Dominance Without Toleration

Remaking Pakistan

1. According to the 1998 census, there are slightly more than 2 million Christians (1.59% of total population) distributed roughly equally across urban and rural areas. As a minority the Christian community in Pakistan is predominantly located in the province (state) of Punjab. Although sizeable communities are found in the cities of Quetta, Karachi and Peshawar as well.
1a. The Objectives Resolution of 1949 stated that in the Republic of Pakistan “adequate provision shall be made for the minorities freely to profess and practise their religions and develop their ultures;” The Objectives Resolution was made the preamble in the 1973 Constitution. The word “freely” was removed.

2. The Church of Pakistan was amalgamated from Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican churches in 1970.

3. The earliest recorded attack on Christian communities was in 1952, when a family of 7 were burned alive in the village of Matti. The criminals were caught, prosecuted and hanged.

4. During the first two decades of Pakistan, Christian communities were largely integrated. They had a political party and in the 1951 and 1954 elections, they won four seats (each) in the local Punjab Assembly.

5. The 1973 Constitution of Pakistan declared that “Islam shall be the state religion of Pakistan” and restricted minority participation in government and politics.

6. General Zia ul Haq took over the state through a military coup in 1977 and the hung the deposed Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1979. He also undertook a strict policy of “Islamization” through which laws and practices in the country were to brought in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence. Some of the most damaging new laws fell under the rubric of “Blasphemy”.

7. In 1980, he introduced Section 298-A under the Martial Law Ordinance which criminalized derogatory remarks against the earliest leaders in Muslim history, as well as the family and friends of the Prophet Muhammad. Section 298-B & C focused on disrespect to the holy book Qur’an as well as the declaration of apostasy towards the community of Ahmadis (a sect within Islam).

8. Section 298-A: Use of derogatory remarks etc. in respect of Holy Personages:

Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or by any imputation, innuendo, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of any wife or members of the family of the Holy Prophet or any of the righteous Caliphs or companions of the Holy Prophet shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine or with both

9. Section 295-B: Defiling etc. of copy of Holy Quran

Whoever willfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Quran or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.

10. Section 295-C: Use of derogatory remarks, etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet.

Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.

11. Furthermore, in 1980, General Zia ul Haq by constitutional amendment created the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) through Article 203-D which had the following powers:

The Court may, either of its own motion or on the petition of a citizen of Pakistan or the Federal Government or a Provincial Government, examine and decide the question whether or not any law or provision of law is repugnant to the Injunctions of Islam, as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet, hereinafter referred to as the Injunction of Islam.

12. In 1990, the FSC concluded that the “imprisonment for life” under Section 295-B and 295-C was unjust punishment according to Islamic law. The Sections were amended so that the only penalty remained was the death penalty.

13. The Blasphemy laws have become the main vehicle of prosecution and persecution of non-Muslims since 1980s. And, of ” other nonMuslims”

14. In Gujranwala, Punjab, in 1994, three men (including a minor) were accused of writing derogatory remarks against the Prophet. The three Christians, Rehmat Masih, Manzoor Masih and Salamat Masih were arrested. Manzoor Masih was murdered while awaiting trial. The others were acquitted after two years.

15. In Faisalabad, in 1998, Dr. Bishop John Joseph publicly committed suicide. He shot himself in front of the court room of Justice Rana Abdul Jabbar Dogar in protest of a death sentence that had been passed out against a Christian Ayub Masih for blasphemy on April 27th, 1998.

16. A series of terrorist attacks occurred in 2001 and 2002 against Christian establishments, perhaps as a result of Pakistani cooperation with United States in the war in Afghanistan: In October 29th, gunmen killed 16 Christians in the St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church near Multan. A grenade attack on International Presbyterian Church in Islamabad on March 17th, 2002 killed five and injured 40. Unknown assailants attacked Murree Christian School on August 5th, 2002 and killed six people. Unknown assailants attacked the Mission Hospital in Taxila on August 9th, 2002 and killed 4 nurses, injuring 21 others. Seven Christian workers of the charity “Idara Amn-o-Insaf” were killed on September 24th, 2002.

17. In November 2005, three churches, two schools and hostels and several houses of the Christian community were burned by a mob in the city of Sangla Hill. The mob had mobilized on the rumor that someone had blasphemed against the Prophet.

18. On September 27th, 2007 the missionary couple Rev Arif Khan and Kathleen Khan were killed in their house in Islamabad on September 27th, 2007.

