...not from this time

We come from the land of the soil
Where things are dipped in honey and presented by grains of rice
In this new world of which i know nothing
I stand alone time and time again

Though the beings here are not wrong
They act like they do everyday
But all this is new to my eyes
I am not comfortable amongst the big and the green

The eyes glare at me, the mouth snarls at me, the teeth bares at me, the fingers poke me
I hide away in my ship that got me here
Behind my cubicle, amongst the ferns
I feel safe here in my atmosphere

I come here for a short time, wanting to go back, wanting to run away
Is it the world or is the green?
I donot know
Though it fascinates me to be here
Yet i know that i dont belong
Somehow the snarls and the glares attract me more
I move to the edge of my seat
Peeping around to see shyly

The monster opens it's eye slowly
Turing as i turn
Gliding as i glide
Twisting as i twist
Gets hold of me
Opens it's huge jaws and comes to bite me
I smile slyly at him
He doesnot know who i am

Though i am new to this world

The blazing sun and the clear blue water unknown to me

I can smite him where he stands

Can rule what he cant

Can take what he desires

Can crush him as he cries

And finally when i have his hand

I will raise it to the sky

And with all the force that i have in me

Bring it down on my head

And finish what never began

By: Nafeesa Johar

Walk the mile

An ancient shoe uncovered-archeologists intrigued

WASHINGTON – About 5,500 years ago someone in the mountains of Armenia put his best foot forward in what is now the oldest leather shoe ever found.

It'll never be confused with a penny loafer or a track shoe, but the well-preserved footwear was made of a single piece of leather, laced up the front and back, researchers reported Wednesday in PLoS One, a journal of the Public Library of Science.

Worn and shaped by the wearer's right foot, the shoe was found in a cave along with other evidence of human occupation. The shoe had been stuffed with grass, which dated to the same time as the leather of the shoe — between 5,637 and 5,387 years ago.

"This is great luck," enthused archaeologist Ron Pinhasi of University College Cork in Cork, Ireland, who led the research team."We normally only find broken pots, but we have very little information about the day-to-day activity" of these ancient people. "What did they eat? What did they do? What did they wear? This is a chance to see this ... it gives us a real glimpse into society," he said in a telephone interview.

Previously the oldest leather shoe discovered in Europe or Asia was on the famous Otzi, the "Iceman" found frozen in the Alps a few years ago and now preserved in Italy. Otzi has been dated to 5,375 and 5,128 years ago, a few hundred years more recent than the Armenian shoe.

Otzi's shoes were made of deer and bear leather held together by a leather strap. The Armenian shoe appears to be made of cowhide, Pinhasi said.

Older sandals have been found in a cave in Missouri, but those were made of fiber rather than leather.The shoe found in what is now Armenia was found in a pit, along with a broken pot and some wild goat horns.But Pinhasi doesn't think it was thrown away. There was discarded material that had been tossed outside the cave, while this pit was inside in the living area. And while the shoe had been worn, it wasn't worn out.

It's not clear if the grass that filled the shoe was intended as a lining or insulation, or to maintain the shape of the shoe when it was stored, according to the researchers.The Armenian shoe was small by current standards — European size 37 or U.S. women's size 7 — but might have fit a man of that era, according to Pinhasi.

He described the shoe as a single piece of leather cut to fit the foot. The back of the shoe was closed by a lace passing through four sets of eyelets. In the front, 15 pairs of eyelets were used to lace from toe to top.

There was no reinforcement in the sole, just the one layer of soft leather. "I don't know how long it would last in rocky terrain," Pinhasi said.He noted that the shoe is similar to a type of footwear common in the Aran Islands, west of Ireland, up until the 1950s. The Irish version, known as "pampooties" reportedly didn't last long, he said.

"In fact, enormous similarities exist between the manufacturing technique and style of this (Armenian) shoe and those found across Europe at later periods, suggesting that this type of shoe was worn for thousands of years across a large and environmentally diverse region," Pinhasi said.While the Armenian shoe was soft when unearthed, the leather has begun to harden now that it is exposed to air, Pinhasi said.Oh, and unlike a lot of very old shoes, it didn't smell.

