There is no peace in Pakistan.

It overflows into Afghanistan and it is primarily because of the nukes. Pakistan is known to have a nuclear capacity and it is a target for terrorists. It's nuclear capacity also makes Pakistan a target for other nuclear nations. No matter how one looks at the nuclear capacity of a country, it is more of a headache than not.

May 17, 2018
By Muhammad Zafar

Colonel Sohail Abid (click here) embraced martyrdom during an operation in Balochistan on May 16, 2018, in which a high-value target of banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and two other terrorists were killed.

Quetta: Security forces on Thursday (click here) killed the Balochistan chief of proscribed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi during an intelligence-based operation in the Killi Almas area of Balochistan, said a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

A Pakistan Army officer, Colonel Sohail Abid, was martyred during the operation and four other soldiers were injured during the security operation.

The operation was conducted on intelligence obtained from a high-value terrorist arrested earlier by security forces. Intelligence pointed to the presence of the LeJ chief and presence of suicide bombers at the terrorist hideout....

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing crescent

6.3 days old

38.6 percent lit

I have gotten weary of people that play with the nature of Earth. So, let's begin to defend the idea there actually was a real beginning to the universe and Milky Way Galaxy. I think Paul Sutter is able to put it in words that all should be able to understand. The underlying FACT to his description is the speed of light. The speed of light is a law of nature. It is measurable and consistent.

The Earth is 4.543 billion (with a b) years old. It is not 8000 or so years old. Earth is ancient and the speed of light is a reliable method of proving it. 

April 22, 2018
By Paul Sutter

...Because light takes time to travel (click here) from one place to another, we don't see stars and galaxies as they are now, but as they were thousands, millions or billions of years ago. That means that looking deeper into the universe is also looking deeper into the past. We see a lot of quasars in the distant cosmos, which means these objects were very common billions of years ago. But there are hardly any quasars in our local, up-to-date neighborhood. And they’re common enough in the far-away (that is, young) universe that we should see a lot more in our vicinity.


The simple conclusion: The universe was different in its past than it is today....

...We live in an expanding universe. On average, galaxies are getting farther away from all other galaxies. Sure, some small local collisions happen from leftover gravitational interactions, like how the Milky Way is going to collide with Andromeda in a few billion years. But at large scales, this simple, expansionary relationship holds true. This is what astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered in the early 20th century, soon after finding that "galaxies" were actually a thing....

The picture to the right above is an artists depiction of the Milky Way Galaxy. Not the universe, just one galaxy in the universe.  

If Iceland did nothing except continue to exist and decided the climate crisis was everyone else's problem, they would be right. But, that is not the conscience of Iceland.

The people of Iceland are wonderful, proud of their heritage and culture. I think their sense of beauty adds to the dedication they have regarding Earth's viable environment. There isn't a place in Iceland absent of beauty. Being close to the sea and the Arctic Circle, wonderfully fresh air and geothermal pools in the deepest winter allows them to live with a sense of appreciation for nature.

Icelanders have a strong sense of benevolence. The government is very egalitarian. The Luthern church has a place in the Icelandic culture. They enjoy each other's company. Oddly, there are more Icelanders that speak English than their native Icelandic in a conversation. The Icelandic language is more or less the conversational language of the older citizens. Iceland is also uniquely European.

Iceland has had nothing to do with the current climate crisis. It's emissions are minuscule for a first world country. It is completely obvious what country has the problem. But, it is incredible to realize what country actually does something about it.

Graph (click here)

Americans should be ashamed of themselves for their self-righteousness.

There are somethings that just should not happen; Puffin extinction is one of those things.

April 23, 2018

According to new report from BirdLife International Iceland's (click here) unofficial national bird, the Atlantic Puffin, is vulnerable to extinction. Combination of climate change and overfishing have caused worrying declines of the puffin population. The report finds that overall some 40% of the world’s 11,000 bird species are in decline, and one in eight bird species is threatened with global extinction....

Iceland is not taking the climate crisis lying down. It has some of the most aggressive ideas to solve the criris on the planet.

25 April 2016

In November Hellisheidi (click here) hit a major milestone, it hosted the world's first "negative emission" system, capable of sucking CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it underground

The Icelandic government (click here) has announced a new sixteen-point plan for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and tackling climate change.

Iceland’s Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources Sigrún Magnúsdóttir presented the new climate-change action plan at a press conference today. Iceland is committed to take part in joint efforts with the European Union (EU) and Norway to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 40% by 2030 (as compared to 1990 levels).