19. In August 2009, 60 Christian homes were burned in Gojra, 7 women and children were burnt alive. The accused were granted bail November 05, 2010.

20. Just on November 15, 2010, a man accused of blasphemy, upon release on bail, was shot dead by unknown assailants.

The inhumane legal treatment of so-designated “minorities” in Pakistan is starkly repugnant.

Sign your name.

update: The debased thinking that underpins the “blasphemy” consensus in Pakistan is fully at display in this column by one Professor Syed Asrar Bukhari.

Dr. Manan Ahmed blogs as Sepoy on Chapati Mystery where this post was first published.

Time to repeal the blasphemy law

In June 2008, Asiya Bibi, a Pakistani farm worker and mother of five, fetched water for others working on the farm. Many refused the water because Asiya was Christian. The situation got ugly. Reports indicate Asiya was harassed because of her religion and the matter turned violent. Asiya, alone in a hostile environment, naturally would have attempted to defend herself but was put in police custody for her protection against a crowd that was harming her.

However, that protection move turned into one that was to earn Asiya a death sentence. A case was filed against her under sections 295-B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code, claiming that Asiya was a blasphemer. Her family will appeal against the judgment in the Lahore High Court.

The Asiya case raises the fundamental question of how Pakistan’s minorities have been left unprotected since the passage of the blasphemy law. There may have been no hangings on account of the law but it has facilitated the spread of intolerance and populist rage against minorities, often leading to deaths. There is also a direct link between the Zia-ist state’s intolerance against minorities and the rise of criminal treatment of Ahmadis.

Cases have ranged from the Kasur case to the more recent Gojra case, from the mind-boggling row of cases between 1988-1992 against 80-year-old development guru Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan, to the case of the son of an alleged blasphemer, an illiterate brick kiln worker who was beaten to death by a frenzied mob. Although doctor sahib faced prolonged mental torture, he was saved from the maddening rage that has sent to prison, and in some cases devoured, many innocent, poor and hence unprotected Pakistanis.

There is a long list, prepared by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, of unjust punishments handed down to Pakistani citizens whose fundamental rights the state is obliged to protect. Beyond punishments, minorities live in constant fear of being lethally blackmailed by those who want to settle other scores.

Yet most political parties have refrained from calling for the law’s repeal or improvement in its implementation mechanism. When, in the early 90s, I asked Nawaz Sharif sahib to criticise the hounding of Dr Khan, his response was a detailed recall of the story in which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) went to ask after the health of a non-Muslim woman who repeatedly threw garbage over him. He condemned what was happening but said politics prevented him from doing so publicly. Later, General Musharraf, advised by other generals, reversed his announcement of changing the law’s implementation mechanism. Small crowds protested against it. Among politicians, very few exceptions include the PPP parliamentarian Sherry Rehman and, more recently, the ANP’s Bushra Gohar, who asked for its amendment and repeal.

Already sections of the judiciary have been critical of flawed judgements passed by lower courts in alleged blasphemy cases. Recently in July, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif quashed a blasphemy case against 60-year-old Zaibunnisa and ordered her release after almost 14 years in custody. According to the judgment, the “treatment meted out to the woman was an insult to humanity and the government and the civil organisations should be vigilant enough to help such people.” Surely the Bench should know the plethora of abuses that Pakistan’s minorities have suffered because of an evidently flawed law.

A message more appropriate, perhaps, would be to repeal the black law that grossly undermines the Constitution of Pakistan and indeed the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, one of the most tolerant and humane law-givers humankind has known. This environment of populist rage, fed by the distorted yet self-serving interpretation of religion principally by Zia and a populist mixing of religion and politics by a politically besieged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, must be emphatically challenged. A collective effort to roll back these laws must come from parliament, the lawyers’ forums, the judiciary, civil society groups and the media.

This was originally published in The Express Tribune.

Keepers, not Owners

Provider

After receiving interesting feedbacks from few people around, I thought of updating my blog. My blogs have turn in more of a personal kind of a blogs but with so many social networks around, there exists a thin line between one’s personal and internet (cyber) life. Little bit of updates about all the latest happening and then message for all my friends, then will sign off.