Pinhasi said the shoe is currently at the Institute of Archaeology in Yerevan, but he hopes it will be sent to laboratories in either Switzerland or Germany where it can be treated for preservation and then returned to Armenia for display in a museum. Pinhasi, meanwhile, is heading back to Armenia this week, hoping the other shoe will drop.

The research was funded by the National Geographic Society, the Chitjian Foundation, the Gfoeller Foundation, the Steinmetz Family Foundation, the Boochever Foundation and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Spill, baby, spill - indeed. As you read this millions of gallons of oil continue to gush into the Gulf of Mexico - contributing to the massive human, economic and environmental disaster that is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Regular updates from Greenpeace USA are being posted here - where you can also find images and ways for US citizens to act. For those of you outside the US please consider signing our 'Marine Reserves Now!' petition - because the more of our oceans that we protect with marine reserves the less room there will be for oil rigs like Deepwater Horizon, not to mention destructive oil spills of this scale.

Stage Theatre of Lahore Banned

I came across this news story in the Daily Times and I thought I should share this here because we need some solid discussions on issues such as these. Ah Finally!!!! the government is taking some much belated action.

The district government has launched an operation against out-of-script and bawdy dialogue, and ‘vulgar dances’ at various theatres in Lahore on the Punjab government’s directive, said district government officials on Thursday.

Officials said the Punjab government banned actress Nargis for delivering such dialogue and performing a vulgar dance in a play at Mehfil Theatre, on the District Coordination Officer Mian Muhammad Ijaz’s orders.

According to district government officials, actresses did not abstain from such dances in the play titled ‘Jinney Sada Dil Lutia’ even after a warning by the DCO. Nargis, the highest paid stage actress, had introduced vulgar dances, but action could not be taken against her because of her influence, they said, adding that Nargis was back on stage after a couple of days after being banned the last time.

“The performance is detrimental to the norms of society, triggering unrest and creating a law and order situation. The performance corrupted people watching the performance. The Punjab government is convinced that prohibition of such performances is desirable, and there are sufficient grounds to proceed under the Dramatic Performance Act 1876, therefore the government prohibits Nargis’s performance with immediate effect for the spell of this drama,” read the notice served to the actress. Officials said that violation of orders by anybody would result in action in the form of imprisonment or fine or both under Section 4 and 6 of the Dramatic Performance Act 1876. They however said that Nargis could appeal to the Punjab government for the removal of the ban.

France and Belgium Move Toward Veil Bans

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced yesterday that he plans to introduce a ban prohibiting women from wearing a full veil in public. According to Radio France Internationale, Sarkozy plans to move forward to legislate a ban on the wearing of the burqa in public despite warnings from France's State Council that such a law may be unconstitutional. Belgian lawmakers will also begin debate today on similar legislation.

According to ABC News, if the French ban is enacted, violations could lead to a 15 to 25 Euro fine ($22-$36) and jail time up to one week. The ban would apply to all women in public places, such as markets and public buildings, including tourists, reported Radio France Internationale.

After a cabinet meeting chaired by President Sarkozy, French government spokesperson Luc Chatel told Radio France Internationale that the face veil "hurts the dignity of women and is not acceptable in French society. We're legislating for the future. Wearing a full veil is a sign of a community closing in on itself and of a rejection of our values."

Judith Sunderland of Human Rights Watch said in a statement that "at a time when Muslims in Europe feel more vulnerable than ever, the last thing needed is a ban like this...treating pious Muslim women like criminals won't help integrate them."

President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his opposition to the burqa, the head-to-toe garment worn by some Islamic women, in a speech to a joint session of the French Parliament in June 2009. In this speech, he said "The burqa is not welcome in French territory...In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity," reported the Wall Street Journal. This speech, the first presidential address to the legislature in over a century, urged the Parliament to examine the practice of Muslim women in France wearing the burqa. In 2004 the French Parliament passed a law banning students from wearing veils and other religious symbols in public schools.

