Celebrating snowfall [hailstorm] in Lahore
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Believe it or not – the above video is not a fake or a scene from Murree or Abbottabad. It is Lahore that received a massive hailstorm a yesterday that looked as if it had had real snowfall. This is really amazing and awesome. People rush to Murree, the nearest place one can enjoy true winters with snow falling. But this hailstorm was a blessing for those who have never been to Murree and have never seen so much of snow. The drive along the Lahore Canal seems beautiful.
God luck, Lahorites!! Enjoy the chill, says
Related: Equally strange was snowfall in Islamabad in 2008
With thanks to Jalal HB.
Labels: Lahore
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/26/2011 09:53:00 PM,
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Top bloggers
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Browsing the blogsphere, I came to a list of 30 most influential bloggers and website owners of 2010 that includes some of my most favorit bloggers from Darren Rowse to Chris Garrett and many others (some names of my personal favs like Seth Godin and more are not there in the list) in between.
Living in the attention age, these skilled and serious professional are creating waves in their areas of interest, catching and holding attention of millions of readers by their hard work.
How do they do that? How do they get tons of site traffic for search engines? How do they make money from blogging? In addition to the repute their names they have earned and quality they deliver, I found out that some of those are posting as much as 40 articles per day (average). They are doing it for a long time and most of them are pretty old in this field (age of the domain matters). As they write better, people link to their articles increases their link popularity (number and quality of back links) that ultimately leaders to higher Google page rank that make their pages appear higher in searches. All this is so interlinked and happens simultaneously and you really can’t separate one action from the other.
Explore these top bloggers and see what they are offering and how? How do they create an impact? Can they contribute to your own success as a blogger?
Labels: Bloggers, Fine Art of Blogging
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/24/2011 10:06:00 AM,
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Wave of revolt comes from Egypt over to Libya
That is what Kadhafi has earned during past forty years of rule? Related: Freedom uploading
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/24/2011 08:15:00 AM,
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I am at war with myself
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
You seem to be doing odd thing all the time – sitting in sun and avoiding cold water during summers, sitting in shad and having chilled water in winters, keeping awake during nights, eating less and walking the streets despite having the facility of transport. Everyone else goes to gardens whereas you go for wilderness.I am all right. Only I am at war with myself.
What for?
To conquer myself!
What will you achieve by this?
I will be able to get what I want done by myself – creation of a new world.
Translated from Sitaroon Ki Bastiyan by Abbas Khan
Labels: Abbas Khan, Books, Fiction, Literature, Sitaroon Ki Bastiyan
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/23/2011 03:31:00 PM,
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Battle within
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
There are no chances of this horrible battle coming to an end.
United Nations will sure manage to end this.
No, no. I am not talking of war that has been imposed upon our country.
Which battle are you talking about?
The one which waging within!
Labels: Sitaroon Ki Bastiyan
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/22/2011 02:17:00 PM,
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Wikileaks Afghanistan: black operations' 'kill or capture' missions
Sunday, 20 February 2011
The secret work of Task Force 373, the American military unit tasked with the "kill or capture" of senior Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents is uncovered by the leaked documents. Is Raymond Davis member of TF373?
The black operations unit of special-forces troops is hunting more than 2,000 people on a list of those wanted in Afghanistan.
Many of the details of the operations differ from the publicly-released accounts. The leaked documents disclose that civilians and Afghan police officers have been accidentally killed. President Barack Obama has recently increased the scope of the unit's work.
The leaked documents also detail how the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has expanded paramilitary operations in Afghanistan. They launch ambushes, order air strikes and conduct night raids. Between 2001 and 2008, the CIA paid the budget of Afghanistan's spy agency and effectively ran it as a subsidiary.
The documents show that among those listed who have been captured or killed are Shah Agha, described as an intelligence officer for an insurgent cell, who was killed in June 2009. Amir Jan Mutaki, a Taliban sub-commander who organised ambushes on coalition forces was also killed in an air strike last year. And a man code-named "Ballentine" was killed last November during an attack on the village of Lewani. A local civilian woman was also reported to have been killed.