Life’s been good, Lord has provided be with everything I want and through all these years I have been blessed abundantly. Studies at IBS are going great. Took 6 major subjects this semester, which is another reason that I cannot update my blogs more frequently. Assignments are crushing me but I feel still strong enough to fight back with them. Plenty of assignments can’t resist me to have fun on the go. I do all things like others do. Minus few activities which I am skipping and can’t find time. For example, it’s been long I didn’t carry my Sony A300 DSLR and didn’t go to any place to snap the world. Downloaded almost every other new movie but couldn’t find time to watch them all. This new series on CW called Nikita is regular by the way and couldn’t watch 24 and FRIENDS since long. No time for exercise but there is always time for basketball. This weekend its one of the toughest exam of my MBA, Financial Management. But right! I have plenty of time to waste on FB and Twitter. Oh one important thing, won’t forget this day forever as my brother has come to Malaysia and he has been going through tough time since last 2-3 days. He arrived here last night and now even after 15+ hours he is still stuck in immigration office. So bad is his university. They went to pick him up from air port but didn’t bring some important letter along, so he had to stay at office for whole night. I feel sad when I think that my brother came to Malaysia, actually going out of home for the first time in his life, and facing these problems. Anyways Lord is showing him this bad time because there is good time waiting after in near future. In one and a half year three out of four kids have moved out of home, first my sis went to UAE, then I came to Malaysia and now younger brother has also come to M’sia. House will be so empty now, just my mom dad living with my youngest sister. But it’s a part of life and rule of nature that eagles’ have to fly out of nest once they learn how to fly. This transition brings a lot of fears and tears along with it but being specie called Human Beings, we have the ability to adapt ourselves in all ups and downs. Going through script few days back I came across 1 Chronicles 29:14, which states;

“…For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given you”.

Have you ever wondered, where do all the oxygen, sunshine and rain come from, of where is the snow kept during summer? How did the plants grow? Have you ever stopped to give thanks to God for all that you own right now? The reason is simple. We need to thanks Him because all things come from Him. He is the source of everything; the clothes that we wear, the supper that we have and everything else. King David reminded us that it was out of His own that we have given Him. Today, as we learn to pay our tithes and bring our offerings to Him, let us be mindful that we are only stewards. We are merely giving back to God what belongs to Him in the first place. Now, this is a very important principle that we must lean in order that we can lead a successful and prosperous life – that only if God can bring money thought us, will He bring money to us. So, learn to give and learn to sow for in due season you shall reap. No farmer can reap a mighty harvest before sowing. Hence, you too will now receive His blessings unless you have first given freely and willingly unto His kingdom. If you obediently observe this law, His blessings will chase after you. Sit tight, my friends! We are only keepers, not owners of His properties.

3D Laser Engraving

Lasers:

Light Amplification by the Stimulate Emission of Radiation, in short LASER, was first introduced by Max Plan in 1900. He proposed the idea that light is made up of energy packets so it can form electromagnetic radiation. This was the core idea behind the invention of Lasers. In 1917, German physicist Albert Einstein explained that light can be quantized into stimulated glitter. Until 1940s, physicist and engineers were not able to use this principle of quantization of light. However in 1950s, engineers worked together to use energy as the prime resource for stimulated glitter.

Charles Townes at the Columbia’s University, Joseph Weber at the Maryland’s University and Alexander Prokhorov and Nikolai G Basov at the Lebedev Laboratories in Moscow worked on this case study presented by Einstein. At that time these engineers attempt to achieve a breakthrough invention that was later names as Microwave Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation, called MASER. Maser was a system that was operating on the principle that it was combining strong microwave radiations and converts them into contrast of light. This led to the study of microwave communications. Townes and his fellow engineers thought that it was possible to engineer a device that produces powerful beams of light of higher frequency and shorter wavelengths to create what is called lasing medium. These engineers’ work was left to Theodore Maiman in 1960 when first laser was created with a lasing medium of ruby. It promoted high-energy flashes of intense light. Prokhorov and Townes were awarded as Nobel Prize of Science in 1964 based on their research and contribution towards this new technology of Laser.

Laser was a breakthrough technological idea but in initial years it was not planned and managed well enough that many sectors can be beneficial from this technology. It wasn’t used in military service of beam weapons in initial years but its main beneficial sector was information and transmission through the atmosphere. Later this technology was improved by Maiman and other engineers. This new upgraded technology of laser helped other sectors to be beneficial from this technology, for example, engineers improved laser weapons and lasers were started to be used in medical treatments as well as these laser has become known as a powerful and tiny resource of heat and energy. Even in current era, we used lasers in corrective eye surgery, supplying and exact source of light and heat energy for slicing and burning tissues in medical surgeries.