It is estimated that only about 1,900 women in France wear full veils.

In Belgium, full-coverage veils are currently prohibited in 20 out of 589 Belgian municipalities, similar to local restrictions in Italy and the Netherlands, according to Human Rights Watch.

The Surrendered- by Chang Lee

Chang-rae Lee's three previous novels have moved him into the forefront of contemporary literature. Heavily and justifiably praised by all the traditional mavens of literary opinions, he has won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for first fiction and the Anisfield-Wolf Literary Award among others. The Surrendered has received starred advance reviews.

The reader meets the central characters in the first chapter, a marvelous evocation of war-torn Korea. It is 1950 and the Japanese army is roaring mercilessly through Korea. Eleven-year-old June Han is a refugee fleeing atop a train with her younger brother and sister during a frigid Korean winter. Only June survives and at her nearly last breath she is rescued by Hector Brennan, a young US soldier dejected by the brutality he has witnessed. He leads her to an orphanage run by an American missionary and his beautiful wife, Sylvie Tanner, a woman who harbors a secret.

The actions of these central characters at the orphanage haunt their lives through three decades to a time when June and Hector search for a young man who is missing. The story of this quest is told in flashbacks and multiple narrators. Too often, the transition from the present to the past and back is less than clear, creating difficulty in following the narrative flow, which wanders among 1950 Korea, New York and Italy in the '80s, and China in the '30s.

The inspiration for The Surrendered came from an incident in the life of Lee's father. A refugee during the Korean War, his younger brother was killed while they were riding on top of a train. Most of the description in the book is fictionalized since his father provided only the bare details, yet the sense of loss his father must have felt is explored in a central theme of the novel. One has to surrender to forces beyond one's control as Fate will determine the arc of a person's life. Hector (who happens to be from Ilion, New York), Fate, and a journey (odyssey) refer to key themes in their allusions to classical Greek literature. A major theme revolves around the impact of war, including guilt, bitterness, and confusion. Finally, as if Fate had stepped in, a sense of silent fortitude endures.

This sprawling and unfocused novel, Lee's fourth and most ambitious, has the mood of a literary masterpiece, but it falls just short. There is beautifully written prose, poetic in its imagery and emotion, but the language does not always contribute to the movement of plot or development of character. There are memorable characters, but only a limited number are completely rounded and for whom one feels a sense of investment in their fictional lives. Despite these quibbles, it remains a satisfying read, certain to be greeted with enthusiasm by Chang-rae Lee's legion of fans. And, perhaps one could argue that the seeming disorganization is a grand metaphor for the unease that war so often inflicts on both its participants and its victims.

World's shortest Horse!

So here's this really interesting news that I stumbled upon…a mere 17 inch horse! See for yourself in the picture! The world's smallest horse. A miniature dwarf!

The authorities have christened her Thumbeline (really cute….you know why!) and she has been reported as the world's official most shortest horse. The real Thumelina was born on an American farm to a couple who specialize in breeding miniature horses.

Now she is so small and so cute you could hold her in your hands and breed her like little puppies (Pet lovers and puppy crazy…I see you heart go BOOM! he…he..).

Horses usually weight about 250lb and rise to a height of 34 inches when they are fully grown. But for Thumbelina, it's a different story. Ever since she was born, she the day she was born it was clear that tiny Thumbelina would never grow to that size. She weighed in at only 8lb - the size of a new-born baby - when she was born. Eventually she grew to just 60 lb.

People are enthralled by her and she is a show stopper in her hometown, America. She has been affected by a horse disease called Dwarfism. Her owners, the Goessling family in Goose Creek farm in St. Louis, are in awe of her. They say she likes to hang out with the cocker spaniels rather than the other horses on their 150-acre farm. ( Now that gets me thinking…)

Quoting the family's words, "Because her legs are proportionally smaller than her body and her head, she has to wear orthopaedic fittings to straighten them out a lot of the time."