Read more »Labels: Wikileaks
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/20/2011 02:15:00 PM,
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Karachi chapter get together
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Karachi chapter [55 PMA Long Course] get together on Feb 12, 2011
Labels: 55 PMA, Get Together, Karachi, Men At Their Best
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/19/2011 01:08:00 PM,
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Learning curve
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/19/2011 09:28:00 AM,
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Cricket World Cup 2011 fever
Friday, 18 February 2011
Pakistani sand artist Muhammad Arif gestures after building a sand sculpture of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011 on the seashore of Karachi. – Photo by AP
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/18/2011 05:30:00 PM,
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Setting the pace for African energy
In a bid to promote African Energy through the use of solar energy, the Centre for Appropriate Technology, CAT – Cameroon in partnership with Senior Expect Service (SES) Boon-Germany and Society for the Advancement of Culture (DGFK) Berlin Germany have for the past days organizing “open day” and public exhibitions on some appropriate technologies as solutions to Climate Change and adaptation.
A series of solar training workshops for students in Cameroon and the North West Region in particular by CAT Cameroon and its partners is training students on photovoltaic system which is a solar energy system that provides electricity directly from sunlight. It produces clean, reliable energy without consuming fossil fuel and can be used in wide varieties of application like radio, lighting and even large scale electricity supplies.
Before promoting the use of solar energy, CAT Cameroon led by its Director Njini Victor, SES led by Dr. Norbert Pintsch, DGFK led by Lutz Fluegge and Mrs. Renale Perrier have been cress-crossing schools in the North West Region educating the students that conventional fuel sources have created a myriad of environmental hazards such as global warming, acid rain, smog, water pollution, rapid filling waste disposal sites, destruction of habitat from fuel spills and the loss of natural resources. It is against this back drop that CAT and its partners are out to educate the entire population that photovoltaic systems do not pose these environmental problems.
Today, many photovoltaic modules use silicon as their major component. The silicon cells manufactured from one tone of sand can produce as much electricity as burning 500.000 tons of coal. Today, photovoltaic modules supply electricity to more than one million homes and create hundreds of thousands of jobs world wide. One of such sensitization tours took place at Alah-Nkie at the Royal Development Cooperation Foundation. The free passive solar Active Technology training workshop brought students from ENS Bambili, students on Youth Forum Programme from CRTV Bamenda. In the presence of Prof Norbert Pintsch, Lutz Fluegge and Renale Perrier, CAT’s project coordinator Njini Victor drilled the students and villagers on the need for the use of solar energy and the various environmental problems caused by conventional fuel sources. In the long and short of it, it was a free passive solar active technology training workshop for the students and villagers characterized by interactive stage plays by Lutz and Renale as part of their ongoing campaign against environmental degradation and climate change and adaptation for children in Cameroon.
At Baptist Comprehensive College Nkwen, students and teachers were equally drilled on the need to diversify and choose solar energy because it serves health and money. Njini Victor outlined the disadvantages of relying on other sources of energy than solar energy. He and his team also sensitized the students and teachers on how medicinal friendly trees can be planted to prevent global warming. Before the workshop rounded up, students were called upon that the only way forward is to have an autonomous
house that produces its own electricity. The students were taken aback when they saw some demonstrations on the use of solar energy on household equipment. The principal of the school Bumenang Eugene appreciated CAT and its partners for choosing his institution as one of the beneficiaries of the workshop.
Over the years, CAT-Cameroon has been collaborating with schools like JMBC Ndu, BCHS Njinikejem Belo, SAC Kumbo, BHS Mankon and others, organizing free passive solar active technology training workshops for students. It has also been organizing open days or public exhibitions on some appropriate technologies as solutions to climate change and adaptation.
During such, some site attractions like cooking, baking, drying, boiling, lighting with solar energy have often taken pride of place. It should be noted that CAT Cameroon has been excelling in the field of appropriate technology with a ten year experience. They have also been working in partnership with Africa Energy in Arizona in the US.
