Random Chusses…

Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate, has been getting a crash course in diplomacy and international affairs this week, meeting her first foreign heads of state courtesy of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering of international bigwigs.Most of the meetings have gone off without a hitch, a lightning round of sessions in which curious world leaders finally get a gander at a potential vice president who has rarely traveled abroad and who has claimed that her foreign policy credentials include living in a state that is close to Russia.

On Wednesday, however, officials traveling with Pakistan’s new president, Asif Ali Zardari, got up close and personal.Shortly before Palin met the Pakistani leader at the InterContinental Hotel, aides for the two squabbled about whether they should sit behind a low coffee table. Zardari’s aides wanted a table, Palin’s staff did not. Ultimately the table was taken away. Score one for the Americans.Entering the room, Palin was introduced not only to Zardari but to Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Quershi, Pakistan’s foreign minister, and Sherry Rehman, the information minister.

“So nice to meet you,” Palin said politely.

“Busy on the campaign trail?” Rehman asked.

“Yes, yes,” Palin replied.

“How does one keep looking that good?” Rehman inquired.

“Oh, oh, thank you,” the governor responded.

At that point, Zardari entered and the conversation turned decidedly flirtatious. He told her she was “even more gorgeous” than he thought.

“You are so nice,” Palin said. “Thank you.”

Zardari pressed on: “Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you.”

At that point a Zardari handler asked them to shake hands again for the cameras.

“I’m supposed to pose again,” Palin said.

“If he’s insisting,” Zardari said, “I might hug.”

Eventually, real business got underway.

Palin, who has yet to hold a news conference since McCain plucked her from relative obscurity on Aug. 29, even answered a reporter’s question as to how she enjoyed her meetings.

“It’s going great,” she said. “The meetings are very informative and helpful. A lot of good people share an appreciation for America.”

Source: LA Times

Zaid Hamid is as you know that paranoid dude on the telly that tell us simple folks about the latest in conspiracy theories. Apparently there’s some love lost between him and Fasi Zaka.

