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I come from a country where the majority live in poverty, and spend most of their life seeking employment that will cover all the bills or worse pay the bare necessiteies. I come from a country brimming over with talented people who are not given the opportunity or the environment to realize their potential or a better future. I come from a country where religion is being twisted and mis-used to justify people's frustrations and helplessness.It is with my heart heavy and my eyes full that I see my country go down a road stained with destruction, pain, and disgrace.

I live in a country with one of the best standards of living and where money is a plenty to do as you wish. You work for it ofcourse but the compensation makes it worth your while and you even learn to appreciate paying taxes becuase the system will work for you when you need it.
I live faraway, yet I feel the same sadness, even more for I know what could be.
It breaks my heart, it punctures my soul.
I carry it around, this little hole in my heart, that few understand around me.
I go about my daily life and forget that it is there.

A family diaspora

List of places all us first cousins now call home:
1.Rawalpindi, Pakistan
2.Islamabad, Pakistan
3.Karachi, Pakistan
4.Germantown, Maryland, US
5. San Francisco, US
6. Oswego, NY , US
7. Melbourne, Australia
8. London, UK
9. Nottingham, UK
10. Stuttgart, Germany
11. Oslo Norway

So technically we will be a bunch of Pakistani-American-Australian, British, German-Turkish, Norwegians in the family.

One Nobel Peace Prize to go please.

And the Nobel Peace Prize goes to....President Barack Obama.... for:
not being George W Bush
being the first black president of the US
making a few great speeches
reaching out to the young, unemployed, uninsured, and muslims (in an attempt to win back the hearts and minds)

I think that about sums it up...no?

He certainly did not get it for:
the countless deaths of civilians dying everyday in the ongoing war in Afganistan and Iraq,the people suffering everyday in Gaza the casualties inside the border in Pakistan caused by American drone attacks and if thats not enough..the fanstastic concrete, achieveable plans the President has come up with to stop the death and destruction, caused by the above mentioned offensives,
I commend the Nobel Peace prize committee for degrading the Peace Prize and for being so naive as to bestow such a prestigious and regarded award in the hope that peace will come as a result of a few diplomatic efforts and good intentions (I must sayI am not even sure what the intentions constitute really)

Bravo Thorbjørn Jagland.

The icons of our day

I admit to watching the simpsons and even though I am not a fan I watch it quite often as it is usually on TV when I turn it on in the evenings, coupled with the fact that all else going on at the same time on other channels is even less senseless (yes, its possible)... reality shows, nonsensical comdedies and what not.

The Simpsons, currently in its 20ths season is a cartoon show about a dysfunctional American family, and although does not conciously target children runs at a time in the day when many children are sitting infront of a TV. It is sad that young children's minds are exposed to such content on a regular basis, its not even healthy for the older more discerning viewers over a long period of time, in my opinion. And that will de a bit impossible to change since the series is to become the longest-running prime-time series in US TV history after makers Fox ordered another two seasons.

This month, Marge Simpson will be featured on the cover of Playboy in an attempt to attract and expand readership amongst younger 20 somethings, according to the magazine editors. This after the day Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace prize! Stay tuned for more silly, brainless, fear inducing non thought provoking nonsense, that dominates our world today through the idiot box!