Away from that, song, dance and fanfare characterized the arrival of Njini Victor, CAT Director, Prof Norbert, Lutz and Renate at the Alah – Nkie Royal Home for the laying of the Foundation stone for the construction of the Royal Rehabilitation Centre for the treatment of mentally handicapped persons, the abandoned and under-privileged children. The project according to Prof. Norbert is an example of appropriate technology, financing and implementation in a rural area based upon, traditional methods, local materials, autonomous functioning and flexible. The project is expected to engulf a walloping sum of FCFA 300 million.
The project designed by the Institute for Planning and Consultancy IPC in Germany, is expected to have a school, hospital, workshops, a Biogas plant, solar installations and rooms. According to Prof. Norbert, the project is one in Africa and its construction will depend on foreign donors, and the Government of Cameroon.
Appreciating the gesture, the Regional Delegate for Culture North west congratulated Prof. Norbert Pintsch for helping Ambassador Simon to realize the project which will go a long way to improve on lives. He congratulated Prof. Norbert, Lutz, Renate and Njini Victor for coming to lay the Foundation Stone. He equally lauded CAT Cameroon for the efforts to educate people on the need for solar energy. The Delegate called on Njini Victor not to relent his efforts because if solar energy is propagated as it has to be, and then there will be a solution to frequent power cuts.
The Royal Rehabilitation Centre for the care and treatment of mentally handicapped persons and the under - privileged and the people’s centre for development is a project of Ambassador Simon Tabufor Lesley who saw the effectiveness of his medicines for the treatment of mentally handicapped persons and to reduce the high number of mental patients in our streets.
Read more »Labels: Cameroon, CAT, Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/18/2011 09:23:00 AM,
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The loniliest place on Earth
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Labels: Sweet Tweets
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/17/2011 01:35:00 PM,
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Gunslinger With Immunity
There were lots of things to be afraid of in Baghdad in the bad old days — kidnapping, beheading, truck bombs — but nothing scared me more than trigger-happy Americans who careened out of the Green Zone, ready to shoot anybody and anything they saw as a real or imagined threat. Many were not soldiers, but private security guards under government contract who could, and did, kill with impunity — seemingly a law unto themselves.On a recent visit to Pakistan, I found a country rife with conspiracy theories in which Americans are most often the villains. Blackwater plays a major role in Pakistani fears, no matter how it endeavors to change its name.
Some of these conspiracy theories are fantasies, but in the curious case of Raymond Davis, all of Pakistan’s nightmares about Americans have coalesced. And this flame is fanned by the American refusals to reveal what Davis was supposed to be doing.
The facts are few and mysterious. Davis, 36, an employee at the American consulate in Lahore, was driving through town with a fully loaded Glock automatic pistol. Two men approached his car on a motor bike, Davis says, with intent to rob him. They were found later to have stolen cellphones.
Davis opened up on them with his Glock through the windshield and killed them both. Then he apparently stepped out of his car and photographed their dead bodies before he sped away. He was later arrested.
The case was further complicated when another car sped out of the consulate, apparently coming to Davis’ rescue, killed a Pakistani on a bicycle and sped back to the consulate. Neither the car nor the driver have been produced for the Pakistani authorities to question or inspect.
The Americans claim diplomatic immunity for Davis under Geneva Convention rules, and they are right by their lights. But Pakistani law says that Pakistan has a say in who has diplomatic immunity and who does not, and Pakistan deserves a full explanation.
There the matter stands, with the Pakistani courts threatening to try Davis for murder. The prosecution is saying that the shootings were not in self-defense. The Americans are hinting darkly that Pakistan will suffer dire consequences, canceled visits to Washington and a cut in financial aid.
In the meantime Pakistan is in a spasm of anti-American fury. The question of what an American “diplomat” was doing with a loaded gun, ready to use it, in the streets of a Pakistani city needs a lot more daylight than the Americans are providing.
And, yes, it turns out that Davis was not a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, but a gun-for-hire private operative attached to the “technical and administrative” staff of the consulate, according to the U.S. Embassy.
We all know that the business of private security has ballooned in recent years under very lucrative government contracts. The employees are often Americans, Britons and South Africans with military experience who can put their training to work for a great deal more money than usually awaits them in a fully civilian job. We also know that with U.S. forces stretched to the breaking point, these mercenaries, unhappily, play a major role in guarding American installations and embassies abroad that were once guarded only by U.S. Marines.
