Military operations and their lethality

In Eastern Afghanistan, US soldiers on patrol during a Western military operation have been found guilty of the death of ten Afghan civilians, eight of them school children.  This statement was reported by the Aghani President Hamid Karzai’s office. The president himself was extremely enraged by this incident and he condemned the killings appointing a delegation to investigate the incident. 

The initial reports ‘indicate that in a series of operations by international forces in Kunar province.. 10 civilians, eight of them school students, have been killed’. International forces have always been a source for unnecessary civilian death. Unfortunately however, their presence continues to haunt many people, parents, children and family. The reason for their presence is always the same, security and investigation. But their actions to the goals more than always seem to suggest the opposite.

Most of these incidents are not even reported, but once in a while, in a nation ravaged by war and unrest, some of the situations come to public notice. After this recent incident that happened on Saturday, the President’s own politicians were given the responsibility of creating a new cabinet to protect the civilian casualties.
Defending their purpose and stance, the Western military officials stated that they had been conducting operations against the militant insurgents  in the border regions of Kunar; that they have been killing a lot of Taliban and captured a few too.
Unless now school children are included in their criteria for defining and characterizing Talibans, in my opinion, they have not explained the intentions behind their unnecessary and violent attacks at all.

A look into your Second Life

Have you ever wondered what it was like to have a second life?
One where you could shop for free, build your house, create your own clothes, go clubbing every night, eat anything you                            wanted, how much you wanted and even fly?

This has now been made possible by Linden Labs Research (Inc) who founded a virtual world called “Second Life” where users do just that.  They created a free client program called the Viewer which allows their users to interact with each other through the use of ‘Avatars’.

These are costumes or appearances that users can wear (human, animal, vegetable, mineral or combination) and can even choose to look like the way they do in their real life. The residents of Second life can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities and even travel around the world.

Linden Labs was founded by Philip Rosedale who developed a computer hardware allowing people to log into a virtual world. Their vision created Second Life, where people partipated in task-based games and socializing in a three dimensional online environment.

Happy Meal; truly happy or not?

Do you ever wonder what happens to food if left alone to decompose? It simply does just that. Decompose. Bugs will swarm over it, it will get all shrivelly and smelly and may even start leaking.
However, it seems produce from the fast food chain we all love and hate "McDonalds" does not decompose very well. Does that even make it food? If eatables do not decompose in air, one can only imagine the damage they must be doing to our intestines.
Sally Davies, a New York Artist found herself purchasing a happy meal from McDonalds one day and found herself curious as to what it would look like if simply left there on her table top. She photographed its decomposition process almost everyday on her Flickr account and  the results after 6 months showed the burger and fries as almost in the exact same position and shape as the original fresh ones.

Fresh Happy Meal (left) and 180 day old Happy Meal (right)

This caused concern and fresh speculation upon the contents of McDonalds food, in addition to the slander from Morgan Spurlocks documentary 'Supersize me' and other rumours of its chicken abuse and adulterated meat (injected with supplement chemicals to make it bigger).
In case you're wondering, this is what happens when normal food, untouched with chemicals is left to decompose. A netblogger by the name of Snack Girl (http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/cheeseburger-take-2-day-11/) tried redoing this experiment by watching the process of two burgers, one a McDonalds cheese burger and the other a homemade cheeseburger for 11 days. After the proposed time period, this was the result

McDonalds cheese burger after 11 days.

 










 Homemade cheese burger after 11 days


This goes to show, therefore that McDonalds fills its food with preservatives, that 'surprisingly' are not good for your body at all.
Here's another reason why we should avoid going out for lunch.

Famous Personalities and Adversity

Adversity comes to us in many forms and packaging; in the form of
poverty, bankruptcy or threat to oneself. I believe most of us live in
an enclosed and secure bubble for most of our lives, and that bubble
can only be penetrated by the sharp barb of hardship.  When confronted
by misfortune, one is forced to perceive and handle situations in a
different way, widening one’s ability to survive in different
environments. It is fairly obvious how this can lead to develop a
stronger resilience and assist in handling other adversities as they
may come.
I take the example of a famous television personality Oprah Winfrey
who born out of wedlock and was subject to a great many hardships in
her life as she grew up; often having to shift between states and
parents and living in poverty. Instead of having the effect of
crushing her, she rebelled through her misfortune and by studying hard
she made a position for herself as a news anchor on television,
finally earning her way into her own show.
Creative geniuses are often born out of adversity. Maya  Angelou,
famous autobiographer and poet, in her book ‘I know why the caged bird
sings’ is based on the first 17 years of her life, during which she
was abused, both sexually and emotionally and as a result of which
remained almost mute for nearly 5 years. Angelou spread her story to
the world, and in doing so she became the author of many acclaimed
novels as well as Northern Coordinator of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Her adversity made her
powerful and allowed her to help many more people with the strength
she gained from it.
In light of the above evidence, I think it safe to assume that there
is a great deal of potential to be gained from learning from ones
adversities. Not only does it show true prowess in the face of
hardship, but also a tenacious character refusing to let anything drag
you down.