The plan is divided into three sections.

The first deals with reducing overall emissions in Iceland – generated by transport, fisheries, agriculture and land use.

These projects include efforts to move over to green energy for transport, improve infrastructure for electric cars, step up tree planting and soil reclamation for carbon capture, and make the running of State bodies carbon neutral.

There follows a section on bolstering international cooperation and assisting other countries in reducing emissions.

Iceland will take a leading role in a new Global Geothermal Alliance on renewable energy, and will contribute with money and expertise to the newly set-up Green Climate Fund for combating climate change and various projects under the aegis of the Arctic Council....

This was January 2004; I was there in March of that year.

This is one of the most stunning pictures of Iceland. It looks like a snow driven wasteland, but, there are plenty of people living there.

January 8, 2004

True to its name, (click here) Iceland is shown here covered in a white blanket of ice and snow. Low layers of clouds float over the Greenland Sea (left) and the Atlantic Ocean (bottom). Iceland’s southern, low-lying coastlines are greyish-tan, while the rest of the island remains pristine white.

The uniform color hides the exact boundaries of Iceland’s four permanent ice caps—Langjokull and Hofsjokull in the interior west, Myrdalsjokull on the southern coast, and Vatnajokull on the eastern coast. The ice caps have a smooth, rounded appearance that contrasts with the snow-covered interior plateau of the island as well as with the rugged, glacier-carved coastlines. Vatnajokull is the largest of the four, and it rests on top of three active volcanoes. The heat from these volcanoes causes the underside of the ice cap to melt, slowly building up meltwater in the volcano’s caldera. When the meltwater spills over the lip of the caldera, it releases a torrent of water known as a glacial melt flood.

Iceland sits just south of the edge of the Arctic Circle at the intersection of two tectonic plates, which accounts for its volcanic activity. Located on a mid-ocean ridge between the North American and the Eurasian tectonic plates, Iceland is being slowly pulled in two as the two plates spread apart. As the plates retreat, magma from deep in the Earth wells up to the surface. Much of the interior portion of the island is covered in lava fields....

Disappearing birds and bird watching can be a very lucrative tourism business.

Audubon Species List (click here) doesn't feature bird from Pakistan.

Are there no bird watching clubs in Pakistan?

May 20, 2018
By Muhhammad Salman Khan

Yellow Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus malabaricus) (click here)

Karachi - After having served for years as a banker, (click here) Mirza Naim Beg has now dedicated his life to wildlife photography and bird watching.

Beg shares with The Express Tribune his concerns over the loss of birdlife in Sindh.

According to the bird guide, ‘Birds of Pakistan’ there are around 750 bird species in the country but Beg and his birders have been able to document many species which have not been photographed previously.

In hopes of raising awareness about birdlife of Sindh and its conservation, Beg suggests authorities should establish new bird sanctuaries because there are hardly any in the country.

“I’ve been able to photograph a lot of rare birds near my residence in the Defense Housing Authority, Phase 8. Birds such as the yellow wattled lapwing, grey francolin and long-legged buzzard are rare species which will disappear forever,” he fears....

Threatened Cinereous vulture (left) and Eurasian Griffon vulture (right) are winter migrants photographed here near Kathore 


The vulture on the left is simply wicked looking. I don't think I want to mess with it. But, it is sometimes scary features of an animal that will cause hunting or poaching. The people have to be educated to their ecosystems and the value each species have to protect the land and water.

June 16, 2017

The per-capita GDP (click here) of Iceland is one of the highest in Europe, new statistics from Statistics Iceland reveal. GDP volume per capita, adjusted for purchasing parity, in Iceland was 29% above the EU average in 2016. Iceland had the 5th highest GDP per capita of the 37 participating European countries.

The statistics reveal that only Luxembourg, Ireland, Switzerland and Norway had higher PPP adjusted GDP than Iceland. GDP volume per capita was highest in Luxembourg, 167% above the EU28 average, followed by Ireland where GDP was 77% above the EU28 average. It should be kept in mind that a large number of foreign residents are employed in Luxembourg and thus contribute to its GDP, while at the same time they are not included in the resident population.

The data also reveals that Iceland has one of the highest costs of living in Europe. The price of household consumption in Iceland was 47% above the EU average in 2016. The only European country with a higher cost of living was Switzerland, where it was 61% above the EU average....