But in case after case, these private operatives have used lethal — and not always justified — force, and it is not clear whose laws they are under. Hamid Karzai tried to have them all fired from Afghanistan, but couldn’t do it, so important were these private guns to the American war effort.
The case of Raymond Davis plunged into even deeper mystery when the Pakistanis say they found maps on him of high security installations. The Pakistanis are suggesting he may have known the men whom he killed. The Americans, in the meantime, refuse any further explanation of his activities. The Lahore High Court won’t let the Pakistani government turn him over to the U.S. Embassy until they have ruled on his diplomatic status.
The Davis killings have resonance with a population already infuriated by the frequent drone attacks that often kill as many bystanders as militants. What is “collateral damage” to Americans is extra-judicial murder to many Pakistanis. The image of the careless American gunslinger is ingrained around the world through our greatest cultural export, the movies.
The best outcome would be for the Pakistanis to hand Davis over to the Americans under the terms of the Geneva Conventions, with the Americans giving a full explanation of what Davis was doing, and a worldwide crackdown on these private operatives who kill again and again with impunity or immunity.
And America should stop threatening Pakistan with loss of aid. The aid serves U.S. interests, not just Pakistan’s.
Update: Newsweek has confirmed that it’s no coincidence the ramped-up attacks ended abruptly with Davis’ arrest. Drone strikes have been on hold for almost a month—likely due to the tension between Pakistan and the U.S. over the arrest of an American official for murder. Newsweek investigates.
Related: Lets expose the corruption, America and Pakistan are stuck with each other
Labels: Diplomacy, Raymond Davis
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/17/2011 08:29:00 AM,
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Eid Milad Un-Nabi (PBUH) Mubarak
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Today is 12 Rabi-ul-Awal – Eid Milad-un-Nabi – the day to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/16/2011 02:53:00 PM,
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Changing marriage reception timings
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Sitting in a cozy and majestic hall of DeSOM, Jalal Hameed Bhatti (who had come from Islamabad), Athar, Khalid Javed, Tariq and your truly (Men at Their Best from 55 PMA Long Course), on the eve of Mehndi of Abbas’ son and enjoying Mehndi rituals by young people dressed in colorful attires clearly noted one thing; the changing pattern of marriage functions and strict adherence to 7 to 10 timings.
Not long ago any marriage reception in Lahore would go on and on, people joining late and parties going on till early hours of the next mornings. This government has put a ban on timings (earlier they put a restriction on lavish food and enforced one dish) making it 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM affair. Very welcome relief for both the families of those getting married as well as the guests. The way this new restriction has been taken shows that it was needed.
Though we saw some folks still coming in to attend Mehndi when we were leaving (at around 10:00 PM) but I think this change has been well received.
Hoping to see more course mates today evening at Barat reception, same place and same timings!
Update: The marriage reception (Feb 15, 2011) was very grand. More friends joined and enjoyed in strict timing. Everyone praised the timing.
There was bigger gathering on Walima (on Feb 16, 2011). Bring Javed Baloch, Brtig Nadir Mir, Arshad Javed Khokhar, Rauf, Nauman Siddiqui, Athar, Jalal., Tariq Fazal, Jvaed Phalia, Iqbal, Tariq Dada, Mahmood Tariq and Waqar joined the Walima reception and made it memorable.
There was bigger gathering on Walima (on Feb 16, 2011). Bring Javed Baloch, Brtig Nadir Mir, Arshad Javed Khokhar, Rauf, Nauman Siddiqui, Athar, Jalal., Tariq Fazal, Jvaed Phalia, Iqbal, Tariq Dada, Mahmood Tariq and Waqar joined the Walima reception and made it memorable.
Labels: 55 PMA
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/15/2011 09:12:00 AM,
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Will you be my Valentine?