Hate speech — II

The Pakistan report card Thursday, September 25, 2008 by Fasi Zaka My previous article focused on the free reign of hate speech in some Pakistani media outlets that made liberal use of a mix of unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, faulty facts, racial hatred and religious intolerance, and my perspective was formed particularly by watching Zaid Hamid who does the show “Brass Tacks.” In the week since, I have found the rhetorical violence present in the ‘lectures’ of Zaid Hamid followed up by a close dose of how it informs the reality of Brass Tacks and Zaid Hamid. Since the article he has circulated to the members of his mail group that I have attacked him at the behest of the Zionist Banking System, the Kufr Dajjal and that their ‘war’ has entered a new stage. He encouraged members to write to me, and they have in force. From veiled threats, to how my picture in this column looked like the dajjal (I am content with how God made me), or my membership to the ‘Illuminati’ amongst a number of others have all come my way, including links to documentaries on YouTube from where they have done their ’scholarly research…’ Brass Tacks has a huge Islamic component, I wonder if Zaid Hamid has forgotten the lessons of ‘tohmat’, or allegations, and how Islam views it. While at first I thought Zaid Hamid to be well-intended but misguided, what I have now seen firsthand demonstrates delusion. In this postmodern world where people have surrendered a good deal of their intimate freedoms to impersonal institutions, where the interlinked nexus of governments and corporations creates ripples that people find difficult to understand, the conspiracy theorist takes the easy way out by assuming that all events are at the hands of a secret few. Despite the invalidity of these theses, they have staying power because they offer no proof, and hence they cannot be disproved, especially if they are the product of a paranoid imagination. Common to most of these conspiracy theories is ‘de-individualization’, which is lumping people into impersonal groups and taking their humanity away from them. That’s what Zaid Hamid does when he rants about the inferiority of Hindus, the inherent evil nature of Jews or Pakistani leaders he disagrees with. He neglects to realize that his method is what also drove the neoconservatives in creating a world in their own ethnocentric image and in the killing fields of Iraq. This method also drove the perpetrator of the Marriott attack, who was so convinced of his mission that he didn’t mind killing scores of the poorest for a few choice targets. As far as me being a Zionist Banker goes, I have never worked for a bank, or own shares in any. I did work briefly once for the World Bank, a development organization (one that I also believe has done some harm to the people it is mandated to help), but that was a short-term consultancy to research the value chain of apples for export and it had nothing to do with lending money. I do have two bank accounts, and the public is welcome to verify that in neither is there an exemption from paying the government Zakat, nor are there any withdrawals before it is imposed. Let’s hold Zaid Hamid to his own standards by looking at his record. On the website of his security consulting firm, also called Brass Tacks, he proudly mentions testimonials from employees of both Deutsche Bank and Bank of America (amongst ten other banks), and from Shell. Wait a second! Isn’t this the same Zaid Hamid who does a TV programme that claims banks are in the hands of the Zionist Jews hungry to kill all Muslims? What is he doing profiting from protecting them after creating public animosity towards them? Is this the same Zaid Hamid who believes the world is being overrun by multinationals that are out to secure resources that will eventually harm Muslims? What is he doing profiting from protecting Shell, which has just signed an agreement to sell natural gas in the Governorate of Basra in Iraq under the US occupation? He is not living what he is preaching. He devours banks and multinationals on television but profits from them when the cameras stop rolling. One of the major world conspiracies happens to be that the invasions of the US were conducted at the behest of Halliburton, an energy company with known ties to individuals of the US administration. Well, the Bank of America (BOA) has just recommended the stock of Halliburton after the CFO of the energy company met with BOA officials. So by one degree of separation, isn’t Brass Tacks, the company of Zaid Hamid, linked to Halliburton because of the BOA connection? Now I want to clarify that all the above facts are true, but I do not believe in the yarn I wind around them to make them connect. I do not believe for a second that Zaid Hamid intends to create fear and profit from it. He just happened to be a security expert who landed on TV with a pre-existing business and started preaching his prejudices derived from random conspiracy theories. I wrote the scenario above to illustrate how the coincidental can be woven together to make a compelling narrative that has no real truth, nor is it causal or correlated. It is thinking like this that I wish Zaid Hamid would question himself on, because as demonstrated above even he could fall prey to the world where nothing is substantiated and the dicey is used as truth to fan hatred. As far as profiting from concerns he preaches against, well that’s for him to resolve. But the absolutism that Zaid Hamid holds others to, he does not hold himself to apparently. This absolutism is not just moral in his case, it is intellectual as well. In his recent programme, he described how income taxes were one of the greatest conspiracies of the US. Had he just bothered to look into the system of income taxes and public finance, he would have realized that a progressive taxation system is one of the greatest tools to redistribute wealth and to help the poor. Accidents of birth, talent and intelligence can be mitigated into a more just society when there is a documented tax base, and societies can pay for services to the economically disadvantaged. A progressive taxation system can make sure that there are good hospitals, schools, pensions and other benefits that can help them overturn an unequal society by redistributing from the rich to the poor. The welfare state that all populist Islamic leaders promise will be based on the progressive income tax system, not government sales tax (GST). If we had no income taxes, and only GST then we would be taxing consumption, and for the poor food is a large part of that, which means relative to income no income taxes and only GST; it would penalize the poor more than the rich and they would eat less. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. For example, Zaid Hamid has been insinuating for the longest time that most of Pakistan’s leaders are in the pockets of the CIA. I am sure some are. However, Zaid Hamid makes one exclusion to his thesis, General Musharraf, someone who overtly cooperated more with the US than anyone else in Pakistan’s history. Now exactly how Zaid Hamid has the knowledge to make this distinction, no one knows. By continuously insisting on television the he is the only one who knows these things, he is creating the cult of personality, not that of objectivity. After all, this is a man who decries the state of representative politics, of democracy, but that does not mean he has the right to do away with it, because the only alternative in his eyes would be someone he approves of (himself?), not who the people choose. In the end, I would like to add a few cautionary notes. Brass Tacks is not a programme entirely without merit, and neither is Zaid Hamid. For example, he is right when he discusses the rancid imperialism of the US and its misadventures abroad, he is right when he believes that unfettered capitalism is bad, or that Muslims need to awaken from their slumber. He is right when he mentions there are flaws in an economic system that allows for hot money, that sells credit irresponsibly for mindless consumption. These are legitimate themes, and the fact that Zaid Hamid is non-sectarian is applause worthy. But where Zaid Hamid should draw the line is upholding the facts that withstand query, abstaining from hate speech even if he opposes large swathes of humanity and verifying tracts that may not fit into his presuppositions. There is a place for both the right and left on television, after all that is what creates consensus through dialectic. What should be common is remembering Islam is a religion of peace. The writer is a Rhodes scholar and former academic. Email: fasizaka@yahoo.com

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=137782

In case you haven’t heard Stanford Engineering Everywhere has made free courses available online. This includes some programming, AI and Linear Systems stuff. View the whole list here. They’re complete with course materials, lecture videos, assignments, exams and stuff. The interesting thing for me are the lecture videos. Those should be cool. See what goes down at Stanford. Videos are available in different formats like youtube, wmv torrent, mp4 torrent etc. Read the detailed FAQ for more information.

That reminds me of the MIT OpenCourseWare which includes a lot of courses. But not a lot of them have videos. And those who do are in RM format which I don’t think is downloadable. They also have MP3 audios of lectures. There are actually 1800 courses on there. View the whole list here. All that knowledge ready to be had. Makes me dizzy. So much to learn so little time…

One of the best news in recent times is the renaming of Nawabshah district to ‘Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed’. Nawabshah is the home district of these Bhutto Zardari people. It seems Nawabshah is going down in the world…

So I’ve been reading this free online .Net book by Charles Petzold called .NET Book Zero. And its pretty good. Basically it has all that a C,C++ programmer needs to know about .Net specifically C#. And unlike other programming books its small with only 267 pages of easily read short chapters. After reading it I learned a a lot of basic .Net stuff that I didn’t know before. Reading books is hard but I think I might be able to finish this one off. Although this is probably the first book I should have read before starting any .Net development.