The laser is an abbreviation word for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, while people used LASER as a noun.

In everyday life, we can see atoms emitting energies, in form of light, heat or power. A laser is a device that focuses the intense beam of light and increases the frequency, in order to be used in industrial or medicine areas of work. Atom of radiating elements radiates their light in unplanned scattered point at accidental times.

The phenomenon is about production of coherent light frequency from a single accurate resource.

Exciting atoms or molecules

In laser system, the atoms increase their kinetic energies this falling in the state of excitation. Atoms and molecules of crystal, garnet, radium, ruby and other gases and materials are excited in laser cavity, so most due to this process the electrons fall into higher energy orbits. Reflective surfaces at both ends of cavity enable energy to reflect on both sides, as shown in figure below.

 

In above shape, the flash lamp light excites the molecules in the ruby rod, that it’s called “optical pumping”, and they pick up back and forth in the middle of two mirrors till coherent light flees from the cavity.

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If a photon whose frequency match to the power variety among the excited and ground states hits an excited atom, the atom is motivated as it falls back to a lower energy state to give off a second photon of the same. Frequency, phase and with the same point as the photon bombarded.

This process is called as stimulated emission. These excited atoms and molecules may strike by emission of photons of the same frequency, same phase angle and same amplitude. This stimulating process of emission of photon produces coherent radiations. As well as the atoms are discharged in this process in a quick chain reaction.

Varieties of sizes and uses

Size of Laser varies according to their usage and source element. Semiconductor lasers can be as tiny as grain of salt and solid state and gas lasers can be as big as the size of warehouse. Most of the lasers produce a thin beam of light as small as pencil lead.

Lasers are widely used in industries for cutting purposes and drilling through metals and other substances. In medical areas lasers are used in surgery of sensitive areas. Lasers are also widely used in communications, scientific studies and 3d laser engraving. Lasers are also used as integral parts in devices like, bar code scanners, scanners, laser printers and optical device or CD players.

Lasers Importance in world today

The knowledge about laser is proved very helpful scientific tool in general applied form.  It was published by author L. Schawlow and Charles H. Town in 1958 and practically it has been made for different usage. Their experiences lead to many researches by scientists at Bell Labs, many universities and technical laboratories around the world.

The laser was formed by engineers to change electrical transmittal over copper cable especially in communication. In 1960, pulses of light transmitted by Schawlow, D.F. Nelson, R.J. Collins and others between Bell Labs convenience in Murray Hill, N.J., and Crawford Hill, N.J., 25 miles far away to find how to send the pulses presented huge problems. Then it called an optical maser, Townes’ preferred name for the device generates an intense and very tight laser beam that is very brighter more than million times than the sun.

Lasers are comprehensive today

Lasers are used in some broader fields of request such as medicine, industry, civil engineering, army systems, surveying, scientific instrumentation and consumer electronics. Actually billions of lasers are using nowadays and they used in different size from a tiny semiconductor systems to large size as a fair average.

Introduce the leaderships of laser

There are so many scientists who worked on laser from 1900 till now such as Max Plank1900, Albert Einstein1916, Rudolph W Landenburg1928, Valentin A Fabrikant 1940, Willis E Lamb RC Rutherford 1947, Charles H Townes 1951, Charles H Townes Joseph Weber James P. Gordan 1951, Robert H Dicke 1954, Nicolas Bloembergan 1956, Charles H Townes Sketches &  Gordon Gould 1957, Arthur L Schawlow Charles H Townes1958, John D. Myers1959, Arthur L Schawlow & Charles H Townes, Theodore Maiman, Hughes, Peter P Sorokin & Mirek Stevenson, Ali Javan1960 and ….., Wolfgang Keterle1996, Wolfgang Ketterle1997, Ozdal Boyraz & Bahrom Jalali2004, John Bowers2007,Brian Koch, Lawrence &Livermore National Labs2010.

The industrial needs of 3D laser engraving:

Laser monument system 3D can be use in different forms and shapes in industry. A 3D CAD first model is able to slice accurately as to get information of the slice that is given. So the laser beam is arranged to scan and etch the substances under profile information, generating 2D shapes of this layer. So, the Z-axis worktable lifts up with a designed to change the surface under focal plane and it starts with a new circle of cutting and laser scanning. This process will be repeated to until layers inch by inch accumulated and all model is sliced perfectly.