Monday, 14 February 2011
From: sabirnazir.blogspot.com
Related: Valentine's Day in Pakistan
Labels: Culture, Valentine, Valentine's Day
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/14/2011 09:15:00 AM,
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Case of diplomatic immunity for Raymond Davis
Sunday, 13 February 2011
When powerful men meet to discuss explosive issues, things can change in a big way. And that is precisely what happened after a highly secretive and immensely important meeting at the Presidency a few days back. The subject, not unexpectedly, being the fate of American killer Raymond Davis and that of Pakistan-US relations. Little did anyone know at the time that the huddle would instead end up deciding the fate of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The meeting, convened by the president was attended by Prime Minister Gilani, Babar Awan, Rehman Malik, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the DG ISI Gen Shuja Pasha. The president was given an exhaustive overview of the entire situation but quite early in the meeting it became evident that two of the men were standing on the wrong side of the prevalent dominant wisdom and desire of somehow finding a way to retrospectively cough up diplomatic immunity for Davis and to just wish away all the four deaths and the lingering crisis. But since one of the ‘erring’ two dared not be arbitrarily fired, poor Qureshi’s fate stood sealed.
Extreme pressure was exerted in the meeting on the former foreign minister to renege from his earlier stance and simply tell the court that the Foreign Office was in consonance with the American interpretation of Davis being a genuine diplomat and enjoying full immunity under Vienna Convention 1961. Facts be damned. According to highly reliable sources, interior ministry’s immense resources were also offered to cause any necessary change of documentation or any exceptional service warranted under these exceptional circumstances.
An adamant Qureshi, who had strongly argued the case that Raymond did not enjoy unlimited diplomatic immunity under law, flatly refused and even said that if need be, he’d rather resign than become an accessory to multiple murder. The meeting ended on a rather unsavoury and unexpected note. It was a surprising outcome for all the others because Qureshi had always been perceived, and even pilloried by the media, as being an American lackey and was not expected to dig in his heels over an issue so vital for the US administration.
But Qureshi’s latest run in with the Americans did not begin or end inside the Presidency. It had actually begun much earlier on January 28, a day after the deadly Raymond Davis incident in Lahore. He was in Karachi when he first received a call from US Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter and then had a conversation with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Munter requested him for immediate councillor access to Davis and his immediate handover to US Consulate authorities. Qureshi asked Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to talk to Munter and while authorising immediate councillor access to Davis made it clear to the foreign secretary that the matter of release would only be decided by the court as the legal process had already been kicked into motion in Punjab. Then came Hillary’s call.
An understandably perturbed Hillary wanted the immediate handover of Davis and insisted that Pakistan was violating the Vienna Convention by the illegal incarceration of a “US diplomat”. Confirming the contents of that conversation to The News, Shah Mehmood said that he had patiently explained to Hillary that while he understood her anxiety she too had to understand the highly emotive and sensitive nature of the incident. And also that since the judicial process had been kick-started in Lahore, the Foreign Office and the US had little option but to submit to the due process of law. Anyway, the two decided to discuss the matter on the sidelines of the then forthcoming Munich Security Conference, and the line went silent.
Since then, Ambassador Munter and other senior embassy officials remained busy with engaging Pakistani authorities and the Foreign Office, blowing hot or cold, depending upon the level of their own frustration and the pressure coming their way from Washington. A few days prior to the Munich Conference, Qureshi received a call from Ambassador Munter who said that he had been directed to convey the message that unless Qureshi signed the diplomatic immunity paper prior to the conference, the scheduled meeting between him and Hillary would stand cancelled. The message was starkly clear a la George Bush: You are either with us or against us. So be it, Qureshi is reported to have told the ambassador and even cancelled his trip altogether. The chief of the army staff went instead to Munich and that is an appointment that even the US secretary of state cannot cancel, Davis or no Davis.
Once Qureshi ignored the latest Hillary communique, the Americans stopped talking to him altogether because it had now become evident that Qureshi was not going to budge on his stance of Davis not being eligible for full diplomatic immunity. Qureshi was no longer a welcome dinner guest and neither could he be allowed to remain in office. The last thing Washington can afford is his having a Pakistani foreign minister with a reawakened conscience.
According to highly reliable sources, the next claimed scalp may be that of the equally intransigent (from American perspective), Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir who is now the only remaining top level hurdle in the apprehended shameless handover of Davis by a compromised political leadership. The foreign secretary is also of the considered firm view that Davis does not qualify for full immunity. And there are legitimate causes for this argument, which were further exposed by glaring inconsistencies in the forever changing US stance on the issue.