Download from here: http://www.charlespetzold.com/dotnet/

Excerpt from Nadeem F. Pracha’s latest column on Chowk. I like the part about Zaid Hamid. You know that conspiracy theorist/securtity analyst that comes on TV

Sometimes the moderates try to get into an intellectual discourse with the fanatics, optimistically believing the fanatics would realize their folly.

It won’t work. Fanaticism is one of the most prominent expressions of an irrational mind. The religious fanatic’s mental make-up is quite like that of a deeply embedded cult member’s. It is like a brain maliciously washed clean and bearing no capability whatsoever for rational thought.

The result: The emergence of warped, drawn-out “lecturers” on the TV screens pretending to offer a constructive debate on religion. Men like Zahid Hamid are classic examples. Just as most talk-show hosts slip up to become media manifestations of bigoted obscurantist elements and so-called jihadies, this gentleman becomes the acceptable and “scholarly” face of what is quite clearly an ideology that has given Pakistan nothing but heartache. He bag’s his following by offering that age-old excuse: Whatever that is happening in the name of Islam, is not your/our/Muslim’s fault. It is the fault of Americans/Indians/Zionists. In fact Mr. Zahid will slash, distort and convolute his way across “politics” and “economics” as well to prove the point.

See full article here: http://www.chowk.com/articles/14632

The religious terrorism continues in Pakistan as Muhammad Yusuf, the President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Nawabshah, Sindh was martyred yesterday while at work. He was shot three times, including a fatal shot to his heart. He was an around 70 years old businessman.

This follows the Monday’s murder of the president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mirpurkhas. This is the second such act of murderous attack on an Ahmadiyya Muslim community member in consecutive days. There have also been reports of mullah incited anti-ahmadiyya agitation in other parts of the country as well. This of course follows the anniversary of the declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims on Sep 7, 1974. Although unlikely, but there’s widespread speculation that these may have been instigated in part by Dr. Aamer Liaqat’s ‘Alim Online’ program of Sep 7 that incited religious hatred against the Ahmadiyya jamaat. You can watch the video here. Geo is usually not known for fueling the fire of religious and sectarian violence and inciting hatred against minorities but this time they made an exception. Geo is the one of the most watched TV channel in the ‘land of the pure’. And apparently Aamir Liaqat has quite a following among the ignorant masses. Maybe some of his jialas took his rantings to heart…

Source: http://www.xkcd.com/386/

At work. Well its not new in the technical sense of the word. But its new enough for me. Got it on Friday after an employee who had resigned went home after spending his last day here. I was quick to grab his chair before someone else could do it. Hopefully it will provide some relief to an already aching back of mine…

Pakistan’s slides further into the dark abyss as Dr. Abdul Manan Siddiqi a prominent physician in Mirpur Khas is shot dead by four ‘unknown gunmen’ on Monday.

MIRPURKHAS: Four unidentified armed men killed owner of a Private Medical Centre and injured his security guard and a patient in Mirpurkhas on Monday.
According to the details, four unidentified armed men, opened indiscriminate fire on owner of Fazal-e-Umar Medical Centre and an active leader of Ahmedia Jamaat Mirpurkhas identified as Dr. Abdul Manan Siddiqi. And as a result he died on the spot, whereas, his security guard, Arif and a patient, Ghulam Hussain sustained critical injuries. Later on, armed men managed to flee away from the scene, while the PMA has given 24 hours ultimatum to government for the arrest of involved killers, otherwise, they have threatened to enlarge their protest level.
Meanwhile, a large number of people from different walks of life including, District Nazim Mirpurkhas, Dr. Sughra Junejo, Zonal Organizer of MQM chapter Mirpurkhas, Saleem Razaq, Naib District Nazim, Dr. Zafar Kamali, Taluka Nazim, Ghulam Dastagir Kamali, Shafiq Ahmed and others have expressed their deep grief over the killing of Dr. Abdul Manan.

The peaceful members of Jamat-e-Ahmadiyya are routinely killed in Pakistan because of their faith. They were declared ‘non-Muslim’ by the Pakistan parliament on 7 September 1974 and are not allowed to practice their faith in the ‘land of the pure’. Persecuted because they call themselves Muslims. Local mullahs routinely carry out conferences and jaloosis rallying the common man into violence against the peaceful minority. Instigating them to carry out murder in the name of Allah these mullahs poison their mind and souls sending Pakistan further into darkness. Dr Siddiqi was 48 years old and is survived by his wife, son and daughter. May God grant them strength and patience at this time.