A moment in History - Pakistan

It is Ironic that allies can sometimes be so opposite in circumstance. With the western media and politicians overlooking (what seems to be a fair and transparent process) elections in Pakistan, Pakistan and it's neighbours are faced with more uncertainty. Musharraf has the constitutional authority to remain president and the backing of the military. The rowdy bunch of civilians (Mr. 10 % Asif Zadari and Mr. equally corrupt Nawaz Sharif - Mr. 10 % is Benazir's Widower, 10 % because that was the bribe he'd take for an approval from the Govt. when Buhtto was PM) don't have a stellar record for reforms or control over Pakistan. Both (Zadari/Bhutto and Sharif) have used the extremist element for propping up their own power by sending them off to fight in India, both are/were corrupt and both have tried to imprison the other. Imran Khan (ex cricketer), seems to be the only politician in Pakistan with some sort of credible reputation. The religious orthodox right has lost in the NW frontier province, yet the violent extremists still remain, unchallenged, hiding in those hills. The Pakistani military is trying to clean up the NW frontier province while Pakistanis flee into Afghanistan (for a change). The future could not seem any cloudier, with such a diffuse power base. However, it is clear, that oppression in the form of Military or Religion isn't going to be tolerated any more. What can the West and Pakistan's neighbours do to steer Pakistan into a stable environment that will finally uproot the violent extremist element ? Good question. Whoever or whatever power centre emerges in Pakistan, the world community must nurture it, in the form of economic partnerships and tactical military support, as and when required. The sooner this happens the sooner Pakistanis can join the globalised community.

@#$K off Steve Bucknor

Why someone as blind as Steve Bucknor remains an ICC umpire, is a mystery to me. It is a mystery because the ICC refuse to take any complaints seriously against him. He has been making errors for a long time. Let me not go into his selective visual defects when it comes to Tendulkar, and stick to his botches in the current test in the SCG. Let's be honest, the Indian cricket fan, crazy as he might be, expects umpiring decisions to at least be fair and when in doubt to be referred to the third umpire. But when blind man F@#K Buck, doesn't even refer line decisions to the third umpire (Andrew Symonds) the ICC needs to step in and suspend him or call upon some disciplinary action. The third umpire needs to be able to step in and call the line calls when technology exists for his referral if the on field umpire is F$%ked in the head. Now I'm not going to call the Australians cheaters, for waiting till the umpire raises his finger... but seriously Ricky should you be waggling your finger at Saurav when he doesn't move ?

Mike Proctor is usually a good guy. He had a tough time with the Inzy, Haire issue in England in 2006 but he usually gets it right. How he decided to ban Harbhajan for racial slurring on the field when there is no material evidence for it, is astounding... It will not hold up in court. Coming to the racist element in the word 'Monkey'. Racist lesson 101.. when the Australians call Murali a monkey, that is a racist term. Its white on black stuff. When an Indian calls Symonds a 'monkey' that isn't racist. Its black on black stuff, which doesn't count. It is black monkey (macaque) calling another black monkey (lemur/langur) a monkey for being a clown (symonds hair and zinc oxided lips) This post colonial view of language :) has to change.
Let's face it, Australia will do everything to win, make records etc... the SCG was the only place they would have lost, but the 13 man Australian team (11 +2 umpires) came out with guns blazing and pulled out all the tricks in the bag. I'm talking about the underarm bowling stuff and it has shown the ugly face of Australian cricket. Ugly because underneath that baggy green, the symbol of a manly sport, resting on Ponting's head, is a person who dobbed in Harbhajan for giving them some lip (yes ponting dobbed Harbhajan while Symonds 'officially' said everything was ok. Yes, call some one's mother a whore and you are using terms of endearment but use "monkey" and you get banned for the remainder of the series ? Ponting desperately wants to be in the record books, but this will tarnish his image... Hypocrisy has a way of rearing it's ugly head in today's world of professional sport when every image is digitised and catalogued. What irony will it be, if India defeats Australia in Perth. I doubt it, but I cannot speak for Karma.

Of course, any Indian brand sponsoring Ponting will be boycotted, hit them under the belt and cancel Brett Lee's commercial contracts too? Professional sport is about money, ladies and gentlemen, money which you pay for viewing the sponsor's message. Do you really want to pay for double standards, misuse of authority and blatant mismanaging of the 'on field' playing conditions ? All the while, the ICC earns money from your discontent ? In fact, if the Indian team or the BCCI don't taste some blood, I think this matter will get very ugly indeed. The fact that the Indian management even mentioned boycotting the rest of the tour is a reflecting of the economic shift of cricket towards the sub continent. They know it, it is time everyone realises their power and demand what is fair... Get rid of Steve F@#knor !!! When an ageing Tendulkar's reflexes cause him to have difficulty in letting the ball go (the cause for his dismissal in the second innings), should a 61 year old with a history of poor judgements be allowed to umpire ?!? For that matter, why was he chosen to umpire for the only match that the Indian's could have won ? Something stinks big time ! and it's not just the rot on F@#knor's decaying flesh.

Searching... part 1

The last few years have been interesting to say the least. I've gone from being a medical student to a casual worker in the Australian workforce, I'm a full time investor, researcher (I still can't say that with a straight face) and now budding Psychiatrist... I make more money investing so I've left being a casual worker. It was mainly for finding out what the big deal was. Working for a big company. It's the most redundant thing I have done so far. It's inefficient and everyone is self serving, no wonder nothing gets done. They are so redundant, they have to hire 10 people to get the job done. Anyway....