Owing to the paucity of space, irrefutable arguments proving Davis’ ineligibility are not being reproduced here and also because a lot has already been written on the legal aspects of the subject, including the highlighted fact that in the initial reaction by US authorities, Raymond Davis was identified as merely an “employee” of the US Consulate in Lahore, but never as a diplomat. He was referred to as an employee and not a consulate general official. “It was a simple clerical error” was the incredulous justification offered by two senior members of the Islamabad embassy in an off-the-record conversation with the scribe. But it gets even better.
A lot is being made by the Americans and their interlocutors of the January 20, 2010 communication of the Islamabad embassy wherein the FO had been asked for the issuance of a non-diplomatic identity card for Davis. It is being argued that this communication clearly identifies Raymond Davis as being administrative and technical staff of Islamabad embassy and therefore automatically eligible for diplomatic immunity. But this is only half the story.
Certain discrepancies in 2010 had already caused the Foreign Office to seek clarifications. In Sept 2009, the US State Department had originally identified him as technical advisor (contractor) going on “official business” while applying for his visa. Later he was attached to US Consulate Lahore as an employee. So when his name popped up again in January 2010, identifying him as being attached with the US Embassy Islamabad, the FO wanted answers to some very pertinent questions. The relevant FO officials repeatedly asked the US embassy to provide the details of Davis’ new responsibilities along with those of his past postings. When weeks had passed with the embassy avoiding a categorical clarification on this count, the FO finally sent a formal Note Verbale to the US embassy on July 8, 2010. It bore ref no: P(1-A)/2009-ID(USA). This note pertained to a total of ten Americans about whom similar details were being sought from the embassy but no response had been forthcoming from the US end. Davis was listed as Note No:252/HR. When FO authorities were asked about the presence of 2009 in the reference number of the note verbale otherwise sent on July 8, 2010, they clarified that it was perfectly in accordance with their internal filing sequence and did not reflect any anomaly.
Unable to cover this critical gap in their argument to secure Davis’ release on the afterthought alibi of diplomatic immunity, the US embassy has adopted the rather incredulous argument of denying outright the existence of this critical correspondence. The FO has been told at the highest level that the US embassy never received this Note Verbale. The two senior functionaries stuck to the denial mantra when asked by The News about the embassy’s refusal to divulge the real assignments and other details of Davis and nine others. They insisted that all the embassy records had been thoroughly checked but there was no evidence of the cited note verbale ever being received. When they were told that the July 8 note was present in FO records and its existence and its having been sent to US embassy was recorded in more than one place and constituted a process that could not be tampered with within hours of an event taking place, the duo took the reference number of the ‘missing note’ to ostensibly try locating it from their records. This raises an interesting question: if they still needed the reference number at this stage, then how did they even check their records earlier?
Can you name a single other incidence where prior to this particular note verbale or since, any note verbale sent by FO to the US embassy has ever gone missing? the two functionaries were asked. Not surprisingly, the duo could not cite a single such incidence.
Interesting coincidence one must say, where the entire US administration makes critical clerical errors which only expose Davis as being a non-diplomat. Another interesting coincidence again, when only one specific official communication out of hundreds of similar exchanges goes missing, and which once again stood to expose Raymond Davis for being anything but a legitimate diplomat on a legitimate diplomatic assignment.
Related: U.S. shouldn't interfere with man's trial in Pakistan
Labels: Clicked This, Voice of America
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/13/2011 01:59:00 PM,
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Wake up, Next!
Labels: Sweet Tweets
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/13/2011 01:57:00 PM,
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Mubarak, Egypt!
Friday, 11 February 2011
Labels: Sweet Tweets
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/11/2011 08:54:00 PM,
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Media by Sistrunk launched
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Given that Deb Sistrunk has 20 years of media and public relations experience in corporate and nonprofit sectors and she knows how to make strong impact, the only surprising thing is that what took her so long to launch Media by Sistrunk.
Effective public relations – whether it is for promoting publications, services or other products – requires a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach. A well-crafted approach incorporates strategic media planning, marketing, community relations and public engagement. When it comes to publications, expert writing and editing, attention to detail, and understanding of deadlines are critical.