Now, a PC with windows 2000 can manage and control the 3D laser engraving system. The data include pictures, figures and etc that you can see on computer screen can carving by laser.

METHODS

Modeling study helps us to understand a complicated process in scientific way to study the organisms. The modeling is divided to three categories:

 

• Experimental or empirical models
• Analytical models
• Artificial intelligence (AI)

 

Experimental methods

This modeling system is based on experiments, in which the performance of a system by varying the input parameters in a given area is measured.

Mathematical model is developed using all the parameters of entry and exit from different experiments. Curve fitting techniques such as regression analysis method can be applied to develop a polynomial equation [yi ¼ f (x)] between the input factors and quality characteristics. No assumptions are made to develop these models and the model gives real solution valid for limited conditions of entry.In developing these methods, precision measuring instruments and testing is of paramount importance. The accuracy of the experiment can be increased by using scientific techniques of experimental design. Designed experiments approach is superior to the unplanned approach because it is a systematic and scientific planning experiments, collection and analysis of limited use data with resources.

 

Analytical methods

Laws and principles of analytical methods are based on mathematical models which can be divided into three categories, e.g. model exact solution based on model-based numerical solution, and stochastic model based solution.

Artificial intelligence (AI) methods

With the help of development expert systems AI is used in engineering problems, FL and ANN systems for predicting the behavior of the process. An expert system is an interactive program with a smart performance expert to solve a particular type of problem using the knowledge base, inference engine and user interface. Rather than operating on the net asset value, model developed under agreements with FL linguistic variables. With little human interaction ANN models are able to learn, adapt to changes and mimic the human thought process.

 

Usage of laser engraving in real world

Woods/Natural materials

Laser was first used for engraving images on wood by burning it. It only needs less than 10 watts to operate the laser. It produces best results on hard woods that includes oak wood, walnut woods, maple woods and mahogany woods. It is also useful to engrave images on softwoods with low power and fast speed to cut linty papers and newsprints. It works accurately on hard papers and fiberboard.

Plastics

Prior to discovery of lasers and laser technolgy plastics were engraved in different ways. After this laser technology has been introduced the method of engraving on platic is changed. Before lasers, plastic manufactures designed for rotary engraving that these drives used a mechanical rotarty spinning to cut and brush the material. Recently, the plastic manufacturers has started using the wide range of plastics with range of thickness between 0.002 to 0.003 inches. These are called laser micro plastic leminate and they offer much better engraving and cutting characteristics. These are also called as micro surface of simply burn.

Metals

For engraving metals 10,640nm wavelength CO2 laser. Using Nd: YVO4 technology at 1,064nm wavelength or its harmonics at 532 and 355nm used for new methods. Now metals can be engraved easily by using profitable systems.

Stone

There are special types of laser stones, which is better method for engraving stone materials. These laser stones are polished, very dark type, like granite, marble or basalt. White marble is also one of the excellent material for engraving which provides high quality and lightly engraved results. The more similar and fine cereal the stone have the good results with the laser engraver that achieved.

Glass

Some of the glasses products are individually amplified by laser e.g. Glasses, bottles, cups, champagne glasses, paperweights, plates, vases, ornaments. A laser can engrave messages, graphics and even photos with a powerful beam of light. The formation of a white, matte image that looks nice and professional. Although glass is sensitive material to process and the idea can be intimidating with a laser crystal, laser etching sound is one of the easiest and fastest ways to etch glass.

 

Cutting

It should be mentioned that same basic techniques and considerations for the production of different cut shape lasers used to establish whether in wood or in stacked fabric for clothing or even metals (plasma cutting).

Printing

Laser beam can be used by a printer which helps to create an image on a drum and lights change to the electrical charge on the drum, where it hits usually. Through a toner reservoir, this is sensed by the charged parts of the drum. The toner is transferred onto the paper using a combination of heat and pressure therefore copy machines also work like this.

A gift of Love

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps. She paid the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats, walked down the aisle and found the seat he’d told her was empty. Then she settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her cane against her leg.

It had been a year since Susan, thirty-four, became blind. Due to a medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightless, and she was suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger, frustration and self-pity. Once a fiercely independent woman, Susan now felt condemned by this terrible twist of fate to become a powerless, helpless burden on everyone around her. “How could this have happened to me?” she would plead, her heart knotted with anger.