In other words I've covered a lot of ground. I have also decided to get married/am married. That in itself is a story. Civil ceremonies are the only ceremonies that matter legally. Religious, not so much in the eyes of the law, but society, well I'm not married according to society, I'm engaged according to society;legally married. Why not a societal/religious marriage ? Too much co-ordination. It's a problem when your family lives all over the world. It doesn't really bother me, society is self conforming and I refuse to conform.

Incredibly, I'm approaching 30. In my mind I certainly don't feel 30 but I do think about being 30 and what should it mean being 30. I've come to the conclusion that it means absolutely nothing. So let's move on.

The recent 'Sub Prime Meltdown' has got me thinking about things, global economy etc... I think banks and private enterprises are self serving greedy individuals. Nothing wrong with that, but I think the customer so often forgets that.Banks have a monopoly on fiat currency (no intrinsic value), for which, individuals work. Because most work is rubbish people don't enjoy their work. Why is work rubbish anyway ? Well the 'division of labour' causes a person/group to focus their attention on one aspect, boring the death out of him/her so that companies can make a profit. Employers have to cater to the common denominator when it comes to employees. Yes we all try to hire the best, but lets face it, if everyone was hiring the best, then were would the rest of us slackers work ? After all, one has to fill in the gaps. And so the cycle continues.

Why do we work anyway ? We need to earn that fiat currency. We don't have time for raising crops (we are working) so we work to buy food. I hope I'm sounding ridiculously stupid because that is my intention. I'm trying to prove to you (my imaginary readers) that we should all become self sufficient in our needs and stop making other individuals rich through our blood and sweat. Ok, so that's a bit dramatic... but let me explain further...

What do humans want ? Food, Shelter, Sex (very important), Social Interaction and Creativity. Now what do these things have to do with working for a big company ? If the 'system' (here we go big anarchist word) wasn't so skewed, we wouldn't have to work for the big company. What system ? It's a bit complex. Let's see... Big companies eat out competition and take up resources for the profit of its shareholders and to pay that dashing CEO millions of dollars. It would be easy if I started dropping names but that is so cliché that I can't. Companies exist within society and have all the interactions of society without the shortcomings. Ok it s much easier to name names. If a Walmart opens up in your neighbourhood, what does it mean ? Cheap stuff. Stuff that doesn't last much. Smaller stores are unable to compete and will shut down. Yes we will get minimum wage employment. In the long run though a Walmart type super chain is detrimental for individuals as it makes them reliant on the super chain for everything... See a Walmart doesn't source locally. More importantly, a big company like Walmart forces the 'vendors' to become like a 'walmart'. In other words big enough to subsidise its product to who ever is buying. However, isn't a Walmart making life easy for us individuals, freeing up our time ? A one stop shop ? I mean we have so much choice anyway, so why should we bother about going to 10 small stores when we can go to that 1 big Walmart ?

Ok, lets back track for a bit. The argument is 'we have more time if we don't have to bother about being self sufficient'. We have more time to do what exactly ? 'Anything thing you want' would be the reply. The most common of those replies however, would be that you would have time to work, build a career, work towards your retirement, have a family, work to provide for your family... Hello !?! I can have a family and feed it, if I was self sufficient, why do I need a Walmart for that ? (not walmart per se, but a system that is personified by a walmart) I'll tell you why you need a Walmart. You need a Walmart, because you are lazy. You are too preoccupied with yourself and your needs. You are so, because the society that you live in, has made you so. Why did it do that ? Well, 90 % of society really is controlled by 10 % of it, socially, economically, politically etc... But who gives the venerable 10 % the power to do so. I'm sure the clever individuals reading this would have already guessed. The 90 % that are too worried about themselves to bother about where the human race, where they as a group, are headed. I have heard the argument about modern technology and money required to do research blah blah... I know what is involved in research and I know big corporations are redundant so you that is an oft used but untrue argument. Technology is a self fulfilling beast in itself but I will talk about technology later. We don't need big corporations to produce technology.

Where are we headed ? Mmm I wish I knew, I would make a killing in the stock market.

All these questions really got me thinking and the end result was my paper, which is posted on the blog. What did I find out. Well interestingly enough, if an individual thinks about himself, he is really using the circuits which are designed for the flight or fight response. The by product of which is anxiety. If he is thinking about other people, being altruistic, he is using the 'non flight or fight response' circuits. I have to confirm this so wait till I get some references for the latter statement, with regard to the specific circuits in use.

In other words the shift from being self sustaining is causing us to be unhappy... When one is unhappy one is mentally incapable of performing to one's best cognitive capacity. I'm not suggesting that working for a company is a sign of being retarded.... far from. However, what I am suggesting is that the world is filled with many opportunities and working for big companies, though safe, is a self defeating endeavour for society at large. And this is where it gets tricky. Good for the individual, bad for society. But it isn't a static equation. There isn't just one generation that we need to think about. What happens to subsequent generations ? so Let me put it this way. Good for parents, bad for society at large, bad for their children. Even though it was their children that they would have been thinking about. (they maybe thinking about themselves too, that's a psychoanalytical debate which I don't want to have here)

ok more about this later... but I don't want to leave you empty handed, without a suggestion.

1. Start thinking about what self sufficiency means.
2. Grow some tomatoes and basil, make your own bread and have more bruchetta. If you grow the basil near the tomato, it will keep a lot of the insects away from the tomato.

This simple experiment in self sufficiency, in itself, will get you thinking about what powers an individual has within society.

more soon,

dn