Understanding that the media is an audience underlies successful promotional efforts. Webster defines audience as “a group of listeners or spectators: a reading, viewing, or listening public with a vested interest.” For this reason, it is important for you to succinctly convince editors and reporters that they have a vested interest in your product – to inform readers, listeners and viewers why your publication or service is important.
It’s your job to identify what sets your product apart from others. Be media savvy. Develop and nurture relationships with the media, as you would with any other audience. If you work those relationships just right – the payoff is HUGE!
When pitching your product or service to news organizations, one size does not fit all. Take time to understand the media culture. Tailor your media pieces to conform to the formats of radio, TV, print and the Internet. Stay ahead of the pack.
Okay, now that we've gotten that referring to a launch of a media company part out of the way, here's the more human, less quantifiable description of Deb Sistrunk. She is an experienced blogger. She has been successfully making sense of blogging since the blogging started as a phenomenon. Now I am looking forward to see what she blogs in the very competitive niche.
Labels: Media
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/10/2011 11:01:00 AM,
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New income stream for bloggers - SocialSpark referral program
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
SocialSpark launched a few cool changes to SocialSpark that give Advertisers and Publishers a chance to make a few extra bucks. The referral program works simple and easy.
You refer publishers or advertisers to join via a custom link that you can distribute wherever you like. You will make a commission of between 5% and 15% of what your referrer makes (or that gets paid out in the case of advertisers). It is that easy.
This is my referral link: http://izea.in/rTV
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging, Making Money Online
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/09/2011 10:58:00 AM,
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Sailboat in sea without wind
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Labels: Sweet Tweets
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/08/2011 09:22:00 AM,
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Send free SMS any where in Pakistan
Sunday, 6 February 2011
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Labels: Cellular Teledensity, SMS, Text Message
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/06/2011 03:09:00 PM,
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Sustainable farming
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Guest post by by Aaron Kah
Mamma Bitang, is a Heifer International Cameroon resourceful farmer at the Noubou village in Moutourwa sub-division in Mayo Kani Division of the Far North Region of Cameroon. Mamma, mother of ten (6 boys and 4 girls) received relevant knowledge on treating animals with herbs through her Groupe d’Initiative Commune Wudmezle in 2009 during a Heifer International Cameroon sponsored training workshop on livestock rearing and donation. Mamma like other women in her group was offered a series of lessons on animal husbandry, gender equity, sanitation and hygiene and ethnoveterinary medicine. To strengthen the trainings each farm family was given 4 animals a ram and 3 sheep each in compensation of their loyalty to the teachings and prescriptions. Mamma had her share.
Before Heifer International Cameroon’s gift of knowledge and animals to Mamma and her group, they kept a few animals locally and depended on veterinarian doctors for treatment. This was costly for the poor peasant farmers, whose only source of income was their farm out. Mamma retained the ethnoveterinary sensitization campaign as a best option of remembering her roots “When I was growing up, I saw my father using herbs to treat animals and the method was very effective” she said.
With little or no vet doctors present in those days Young Girls like Mamma saw herbal treatment of animals as a cultural practice but it soon died off with the passage of time. Heifer International Cameroon’s drilling ignited the passion in the woman. “I do treat bloat in sheep with groundnut oil by giving the animal small quantity of the oil and in about six hours the stomach releases all the gas” Mamma said. Mamma treats diarrhea in sheep by giving the animal Cassia occidentalis (Kenkeliba) plants mixed in their feed. To sustain her treatment process the farmer has planted these plants around her family house for easy accessibility.
Mamma has passed on this gift of treatment with other community members. “Mamma’s knowledge of animal treatment is very effective” Djouma Boukoi president of Groupe d’Initiative Commune des Djinandra, explained after applying the treatment procedures from Mamma to treat her animals of diarrhea. Mamma has been on hand for trainings within and beyond her community for the training of farmers on building animals health with plants and herbs. “I am happy to know that other farmers have learnt from me” she said. After receiving her animal from Heifer international Cameroon, the farmers has recorded only one death in a community where animals die on a daily bases. “I now have six sheep after selling one during the feast of the ram,” Mamma said elatedly.
