Happy New Year

I hope tomorrow brings never-ending joys, and an end to all things bad. Ameen!

This Month's Terrorist Activities.

A total of 17 bombs attacks, 3 assassinations, and 1 event of crossfiring.

Dead: 218
Injured: 490

December has been almost as deadly and bloody as October 2009. A brilliant closing of the year; instability and blood from the north tip of the country, to the south. The worst of the news being that 4 blasts took place within hours of each other on the 7th, 2 of them being within minutes of each other in a busy market in Lahore - the worst attack on civilians, especially in Punjab. Bravo dear killers of humanity! Bravo! *sigh*

1. 4th, Rawalpindi, Punjab. A mosque known to often host Pakistani military people was under attack by 4 gunmen, leading to a crossfire. It ended with 3 attackers detonating themselves. 38 dead; 80 injured.

2. 7th, Peshawar, N.W.F.P. Suicide attack outside a court in the city center. 10 dead; 44 injured.

3. 7th, Bajaur, FATA. Two anti-Taliban leaders assassinated by a remote controlled bomb near a mosque. 2 dead; 2 injured.

4. 7th, Lahore, Punjab. 2 blasts ripped through Moon Market, a busy civilian area, within minutes of each other. Before this attack, it was considered that attacks are on army and police areas and personnel, this attack came as a horrific mark in Lahore's history. 48 dead; 100 injured.

5. 8th Multan, Punjab. Raid on an ISI office by suicide bombers. 12 dead; 25 injured.

6. 15th, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab. Bomb blast hits a market-place in this central city of Pakistan.

7. 18th, Lower Dir District, N.W.F.P. A mosque, frequently used by police officers, attacked by a suicide bomber.

8. 27th, Muzaffarabad, Kashmir. Checkpoint outside a Shia Muslim gathering hit by a suicide bomber.

9. 28th, Karachi, Sindh. a crowded Shia Muslim procession attacked by a suicide bomber. 43 dead; 60 injured.

Happy Birthday Jinnah!

What a well-dressed man! What a naked, hungry nation ...

Merry Christmas!!!

No matter how contradicting to my religion this may be ... Christmas is beautiful, and I love the feeling of it!























































Special mention to the photographer of these beautiful images!
kelp1966
Luzia Pimpinella

Winter Shminter

What's wrong?! I hate winter!



















But I love it too :D












So preetttyyyyy ..

Honor Killings on the Rise in England

"In the financial year 2007/08, a total of 161 incidents, including 93 criminal offenses, were reported to police. The rest were “non-crimes” such as intimidation or attempts at forced marriage.

But the following year the number had jumped to 256, of which 132 were criminal offenses. And 211 incidents have already been reported in the first six months of this financial year, of which 129 were offenses.

This number is more than double the same period last year. There have been a series of horrific attacks which police suspect were motivated by “honour” within the family or community."

This is an extract from the London Evening Standard.

England is become crazier and crazier. The Kurdish from Turkey, the Mirpuris from Pakistan, and every other extremist immigrant sect is driving the Brits more and more xenophobic. It's not so uncommon to hear of white kids vandalizing property. Spray painting Paki on the front door of a Pakistani family's house; throwing a stone through their windows; unwelcoming neighbours; and the general nuisance-causing lot.

What I don't get though, is why do people migrate to other lands, to the laws and society of which they cannot adhere with, nor stand; which would force them to commit such horrendous crimes? Is the jingle of British Pounds really so mesmerizing that they forget what it would be like 20 or 30 years down the road? What their family would be like? What impact the society might have on their kids? True, there are many families who have been able to hold sick control over their kids, and have turned them into sheep. Yes there are also those who bring up nice kids with a strong sense of morality and ethics of their home country. But the chances of that ONE time, where the kid realizes that he/she has a brain, and a unique perception, other than that of his parents, what then? Sure, congratulation to the sheep-herders, but are you willing to bear a child that may not end up as sheep? If that were to happen, would you have the ability to control yourself?

Another very strong issue, I feel, is where the immigrants themselves are responsible for giving out a bad name. Incidents where families have spoken ill of a woman, and wrongly accused her of an extra-marital relationship for a selfish purpose. Or when women have thrown cases on their husbands for kidnapping her kids and leaving them back in Pakistan or wherever, and on top of that, accusing the husband of forcing the minor kids into marriage? Sure there are true events of this nature as well, but why increase the statistics like this and create an unfortunate identity for not only yourself, but also for the entire identity you belong to? And God forbid if you're a Muslim, then the identity of the entire Muslim race!

Honor crimes are a fact. There should be no home on this planet for the perpetrators of such crimes!

Iman Maleki

For some odd reason, I hadn't ever searched over Muslim or Eastern painters, but I was delighted to have tripped upon this amazing Iranian artist - Iman Maleki. I'm not much into Realism (except for photorealism!), but I can't deny the mastery in some of the painters' works. And Maleki does a great job.
Being an Eastern myself, I really feel drawn to his work. No matter how great a Western artist is, that work is still foreign to me. Something I can empathize with, relate with, is breath of fresh air.
Not only am I truly mesmerized by Maleki's technique, but his subject matter and representation has touched my heart! Instead of a violent representation that several other artists choose to talk about women or Islam with, this soft portrayal speaks volumes. The mundane has been made significant.