KESC offers second chance to Kunda users

The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) formed a new plan to eliminate the many Kunda connections draining the city of its already depleted power supply. This is the ‘Community Anti-Theft Social Development Partnership Programme’ in Korangi Sector No 10 which allows Kunda system using local residents to receive new electricity connections from KESC.
A new office was opened in Korangi for receiving more connection applications for the people wishing to deposit their papers for new connections, this office is called ‘New Connection Mobile Service’
The companies spread into that area was a matter of celebration and a ceremony was held to launch its connection drive into Korangi. The ceremony was organized to get a response and spread this new policy to the 40,000 to 50,000 residents of that area, a recently developed Korangi Sector, Bagh-e-Millat that housed 2500 households all using electric power through Kundas.
KESC is offering these residents a new connection at a discount price of 50%, 6000 instead of 12000 rupees. The problem with this programme, as far as I can see is that though its Samaritan like in nature and helpful, they are targeting a population of Karachi that has food and water as its basic priorities first and it is highly unlikely that an electric connection even at half the price for what its worth will be more elusive than the free connection they had before. They did however state that under a new connection, no outstanding dues will be charged for the past illegal use of power.
KESC also hopes to spread this offer to the rest of the city in the hopes that they can eliminate the illegal Kunda connection draining the power of the city once and for all.

The book “great women of Islam” by Mahmood Ahmad Ghadanfar

Today when we think of a muslim women, what is the first image that comes into our mind: An oppressed, powerless women, locked behind the “chaar diwaar”, been beaten up every day and also facing the concept of “glass ceiling” in every aspect of their lives. However, this is not the image which was portrayed by the first few Muslim women way back in 14th century Arabia. Sure, in that time, they didn't come suited and booted ready to take on the world. But they did come fully clad in the attire the Quran instructed for them, and were ready to take on the Arabian Peninsula, in their own gentle but lively way.

Many of us know what Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA), Umar(RA), Bilal(RA) and many others Sahabis (male companions of Muhammad (SAW) )did for Islam and how they put their lives at stakes for this ‘deen’ in their own dynamic ways (subanAllah); However, how many of us are aware of what Mother of believers Aisha (RA), Umme Salim, Umme Salit, and many other early muslim women reverts  (aka Sahabiyat i.e. women companions) did for islam and our beloved Prophet(SAW).

Through this book, we are introduced to a different viewpoint. This book shows us that there was no sphere of activity that did not benefited from the intellect and wisdom of the pious sahabiyat of Muhammad (SAW). They were as active in religion as in politics, courageous at battlefield, dynamic in the field of education, in the courts of Islamic jurisprudence, in the court of shariah, in trade and commerce in agriculture, in medicine, in nursing.

Is Love a delusion?

Love is NOT a delusion

As long as we have known, generation after generation have searched
for true love, its reputation; much like the Holy Grail has become
weak in the dejected minds of those with its unrequited forms. What
people do not seem to understand is, that love is not a construct in
their heads, its not simply an illusion of grandeur, it is NOT a
delusion.
Love is the emotion of giving and receiving, of appreciating and
caring for something or someone to the extent that they be willing to
give everything for it, its not unlike the love a mother has for her
child, the love a child has for his parents or the love of two people
in a long happy marriage, you can even see it in animals!
Any emotion taken to the extreme can cause you pain, anger is good to
protect yourself from falsification, but its extremity is deadly.
Grief can remind you of what is most precious and consequences of
mistakes, but its extreme can once again be lethal to you. In the same
way, love is an honest emotion that taken in its true sense i.e.
understanding, compromise, respect, loyalty and affection can bless
your life with immense happiness, earning you a lifetime of
partnership and friendship and giving you all the benefits of a
gratified life. So don’t run away from love by fearing what may happen
if you trip in its pursuit, because when you finally reach a love
worth sacrificing for, one in which you receive as well as give
affection, I can guarantee you will never regret it.