But no matter how much she cried or ranted or prayed, she knew the painful truth her sight was never going to return. A cloud of depression hung over Susan’s once optimistic spirit. Just getting through each day was an exercise in frustration and exhaustion. And all she had to cling to was her husband Mark.

Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all of his heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was determined to help his wife gain the strength and confidence she needed to become independent again. Mark’s military background had trained him well to deal with sensitive situations, and yet he knew this was the most difficult battle he would ever face.

Finally, Susan felt ready to return to her job, but how would she get there? She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get around the city by herself. Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day, even though they worked at opposite ends of the city.

At first, this comforted Susan and fulfilled Mark’s need to protect his sightless wife who was so insecure about performing the slightest task. Soon, however, Mark realized that this arrangement wasn’t working – it was hectic, and costly. Susan is going to have to start taking the bus again, he admitted to himself. But just the thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She was still so fragile, so angry. How would she react?

Just as Mark predicted, Susan was horrified at the idea of taking the bus again. “I’m blind!” she responded bitterly. “How am I supposed to know where I’m going? I feel like you’re abandoning me.”

Mark’s heart broke to hear these words, but he knew what had to be done. He promised Susan that each morning and evening he would ride the bus with her, for as long as it took, until she got the hang of it. And that is exactly what happened.

For two solid weeks, Mark, military uniform and all, accompanied Susan to and from work each day. He taught her how to rely on her other senses, specifically her hearing, to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment. He helped her befriend the bus drivers who could watch out for her, and save her a seat. He made her laugh, even on those not-so-good days when she would trip exiting the bus, or drop her briefcase.

Each morning they made the journey together, and Mark would take a cab back to his office. Although this routine was even more costly and exhausting than the previous one, Mark knew it was only a matter of time before Susan would be able to ride the bus on her own. He believed in her, in the Susan he used to know before she’d lost her sight, who wasn’t afraid of any challenge and who would never, ever quit.

Finally, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own. Monday morning arrived, and before she left, she threw her arms around Mark, her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best friend.

Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience, his love. She said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their separate ways. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… Each day on her own went perfectly, and Susan had never felt better. She was doing it! She was going to work all by herself!

On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was paying for her fare to exit the bus, the driver said, “Boy, I sure envy you.” Susan wasn’t sure if the driver was speaking to her or not. After all, who on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just to find the courage to live for the past year?

Curious, she asked the driver, “Why do you say that you envy me?” The driver responded, “It must feel so good to be taken care of and protected like you are.” Susan had no idea what the driver was talking about, and asked again, “What do you mean?”

The driver answered, “You know, every morning for the past week, a fine looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the corner watching you when you get off the bus. He makes sure you cross the street safely and he watches you until you enter your office building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks away. You are one lucky lady.”

Tears of happiness poured down Susan’s cheeks. For although she couldn’t physically see him, she had always felt Mark’s presence. She was lucky, so lucky, for he had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift she didn’t need to see to believe – the gift of love that can bring light where there had been darkness.

Pakistan Floods: HOW TO HELP?

More than 20 million people are affected by Pakistan’s worst flooding in 80 years, with at least 1,600 fatalities, according to estimates from the government of Pakistan. While the severity of their needs has not yet been fully assessed, the number is greater than those who were affected by the 2005 South Asia tsunami (5 million), the 2005 South Asia earthquake (3 million), or the 2010 Haiti earthquake (3 million). The estimate of 290,000 homes destroyed or seriously damaged is almost the same as those destroyed in Haiti. Below are organizations that are working on relief and recovery in the region:

Edhi Foundation
http://www.edhifoundation.com/contact.asp

Pakistan Red Crescent Society
http://www.prcs.org.pk/help.asp

AL-KHIDMAT Foundation Pakistan
http://al-khidmatfoundation.org/donate-here.php

Sungi Development Foundation
http://sungi.org/emergency_donations_contact_information.html

World Crunches Service
http://www.act-intl.org/donations.php

Save the Children
https://secure.savethechildren.org/01/support_now

Islamic Relief USA
https://www.islamicreliefusa.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=203

Islamic Help England
http://www.islamichelp.org.uk/servepage.asp?page=3

International Rescue Committee
https://www.theirc.org/donate/donate-now

UNICEF
http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=6161181

United Nations World Food Programme
https://secure.my-websites.org/supporter/donatenow.do?n=gbss&dfdbid=1044253