"But we love her and wouldn't want her any other way," said Michael Goessling, whose parents Kay and Paul bred the miniature horses.

As seen in the picture, the cute little miniature measures or reaches only uptil the lower thigh of horses! You just need to feed her a cup of grain and a handful of hay, served twice a day. Unfortunately, she is expected to live to the age of 17 years only because of her size - normal horses live for about 35 years.

Paglinang Child Survival Program

The Paglinang Child Survival Program (CSP) serves little ones through the age of 3 years and their primary caregivers, as well as expectant mothers. Enrolled families receive regular food supplements, including rice, vegetables and fruit, as well as a welcome basket filled with shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toys and a Bible. Caregivers attend child-care training workshops where they learn about home and personal hygiene, food preparation, disease prevention and first aid.

The program provides prenatal care for expectant mothers, and workers teach these mothers about childbirth and newborn care. Caregivers learn how to engage their children in games and activities that will provide spiritual, mental, social and physical development.

Program workers make regular home visits for one-on-one training, helping mothers apply the skills they've learned. During these home visits, workers also monitor the health and progress of mothers and children and ensure that each child receives timely immunizations and necessary medical care.

Most adults in Caloocan City find sporadic work as day laborers, acting as construction workers and maids for little more than U.S.$3 a day. These low salaries prevent many families from sending their sons and daughters to school, and 60 percent of children here will never set foot in a classroom.

Children in this region suffer from tuberculosis, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition. Thirty percent have no access to medical care. Mothers rarely receive follow-up care after giving birth, and thousands die each year from birth-related complications and infections.

Your prayers and contributions for the Paglinang Child Survival Program provide mothers with the knowledge and the resources to raise happy, healthy children. You can make a difference in the lives of mothers and their infant children by becoming a partner for this program today.

When is Mothers Day 2010?

When is Mothers Day 2010? – For all who want to confirm when is Mother Day 2010, this is to inform you that this important celebration is set to happen on May 9, 2010. This is the time to celebrate with your mom,why not look for  a perfect gift to your mother now and plan ahead of time of how you will celebrate this precious day of your mother.

As a tradition, many people are looking for Mother’s day gifts, like flowers, candy, gift baskets and jewerly. Mother’s Day is considered as an important event to celebrate with million of people around the world.

So what are you waiting for? Plan ahead of time, and think for a very special gift to your Mother as few days left for the celebration of Mothers Day 2010.

Teacher guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old

A teacher from Manchester, New Hampshire, United States was proven guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old girl. Matthew Knott, from Isaac Way in Miles Platting, was pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court because of having sexual activity with a minor.

Knott met the young girl twice in May. The poor little girl was not even a student at his school.
The teacher, who worked at Elton High School in Bury, was suspended and will be sentenced this September. This was his first job and now he was suspended.

Knott’s parents are also informed about what happened.

WWE 2010 Extreme!

The most exciting and jaw-dropping WWE episode this month is now over and the results are now published online. WWE Extreme Rules 2010 is a professional pay-per-view event that is produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment.

WWE extreme this year 2010 was live on PPV yesterday, April 25, 2010 at 8:00pm ET. WWE Extreme Rules 2010 was held in the city of Baltimore, Maryland in the 1st Mariner Arena.

So much for the nonsensical chit chats, here are the WWE Extreme Rules 2010 Results of all matches

• World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger vs. Randy Orton – Jack Swagger defeated Randy Orton.
• WWE champion John Cena defeated Batista
• Edge defeated Chris Jericho
• Sheamus defeated Triple H
• CM Punk defeated Rey Mysterio
• Women’s Champion Michelle McCool lost to Beth Phoenix
• JTG defeated Shad Gaspard

Another new NOKIA phone

All giant mobile manufacturers can’t seem to stop making smartphones. Obviously, they will never stop because it’s their damn job. If iPhone released the iPhone 4, and Blackberry released the Blackberry Bold 9650, Nokia will never make this big boys humiliate them.