This woman knows when and what to give to a particular animal when it’s sick. This experience has attracted other farmers to her and she is making a steady income from the treatment of animals. Mamma has also passed on the knowledge of treatment to her children and her animals have received proper care and management. She has used income for this venture to afford basic food crops for her family and her children school needs and medical bills. As Mamma’s project continued to flourish she had extended a word of thank you to Heifer International Cameroon for stabilizing her animal welfare.
Caption: Mamma in front of her barn with her sheep
Labels: Cameroon
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/03/2011 02:25:00 PM,
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Add signature to blog post
You might want to add a custom automatic signature below each of your blog posts. This would be more useful if you are running a Team Blog with multiple authors. You can use unique signatures for each author. The same can be done on a single author blog also, like my signature in this post.
Create a signature online using My Live Signature
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/03/2011 08:57:00 AM,
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Year end blogging review
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
End of another year again, the New Year brings new hopes, opportunities , time to reflect back, to look back on accomplishments, setting goals! This year, I would try to assess my blogging pursuit. I don’t really remember when blogging became part of my job (it started as a hobby and ‘me too’ thing). For me, fine art of blogging is addictive and blogging satisfaction makes a huge difference in my overall happiness. I may like it or not, but if things remain as they are, I will be spending a huge portion of the next year blogging.
Obviously, one of the biggest (tangible) values I received from blogging is blogging revenue. I have continued my making money experiments at different platforms and with variety of affiliate programs with sufficient degrees of success (here I am posting some of the images to get the idea). Before I discuss making money by blogging, let me hasten to add that money is not the only measurement of blogs’ worth.
During 2010, I mainly concentrated on two of my blogs - Light Within (Personal) and Doodh Patti (Travel and Food) - and started third by the name Logic is Variable (yes, I dated it back from 2009) where I achieve my articles that appear in print media. Others few where I write have been primarily supporting my main blogs.
This year, I experienced with blog flipping, a blog model that is yet new here in our local blogsphere. In that blog contents were pulled, composed and hopefully will come out in book form next year; 2011. I have seen the dummy of the coming book and it feels good to hold. I am celebrating the success to flip my blog by planning more of blog flipping and am already working on two; one in the field of Social Media and another about Collaborative Web Technologies next year.
This year, I experienced with blog flipping, a blog model that is yet new here in our local blogsphere. In that blog contents were pulled, composed and hopefully will come out in book form next year; 2011. I have seen the dummy of the coming book and it feels good to hold. I am celebrating the success to flip my blog by planning more of blog flipping and am already working on two; one in the field of Social Media and another about Collaborative Web Technologies next year.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, local market is now ready to work with bloggers and pay them for their work. During 2010, I persuaded three different organizations to start, run and maintain their blogs. Even individuals are showing interest to start personal branding and reputation management through blogs. I hope to go ahead with this segment where I will urge whosoever I can to start a personal blog.
Fact that SEO professional are approaching bloggers to get help in their SEO efforts might come as a surprise to some. I have been working with one of the reputed SEO companies supporting their projects with contents and links. It is win win situation for both bloggers as well as those working in the field of SEO.
Last but the one I take most pride and pleasure is that I pushed some friends into blogging. They all started from question like what is a blog and are now in the middle of blogging fusion and as far as I can say are enjoying. Three of them are now substantial bloggers. Two of them have already monetized their blog efforts and are also making money.
My blogging had a year of tremendous growth during 2010, in both revenue and networking. For this I extend my most gracious thanks to ever one who has ever been read or left comments. The sheer amount of content I was able to develop this year is impressive, both in scope and depth.
My goal for the next year is to convert awareness into commitment. It is simply not enough to know. One needs commitment to convert awareness into reality by action to make a change.
Follow Light Within on Facebook and follow sAJs on Twitter for much more all day long.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging, Making Money Online
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/01/2011 02:10:00 PM,
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In support of Egyptians
May be we cant relate what is happening in Egypt here yet. We can sure learn a few lessons about when is the time to step down. More here
Labels: Egypt
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/01/2011 11:53:00 AM,
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