Forty-four degrees centigrade is 111.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

May 20, 2018
By Mudaser Kazi

Karachi - One of the hottest days in May (click here) was recorded on Sunday when temperatures in the port city rose to 44˚ Celsius. This spell of hot weather is likely to continue for the next few days due to the suspension of sea breeze.

According to Regional Director Karachi PMD Shahid Abbas, the temperature in Karachi reached 44 degree Celsius, which is the highest recorded in the month of Ramazan.

He said that that dry air resulted in the rise of temperature recorded at 3pm, as the humidity remained as low as 8 per cent.

Earlier in the the day at 1pm the temperature was recorded at 42 degree Celsius.

“Thanks to the decline in humidity, that made the heat index (feel like) it was at 41 degrees,” he explained....

...As part of its continued torture of the residents of Karachi, K-Electric (K-E) decided a heatwave would be the perfect time to implement increased load-shedding in the city. Areas such as Lyari, Malir, Defence, North Nazimabad and Nazimabad were without electricity all night. Many residents took to the streets, to protest. Many areas also experienced water shortages....

There is gross mismanagement of water in this area of Pakistan. The Lyari River is being polluted because of lack of infrastructure planning. There is a huge expressway that runs through this area and it is polluting everything. It is this pollution and sewage mismanagement that is taking water resources away from the people.

The people demonstrate and complain, but, there is little done to improve the circumstances by the government. The people have to focus on necessary infrastructure projects and demand the same from the government. Where are all the conservation biologists and the organization to bring about pressure on lawmakers. This is no joke. Water is at a premium and getting worse. Pakistan has to secure the water future of it's people.

What good is the electricity for a water pump if there is no potable water to pump?

Until the 1970s, (click here) the river held clean water and fish, with farming activities on its banks.[3] However, after the independence of Pakistan from British colonialism in 1947, when Karachi was announced as the capital city of the new country, a large influx of refugees from various Indian states as well as from other provinces of Pakistan came to live in the city. 

With rapid growth of the city's economy, industry, and population, the river's ecology was transformed and it gradually continued to discharge waste water, sewage and industrial effluents....

March 10, 2018
By Sophie Hares

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico  - Icelanders (click here) have long joked that global warming was something people on the chilly Nordic island could look forward to, but as ice caps and glaciers melt at record speeds, that gag is wearing thin, according to the country’s president.

Warming oceans around the North Pole are harming biodiversity and fish stocks, and causing acidification in the world’s northern regions, forcing countries like Iceland to adapt to a new reality, said President Gudni Johannesson.

“The common joke in Iceland is to say that on this cold and windy, rain-swept island, global warming is something we should cheer for - but it’s no longer funny,” Johannesson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

“Climate change affects us all on this globe, but you can see the effects in particular in the northern regions - the ice cap around the North Pole is melting at record rates, the oceans there are getting warmer,” he said....

...Changing patterns of fish migration will make it essential to reach deals with neighboring nations over fish catches, said the president, a former academic who has written about Iceland’s “cod wars”....

400 straight months, not days, of warmer temperatures on Earth.

May 17, 2018
By Doyle Rice

It was December 1984, (click here) and President Reagan had just been elected to his second term, Dynasty was the top show on TV and Madonna's Like a Virgin topped the musical charts.It was also the last time the Earth had a cooler-than-average month.

Last month marked the planet's 400th consecutive month with above-average temperatures, federal scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday. 

The cause for the streak? Unquestionably, it’s climate change, caused by humanity's burning of fossil fuels.

"We live in and share a world that is unequivocally, appreciably and consequentially warmer than just a few decades ago, and our world continues to warm," said NOAA climate scientist Deke Arndt. "Speeding by a '400' sign only underscores that, but it does not prove anything new."

Climate scientists use the 20th-century average as a benchmark for global temperature measurements. That's because it's fixed in time, allowing for consistent "goal posts" when reviewing climate data. It's also a sufficiently long period to include several cycles of climate variability....

Iceland's population is about the same as Santa Ana, California.

• The current population of Iceland is 337,453 as of Sunday, May 20, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates.
• Iceland population is equivalent to 0% of the total world population.
• Iceland ranks number 180 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.
• 
  
• The population density in Iceland is 3 per Km2 
• The total land area is 100,250 Km2 (38,707 sq. miles)
• 97.1 % of the population is urban (327,949 people in 2018)
• The median age in Iceland is 36.3 years.

Santa Ana, California

Population      334,613

Population Density:    4759 people per Km2

The petroleum industry has no regard for life.