UNHCR
http://www.unhcr.org/emergency/pakistan/global_landing.html

UNICEF – USA
https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?idb=784883377&df_id=1661&1661.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr010=vmk328n351.app17b

Oxfam America
https://secure.oxfamamerica.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=main_donate_go

International Medical Corps
https://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=341

UNHCR – Canada
https://www.strategicprofitsinc.com/hosted/unhcr/index_s.php

World Vision
http://www.worldvision.org/#/home/main/disastrous-flooding-pakistan-1-1221

Muslim Aid
http://www.muslimaid.org/index.php/media-centre/press-releases/476-pakistan-flood-appeal

Need Vs Greed

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen
on the quality of their fish and asked
how long it took him to catch them .

“Not very long.” they answered in unison.

“Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?”

The fishermen explained that their small catches were
sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

“But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children,
and take siestas with our wives.
In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.
We have a full life.”

The tourist interrupted,

“I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day.
You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”

“And after that?”

“With the extra money the larger boat will bring,
you can buy a second one and a third one
and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man,
you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants
and maybe even open your own plant.

You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City , Los Angeles , or even New York City !

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”

“How long would that take?”

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years.” replied the tourist.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting, ” answered the tourist, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” asked the fishermen.

“After that you’ll be able to retire,
live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children,
catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife
and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”

“With all due respect sir, but that’s exactly what we are doing now. So what’s the point wasting twenty-five years?” asked the Mexicans.

And the moral of this story is:

Know where you’re going in life….
you may already be there

Stereotypes

stereotypes cannot be and should not be avoided, they are there for a reason. however, stereotypes should not be used as a lazy excuse to “write off” any person into a defined category.

advanced societies (as bench-marked against financial and tech advances) make the huge mistake of trying to ignore… stereotypes – in order to be politically correct.

stereotypes helps up quickly “categorize” and “sort” information. the problem with stereotypes is that they are (1) constantly out dated and need to be updated (2) apply only to general description of a group and not to individuals

Hence, again use stereotypes with a caveat – they only act as a cultural guide for 1st encounters and introductions, not for writing off people totally.

Why banning the Internet in Pakistan

Pakistan seems ready to ban the Internet (again) (well, parts of it)!

On the face of it, this is Internet banning silly season all over again. But wait. Maybe, this is different. Maybe, its not even a bad thing! Maybe, this is exactly what we need!

But before I explain why this may be so, here are the essential facts. The machinations of banning the Internet in Pakistan are not new. It has sometimes been done to silence political speech (and here), but its more common and certainly its recent incarnation is in the name of religion. Of course, the frenzy was at its height recently with the ‘Facebook ban.’ Now it seems that the Lahore High Court has ordered the banning of an entire range of websites, possibly including Google, Yahoo, MSN and Bing. Supposedly, the government’s position is that “no website will be blocked without investigation,” but also that websites will be blocked to comply with the court’s rulings.

Why, you ask. Here is how the report in The News explains it:

A citizen, Muhammad Sidiq, filed a writ petition No. 3246/2010 in the LHC, seeking a ban on the websites for publishing blasphemous materials and twisting the facts and figure of Holy Quran. Deputy Attorney General Muhammad Hussain Azad also endorsed the viewpoint of the petitioner and demanded blocking of these websites. Counsel for the petitioner, Latif-ur-Rehman Advocate presented CDs and other evidence in the court, showing that the said websites were publishing sacrilegious material. Later, President High Court Bar Aslam Dhakkar said the court has given a historic decision. He said the legal fraternity would observe a complete strike in Bahawalpur on Wednesday (today) against publication of such material by these websites. He said a meeting would also discuss the situation today.

It is not yet fully clear exactly what will happen because of this ruling, but it is very clear that no matter what happens we are going to keep getting a host of such cases. People will find things on the Internet that they are offended by. While I have never understood why people spend so much time and energy trying to find things that offend them, it is the nature of the Internet that everyone (and I mean, everyone) can find lots of things on it to be offended by. Conspiracy, idioticy, lies, ridicule. Its all there. What you choose to see on the Internet is your choice, not the Internet’s. (Maybe the Honorable Judge Sahib should have booked Mr. Muhammad Sidiq for visiting blasphemous site. Why is his faith so insecure as to be shattered by a website. After all, why is he going around searching for blasphemy!).