The latest Nokia smartphone is now out in the wild and it’s Nokia N8. It’s just another touchscreen phone that will obviously not click, because Nokia right now is not really doing well against its counterparts. If ever, they will decide to use an Android OS in their handsets, there’s a bit of chance that they will reign again as the king of the mobile industry.
Anyway, so much for bashing Nokia. Let’s talk about Nokia N8. Oh, never mind, I don’t want to talk about it either and I’m not really surprised of this new Nokia phone.

If you’re a really BIG Nokia fan and you want to read a detailed review and see more pictures of N8, then this link is for you. (And oh, don’t forget to translate the website because it’s Russian)

If you’re one of us who realized that Nokia is just wasting our time, then just don’t click the link I gave.

New Discoveries by the Hubble Telescope

Hubble Telescope Images and Photos are really astounding to see. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Telescope. People are getting so excited after Google made the whole world aware about the Hubble Telescope.The telescope was named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble. It is not the first telescope in space but is one of the most vitally used and successful telescope sent in 1990.

Hubble Telescope images, pictures and photos grabbed the headlines of major news websites and blogs online.

The Hubble Space Telescope made a history and is now 20 years in orbit.Hundreds of Hubble Telescope images are available in Google, Yahoo and Bing image search index.

There are so many interesting images that was captured by the Hubble telescope. One of these is the Giant Eye. The Giant Eye is considered a jewel by astronomers. It was launched into space by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA in the ‘Discovery’ on April 24, 1990.

The highlights of the telescope are the images of the comet’s approach ‘Shoremaker-Levy 9′ Jupiter in 1994 and the discovery that the universe is expanding in 1998.

There have been almost 5000 scientific articles with data collected by the Hubble telescope, a figure that confirms its great scientific importance.

ESA said “The Hubble is responsible for much of the astronomical discoveries of history: the deepest views of the universe, as well as a more precise knowledge of the same age, the characterization of their black holes and the exo-planets orbiting other stars.“

Uninvited Guests Crash White House Party

Do you know Tareq and Michaele Salahi? Well, neither does the White House. But they were able to penetrate layers of security by the Secret Service and attend US President Barack Obama’s White House state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The couple originally comes from northern Virginia and was not on the official guest list but managed to get inside and was detected only after they could not find any seats in the South Lawn tent where the dinner was held.

U.S. Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan says, “An initial finding has identified one of our checkpoints that did not follow proper procedures.”

The couple were described as aspiring reality-TV stars and polo-playing socialites. Now, a dozen pictures posted on Facebook appear to show the couple posing with dinner guests including Vice President Joe Biden, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, CBS News anchor Katie Couric, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Earthquake Hits Taiwan

Yesterday, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit the southeast coast of Taiwan. This was based on the reports made by the U.S. Geological Survey. Initially, the earthquake was reported to have a magnitude of 6.9, but was then brought down to 6.5. The Taiwan earthquake caused buildings to sway for about 20 seconds but fortunately, there were no reported deaths nor damages. 

The earthquake struck Taiwan at exactly 10:59 in the morning (local GMT time). The specific location of the shaker is 195 miles or 295 kilometers from Tai-tung City, which is located at the southern portion of Taiwan. The earthquake’s depth is 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers. 

Taiwan is frequently hit by earthquakes (aside from typhoons that serve as regular visitors) although the shakers that pass by the small country often cause just minor or no damage at all. The most disastrous earthquake that struck Taiwan came during the year 1999. This was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit central Taiwan and killed a total number of 2,300 people. Taiwan, along with the Philippines, sit on top of the Pacific Ring of Fire and because of this, seismic and volcanic activities are often experienced by the two neighboring countries.

STAPLES, WORKSHEETS…AND THE DREADED 15 MINUTES

“I want the presentation by the 14^th class along with the reports, the topics for the final will be decided then only”…alas! It is the time we wait for the most…or dread. Whichever it may be we know that sooner or later we have to face it…reports, finals and the presentations. I thought a lot before writing this down, assuming that a lot of people would be on the verge of a panic attack like I always am when exams come up and piles of paper start smacking my head in dreams that turn into nightmares filled with ink pots, stacks of notes, feverish revisions and the ever famous what- would- mom- say- if- I- didn’t- get- a- job (this one’s for our graduating students).