Under President Obama there was a distinct leveling off of CO2 by 2014. As soon as the USA EPA removed the rules for GHG emissions under "Let's Party on Taxpayer Dollar" Scott Pruitt, the carbon content started to climb. The USA is an abusive banana republic that endangers the rest of the world for no other reason except corporate profits. To top it off, those corporate profits aren't even taxed the same as the citizens.

25 April 2018
By Jeff Tollefson

Making sense of recent energy trends (click here) can seem like a high-stakes Rorschach test. Some experts see the boom in renewable energy and the shift away from coal in many countries as evidence that the world is beginning to turn a corner on global warming. Others see simply a continuing reliance on low-cost fossil fuels, slow governmental action and a rising risk of planetary meltdown.

The fact is that both sides are right. Renewable energy is indeed undergoing a revolution, as prices for things such as solar panels, wind turbines and lithium-ion batteries continue to plummet. And yet it is also true that the world remains dependent on fossil fuels — so much so that even small economic shifts can quickly overwhelm the gains made with clean energy.

So it was in 2017, when, after staying relatively flat from 2014 to 2016, carbon emissions grew by about 1.5% (see ‘A brief lull’). All it took to create that spike was a small rise in economic growth across the developing world, according to a final estimate released in March by the Global Carbon Project, an international research consortium that monitors carbon emissions and climate trends....

Iceland's greenhouse gas emission pledge for reduction is 110 percent.

Iceland primarily uses geothermal for energy. The industrial pollution increase in Iceland is due to one reason and one reason only. "Alcoa."

In Denmark, (click here)) Finland and Sweden, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by between 22 and 25 per cent between 1990 and 2015, but emissions have increased in Norway and Iceland. Iceland has had the highest increase in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, an increase of almost 25 per cent.

In both the Nordic countries and the EU, the energy sector (including the transport sector) accounts for the highest share of emissions of greenhouse gases. The exception being Iceland, where the largest share of emissions stems from industrial processes....

Previous to the "Kyoto Protocol" no one ever paid attention to Iceland. Then Kyoto is written and adopted with Iceland having the lowest GHG score on the planet and Alcoa discovered Iceland. Iceland's smelters are proof that Wall Street cares about nothing but profits.

April 23, 2007
By Sarah Edmonds

Reydarfjordar, Iceland - Iceland’s biggest (click here) and newest aluminium smelter, Alcoa Fjardaal, pumped out its first hot metal at the weekend, riling critics who fear it will damage the environment.

The balance between environmental and economic tradeoffs for Iceland’s three existing and three planned smelters have become a major issue in the lead-up to May 12 elections.

On one side are those who fear unchecked industrial growth will harm the land and economy.

On the other are those who say Iceland must bring in such projects to make use of its abundant but unexportable power-generating resources, such as its geothermal and hydroelectric potential.

The issue has given rise to a new green party, the Iceland Movement, whose platform has a single plank: big industry development must stop for five years until the effects of projects like Alcoa’s Fjardaal are clear....

It's Saturday Night

Berglind Icey (4 June 1977) Icelandic model and actress, former competitive swimmer.

So I went out last night (click here) with a group of friends and was talking to an English friend of mine that suggested I should write a blog about how open Icelandic people are about sex. (Which is obviously a great idea because everyone is going to want to read about that – and I have so much to say on the topic!) ;) 

This said friend has been to Iceland a couple of times (as well as pretty much everywhere else in the world) and he was amused when he was there with myself and my Icelandic female friend and we had a conversation, in English so that he could understand, detailing our sex-lives....

Подробнее: http://beauty-around.com/en/tops/item/1035-most-beautiful-icelandic-women

Iceland National Anthem

Lofsöngur

Ó, guð vors lands! Ó, lands vors guð!
Vér lofum þitt heilaga, heilaga nafn!
Úr sólkerfum himnanna hnýta þér krans
þínir herskarar, tímanna safn.
Fyrir þér er einn dagur sem þúsund ár
og þúsund ár dagur, ei meir:
eitt eilífðar smáblóm með titrandi tár,
sem tilbiður guð sinn og deyr.
Íslands þúsund ár,
Íslands þúsund ár,
eitt eilífðar smáblóm með titrandi tár,
sem tilbiður guð sinn og deyr.