It would be too easy, however, to blame the Judge for giving a ‘wrong’ decision. Its too easy for Internet Freedom advocates to seek a reversal of the decision. But the fact of the matter is that the decision is NOT wrong. Under the laws of Pakistan, as written, blasphemy is indeed punishable and such sites should, indeed, be banned. The problem is not the judges or their decisions. The problem is the laws as they are written. And that means that the solutions will not come through the courts, but through society and through legislation. Blasphemy laws have been used nearly exclusively to exclude and to intimidate.

Historically, these blasphemy laws have been used to exclude and intimidate minorities. Now, the exact same tactics are being used to exclude and intimidate speech. The one thing you can be sure of is that we will see more and more of this. And our courts and judges will have no option but to rule as they have been ruling. Because that is what the law demands.

And herein lies the point about why banning the Internet in Pakistan may actually be a good thing.

Intimidation through these laws has never hurt the majority of Pakistanis, and certainly not those who matter in any consequential way. But Internet bans, no matter how temporary, do exactly that. The broader the Internet ban, the deeper the hurt, and the more it matters to those who matter. Maybe it will take repeated bans for us to realize the injustice, the exclusion and the intimidation that is baked into these laws.

The fact of the matter is that whatever inconvenience these Internet bans may cause are inconsequential in comparison to the actual murder and mayhem that is caused to minorities in Pakistan because of the same blasphemy laws. If this inconvenience is the way to awaken to the much greater injustice in these laws, then maybe these Internet bans are a good thing, after all. If, indeed, that were to happen, it would be an inconvenience well worth it!

10 Ways to Write a Stronger Résumé

Nearly one-in-four human resources managers said they receive, on average, more than 75 résumés for each open position, according to a nationwide survey by Careerbuilder.com. When a job posting’s response is that overwhelming, human resource managers often struggle to distinguish one candidate from another — particularly since most of them spend only a minute or two assessing each candidate’s résumé. That’s why job seekers have to be savvy about their résumé’s content and presentation. Unfortunately, even the most talented, qualified candidates sometimes write weak résumés. Whether they’re in a hurry, lack writing skills or are unsure how to market themselves to employers, they fail to score interviews because their résumés don’t immediately demonstrate what return on investment they offer employers. To sidestep this dilemma, consider Susan Britton Whitcomb’s 10 tips for writing great résumé copy, excerpted from her book, “Résumé Magic”:

1. Know your audience before you begin to write. What skills and competencies are they looking for? What knowledge do they require? What trends are they capitalizing on? What opportunities are they interested in tapping? What problems do they need fixed? What projects can you help them move forward?

2. Pack your résumé with keywords — those words that describe your title, knowledge base, skill set, impressive “name-brand” companies or Fortune 500 employers, prestigious universities attended, degrees, licensing, software experience, affiliations and so on.

3. Find keywords by reviewing relevant job postings online or detailed classified ads in newspapers, reading job descriptions or content at your target companies’ Web sites, reading your association’s newsletter or trade journals, conducting informational interviews with industry contacts and so on.

4. Position critical information at the “visual center” of the page. Weave keywords throughout your Qualifications Summary and Professional Experience sections, as well as in your cover letter. Create a Keyword Summary section for electronic versions of your résumé.

5. Resist the temptation to outsmart applicant-screening software by, for instance, planting the keyword “project manager” nine times throughout the résumé when you might have minimal experience as a project manager.

6. When writing job descriptions, try to keep your paragraph to around five lines. Summarize any redundant statements and present the material with an emphasis on transferable skills. Always highlight your accomplishments.

7. If you’re writing a functional or skills-based résumé, focus on three to five skill areas and lean toward occupational skills (such as event planning, marketing or project coordination) instead of personal skills (such as analytical skills, problem-solving skills or organizational talents) for category subheadings. After you have selected your subheadings, develop two to five sentences, along with specific accomplishments that encapsulate your range of experience for each subheading.

8. New graduates with limited professional experience will normally place their Education section near the top of the résumé, after the Objective/Focus or Qualifications Summary.

9. For categories such as affiliations, publications, presentations or awards and honors, consider presenting information in a bulleted list or two-column format to save space and add visual appeal.

10. Think like an advertising copywriter: Be concise, but give enough data to create interest and a desire to meet you.

Selena Dehne is a career writer for JIST Publishing who shares the latest occupational, career and job search information available with job seekers and career changers. She is also the author of JIST’s Job Search and Career Blog (http://jistjobsearchandcareer.blogspot.com/). Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SelenaDehne.