Well the scenario in SZABIST before the semester ends is not quite different from anywhere else. First we have our classic nerds who can’t wait for the exams to start so that they can test their amazing skills and see how the magic of their pen builds a relation with their Einsteinic mind, leaving us lower human life forms to crawl behind praying for the marks that might be left for us.

Next we have the still- not –finished- with –my- work types who want to study for the exams for unfortunately cannot as they are in too much debt, completing not only their work but of others around them too. You see these people running from the photo copier to the computer lab and back again, fighting with the canteen guy for not having stable coffee to keep them calm and repeatedly cursing the printers.

Lastly we have the never- have- and- never- wills. The coolest group of people who don’t let trivial matters like final exams that would either make or break their gpa affect them in anyway whatsoever. We see these types lounging away the time texting their friends, talking about the latest trends or smoking away casually just two minutes before the exam, claiming to have not studied a bit. But whether they openly show it off or hide it behind dark shades, it is a well known fact that every student here at SZABIST is tensed whether they like it or not.

Oh but it’s not just the students who are tensed. It’s our administration that has to be on their toes too. I mean its not easy screaming repeatedly in the auditorium “do your paper, do your paper” while invidulation, or changing the seats of overly excited students who not only want to do their paper but fully assist others in theirs as well. Arranging tables and chairs even in the farthest corner of the room trying to cram everyone in while getting suggestions from students that drive you up the wall.

Our dear professors have a hard time on their own. The popularity of every teacher at SZABIST which throughout the year is reduced to snide remarks, creased eyebrows and grinded teeth from the students, rises sharply when the finals loom in. Every where we see students following their teachers around, asking the never ending last minute questions with their little friends tagging along till the prof’s have to take refuge in the bathrooms. Long lines outside offices and the occasional “please don’t fail me sir!” during exams. Our teachers enjoy being on the throne and if you have one’s like I do then you would be banging your head against the wall trying to remember that last point while you hear them snickering behind you, giving you lordly looks that confuse you till you just want o rip you sheet off.

But whether it is students, teachers or the administration everyone here knows that in the end we would be going back home with good memories…oh who am I kidding? We would still be biting off our remaining nails till the results come. BEST OF LUCK everyone.

Death of two top Al-Qaeda figures

The U.S. and Iraq claimed a major victory against al-Qaida on Monday, saying their forces killed the terror group's two top figures in this country in an air and ground assault on their safe house near Saddam Hussein's hometown.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri at a news conference and showed photographs of their bloody corpses.

U.S. military officials later confirmed the deaths, which Vice President Joe Biden called a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq.

Al-Qaida in Iraq has remained a dangerous force as the U.S. prepares to withdraw most of its troops. The terror group has launched repeated attacks on civilian targets in Baghdad in an attempt to sow chaos and exploit political deadlock in the wake of the inconclusive March 7 parliamentary elections.

Monday's announcement comes at a critical time for al-Maliki, who has staked his reputation on being the man who can restore stability to Iraq after years of bloodshed. The prime minister is locked in a tight contest with secular challenger Ayad Allawi to see who will form the next government.

Sascha Arora Akhtar- The notable 20th century poet

Sascha Arora Akhtar was born in Pakistan but then left for England to do her studies. She has done her B.A in liberal arts from Bennington College where she has done filmmaking, photography and English literature. She then did her masters in creative writing. Akhtar has been regarded as one of the most promising new writers and poets of the 20th century by the Guardian. Her work appears in the Shearsman anthology on UK women’s poetries, “Infinite Difference.”  She also works as a literary reviewer and arts journalist and is the first Pakistani woman writing in English to be published in the Western “avant garde” tradition.