Oh, God of our land! Oh, our country's God!
We praise your holy, holy name!
From the solar systems we will tie you a crown
your armies, a timely collection.
One day is a thousand years to you,
and thousand years; a day, and no more.
An eternal (small)flower with a tear in its eye,
that praises its god, and then dies.
Iceland's thousand years
Iceland's thousand years!
An eternal (small)flower with a tear in its eye,
that praises its god, and then dies.
Ó guð, ó guð! Vér föllum fram
og fórnum þér brennandi, brennandi sál,
guð faðir, vor drottinn frá kyni til kyns,
og vér kvökum vort helgasta mál.
Vér kvökum og þökkum í þúsund ár,
því þú ert vort einasta skjól.
Vér kvökum og þökkum með titrandi tár,
því þú tilbjóst vort forlagahjól.
Íslands þúsund ár,
Íslands þúsund ár!
Voru morgunsins húmköldu, hrynjandi tár,
sem hitna við skínandi sól.

Oh God, oh God! We fall far down
and sacrifice your burning, burning soul,
Father, our Lord from generation to generation,
we tell our most important tales.
We tell and we thank for a thousand years,
for you are our only shelter.
We tell and we thank with tears in our eyes,
for you created our fortune wheel.
Iceland's thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
Our dark and cold mornings, our fallen tears,
that warm up with the rising sun.

Ó, guð vors lands! Ó, lands vors guð!
Vér lifum sem blaktandi, blaktandi strá.
Vér deyjum, ef þú ert ei ljós það og líf,
sem að lyftir oss duftinu frá.
Ó, vert þú hvern morgun vort ljúfasta líf,
vor leiðtogi í daganna þraut
og á kvöldin vor himneska hvíld og vor hlíf
og vor hertogi á þjóðlífsins braut.
Íslands þúsund ár,
Íslands þúsund ár!
verði gróandi þjóðlíf með þverrandi tár,sem þroskast á guðsríkis braut.

Oh, the God of our land! Oh, our country's God!
We live as waving, waving straws.
We die, if you aren't the light and the life,
that lifts us from the dust.
Oh, be the sweetest every morning,
our leader through troubled times.
And at nighttime, be our heavenly rest and our protector
and our lord on this road.
Iceland's thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
The nation shall grow with drying tears,
it will mature in Gods way.

Congratulations to the happy couple.

In one word, elegant. Their love is obvious. This moment is memorable. I am quite sure when their official capacity begins Tuesday their mark will be unique and set an agenda forward for their generation.

Meghan has the biggest adjustment for the two. As of yesterday, her life will change forever. I wish them continued happiness and joy.

In many ways Pakistan's women's movement is outpacing that of the regressive USA.

May 20, 2018
By Faima Bakar

Feminism needs to include women of colour, (click here) Muslim women, disabled women, sex workers, trans women, gay women, queer women, fat women, skinny women. It needs to cater to all women. The fact that the term ‘intersectional feminism’ exists proves that the general movement is often exclusive and largely white.

Mainstream, western feminism isn’t always intersectional. There are feminists who often don’t realise or can’t relate to the fact that for women of colour, of different faiths, abilities, it’s not just gender that they’re discriminated on.

Such women are affected by these circumstances professionally, socially and mentally, and yet don’t always receive the help and support that’s needed. Issues are all too often seen through white lenses and how they affect white women, such as the gender pay gap, sexual harassment, eating disorders, and everyday sexism. We don’t see many platforms which seek out Muslim women’s experiences of these topics. Think of the countless articles, research pieces, features that looked at sexual assault, post #MeToo; how many of those included Muslim women’s stories? Given the wide scope of women affected by sexual misconduct, there were definitely Muslim women who were affected, so why have we not heard any of their voices?....

Make no mistake, Pakistan has grasped the woman's movement and is outpacing the USA in liberating from old ideology and oppression. There is a great deal of oppression in the USA since the regressive movement begun with "W." Women in the USA today actually have less freedom than their predecessors of the 1960s.

Civil rights in general in the USA has taken a nosedive, including the disruptive nature of the Supreme Court's decision regarding the Voting Rights Act. In response to many of the adverse elections, there is some movement as seen in Pennsylvania to return "the vote" to the people rather than it being held hostage by a political party through Gerrymandering.

With that reality, in many ways the women of Pakistan are outpacing their American sisters, thanks to the dedication and perseverance of Malala Yousafzai.

May 8, 2018
By Sherish Wasif

The National Assembly (click here) on Tuesday passed the controversial ‘The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 which aims at helping the marginalised community to get their rights but has some provisions which are declared as un-Islamic by certain quarters.