She presented a collection of her works along with her readings on Saturday 24^th April 2010 at The Second floor T2F. A gathering sat down and listened to her as she recited some of her famous poems. The event ended at a performance by some of the local folk song group and to numerous applause.

Okinawa Pact

Following the Battle of Okinawa, the U.S. occupied Okinawa, and Okinawa become a U.S. territory until control of Okinawa was reverted to Japan in 1972. Many U.S. bases remained in Okinawa (“Okinawa Japan,” n.d.).

Today, Okinawa, accounting for less than one percent of Japan’s land, hosts two-thirds of the 40,000. American bases in Japan. U.S. bases in occupy 18 % of the available land on Okinawa’s main island. (“Okinawa prefecture,” 2010).

Sumida (2009) reports “A large segment of the [Okinawan] population believes the U.S. took their land at the end of World War II at the point of ‘bayonets and bulldozers,’ costing many families their homes and farms” and “[w]hen the prefecture was returned to Japan in 1972, many Okinawans felt betrayed because many U.S. military bases remained, and the Japan Self-Defense Forces took other bases given up by the Americans. Some Okinawan critics continue to argue that they bear an unfair burden by hosting 75 percent of the land solely used for U.S. bases in all of Japan.”

Brook (2005) also explains “Okinawa’s trauma over what happened after 545,000 U.S. troops attacked this small archipelago is still deep. People on Japan’s southernmost islands want more recognition from Japanese society for their sufferings.”

In 2006, the U.S. and Japan agreed to move Futenma base to another part of Okinawa. The decision was made in reaction to Okinawan outrage at the rape of a 12 year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. soldiers. Stressing the importance of reducing “the burden of Okinawa residents”, Japan’s new Prime Minister Hatoyama, has been trying to move the Futenma base outside of the prefecture. But, the Hatoyama administration is caught between the pressure to maintain the U.S.-Japan agreement of 2006, and also Okinawans’ wishes to reduce the U.S. military presence in Okinawa.

Twitter vs. Facebook...Who wins the battle?

When it comes to reaching out to your social graph for help or answers to questions, Facebook leans towards a very “traditional marketing” approach in the way that it lets you communicate. You can either directly contact someone with your message or post something in your status or profile.

As echoed many times throughout the course of 2007, business professionals are adopting the use of Facebook at a rapid pace. That still doesn’t change the mostly passive way it operates as a communications tool. For the business professional, Facebook is a fun, great less formal alternative to LinkedIn. It allows you to build an online calling card of sorts and it provides the ability to keep your contacts up to date on the latest happenings in your life through photos and video. True conversation can be found through discussion threads within Facebook groups. Finding groups that both match your interests - and that are consistently active - can be a hit or miss situation.

On the other hand, Twitter does one thing and it does it well. It’s all about the conversation and there is always someone there to who will see your message. From the outside looking in, it’s often hard for people to understand the value that Twitter brings to the table. Plus twitter give you access to academic journals and researches.Its value is directly related to the quality of the people that you choose to follow. My Twitter network has grown substantially faster than my friends on Facebook. In fact, a good portion of my friends on Facebook are folks who I originally connected with on Twitter. It’s all about increasing your tweets.

In the end, I don’t think either Facebook or Twitter can be deemed better than the other. They both server different purposes and provide different mechanisms for communicating with your peers or target audiences. Facebook is feature-rich and offers passive and indirect communication tools. Twitter focuses specifically on the conversation and enables more immediate and direct communication with your all of your “Followers.” What do you think? If you have a Twitter or Facebook success story, we’d love to hear about it!

Press Release

Provincial Disaster Risk Management plan was launched Mr. Ghulam Ali Pasha a senior member of board revenue at a local hotel on August 12. 


This plan has been organized to benefit in times of disaster or natural calamity. he hoped that it would help the government with solving some major problems like lack of labor,emergency response etc.


The plan would also provide help to the civilians who were needed to be put into hospitals or had to be restored financially. Mr. Pasha in his speech thanked the UND[P for aiding him in this project and hoped taht it would come as a success for the people of Pakistan.