Prior to the voting on the bill, which aims to ‘provide for protection, relief and rehabilitation of rights of the transgender persons’, MNA Naeema Kishwer of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) said there are some serious flaws in the bill that need to be rectified.

She suggested that the bill should be referred to the standing committee for detailed review and deliberation. She also moved a motion and amendments to refer the bill to Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and the standing committee but these suggestions were rejected....

The value of Malala to #MeToo.

Global oppression of women can accompany the ideas behind the movement of #MeToo. In Pakistan, the abuse of women and profound danger in their lives for being nothing more than female has abated since the country found virtue in Malala's message.

Today, a Pakistan experiencing relief for women, now finds itself feeling the fear of encroachment of oppression again. For Pakistan, the #MeToo movement is an opportunity for men to engage in old practices by recalling old-world religious roles and victimization.

It is up to women to prevent such loss of human rights ("Women's rights are human rights and human rights are women's rights."). Sexual harassment and sexual assault when viewed through the lens of other countries where rape is a punishment for flirtatious behavior or to bring shame to a family by village elders; cries not to the past, but, to the future.

The very same ideas that hated girls for attending school are the same voices of oppression of women today. The future belongs to the voices in Pakistan men, women, girls and boys, that see a future where village elders have been the corrupting influence of life.

May 4, 2018

...The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (click here) on Friday sent a violation notice to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) slamming two Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders for their misogynist remarks against women of PTI.

In the letter sent to PEMRA by the PTI central secretariat, both Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and Federal Minister of Water and Power Abid Sher Ali were lambasted for using inappropriate language for the women of PTI and the women that attend their rally....

Pakistan has made immeasurable progress in recent years. The power within that women's movement has brought freedom of expression and potential and real careers that add to the quality of life for women and their families. Pakistani women are becoming greater and greater treasures to the country and the future of all it's people. And let's also realize happiness is a women's right and today more women experience happiness than ever before.

May 4, 2018
By Rana Yasif

The Punjab Assembly on Friday (click here) passed a bill making the teaching of the Holy Quran compulsory in schools across the province.

The bill, Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran Bill 2017, makes it mandatory for children in grade one to five to recite the scripture in Arabic, while children in grade six and above will be required to recite the Holy Quran along with the translation.

The provincial legislature also passed another bill aiming to regulate the use of loudspeakers in mosques....

The increased freedom of women in Pakistan has improved the overall quality of life of all citizens. Women still love men, they still long for a family and find joy in being married. There is nothing that is going to change that. When elders fear for the country in requiring compulsory religious education, the Pakistani legislature needs to be reminded of it's place in advancing the quality of life of all the people and not just the narrow path of a few. 

May 3, 2018
By Mino Nasar

Random thought: (click here) With this entire #MeToo global epidemic on the rise, I am beginning to realise that ISLAM was right all along when it ordains gap between the 2 genders. So called modernism has brought us to a point where the line between flirting & harassment is insanely blurred.

I am not going to start with a validation of how the #MeToo as a movement was so desperately needed to save us women. Frankly, my conscience could no longer bear witnessing the abuse of this narrative, most especially within the elite circles, to which all of us writing and commenting belong....

...Women of the elite are usually not shrinking violets. If anything, I have been harassed by more women than men in my life. If I were to start with my stories and named them with a hashtag on social media, all those women, with their feminist, professional careers and humanitarian credentials, would be done for. But this is not a matter to be hijacked for personal score settling. Therefore, imagine my utter surprise when I read Raja’s mean-spirited allegations against Ali Sibtain Fazli....

...Our nation may have started a transformation, thanks to the #MeToo movement. Unfortunately, in the context of Pakistan, effects are going to be much more destructive....

...This victimology will have another alarming negative impact: men avoiding collaborating with women out of fear. Only in the recent past have we seen every mainstream institution trying to hire and promote as many females as possible. The reversal of this trend will happen quietly and be largely invisible, because unlike the West, Pakistan has no set quotas for the hiring of women, and corporations are under no pressure to show proportional representation in the workforce....

...Rather than empowering women, these sensationalised allegations will result in more backlash; maybe even a call to return to the culture of the veil.

I am utterly disappointed to see the same people blaming others for doing what they have also done in front of my eyes. I refuse to be a silent witness to shameless denial when it comes to their own sins, yet such ugly display of expression when it comes to others. This is the “hypocrisy” that has and will destroy this very elite, and in the meantime, destroy the chance of justice for those women who have real stories to share for #MeToo.