Surprise!

This is what I received in my mailbox today and took me by surprise. It took me a while to realise the exact purpose or nature of the e-mail.

However, I do like the chemical touch given to my name

Yeh Kya Hai???

Can someone please explain whether that gun standing proudly in the corner is a piece of ornament in Bugti’s drawing room or is it a personal safety measure by Rehman Malik?? I wonder what image will be perceived by a non-Pakistani when such weapons are flaunted openly in public.

If this is Bugti’s then Malik should’ve hauled his ass immediately and charged him with something.

If it is Rehman Malik’s, then he should be immediately fired for an indecent act in public, or at least that is how it should be.

The picture below appeared in Jang’s online edition covering Rehman Malik’s visit to Talal Bugti to offer Fatiha.

Blog Revamped

After some 12 highly caffeinated nights and a similar number of slothful days, I’ve finally managed to tweak and modify the theme by Michael Jubel, to suit my needs and replace the older one (also by the same guy). To play around with the theme’s code, I backed up my entire blog on my computer, which in itself was a useful experience. Now, I don’t fear losing any data of mine because of the scheduled back up files that arrive in my mailbox. I never feared losing data before either, until I read about its importance recently. The main advantage of having an exact copy of the blog running locally is that the users don’t get to see the mess you create while adding or deleting a piece of code unadvertently. Plus, the time of development and testing phase reduces markedly as the local copy is running without the need of Internet, which btw, is an added advantage if your service provider’s electricity supply is not synchronised with yours (as is the case with me).

WordPress themes are freely available in abundance all over the web. Its a matter of choice and almost every kind is available without sparing a penny. But as with all free stuff, there is a certain limitation to it. Thankfully, the open nature provides us with enough opportunities to alter the themes according to out needs.

I liked the previous theme alot. Not only was it simple and elegant, it had a nice way of presenting the content. Unfortunately, the simplicity it had on the user-end wasn’t the case at the admin side. In fact, it was a pain! I did manage to hang on to it for some time, modifying this current new theme in that period. This theme is going to stay for a longer period of time (I think!).

Each time I attempt to tinker with the WordPress code, I marvel at the easiness of the code. The hard work behind the whole platform is well evident.

The current changes in the blog is not limited to theme. The title has been changed as well to go with my current activities. There was a plugin which allowed users to reply to comments. It was given to me by SAWJ, and has been removed on his professional advise. A new plugin, which allows users to subscribe to comments has been added instead.

Ohh..and the new favicon too. It came with the theme, but I did tweak it a little as well.

Furthermore, on certain requests, I have encrypted certain albums in the photos section with passwords.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the focus on politics. This will anger at least one person for sure, but I assure him that time will change soon

I sincerely hope that the new design will be liked by the regular visitors. In case you don’t like it, please don’t say so!

Black is Back

How dearly I missed this black gem of mine which succumbed to the desert heat of Abu Dhabi some two months ago. The feeling of envy whenever I saw the same piece in someone else’s hand (and the feeling to grab it by force!) is now placated for sure.

The good guys at Nokia have replaced my faulty N95 8GB with a brand new one In this interim period, I used an N95 (borrowed from my dad) which is almost identical in functionalities, looks, size and weight but there is something about the black color which makes the latter version much more attractive.

I hope to stick with this handset for a much longer time than the previous one.

Will Zardari Back Out Of The Presidential Bid?

Are there more surprises in the bag of the co-chairman of PPP? Rumors are rife about the possibility of Zardari stepping down as the presidential candidate of PPP at the last possible moment. The covering candidate is Faryal Talpur, whose appointment to the office of President was almost sure at one time. Will Zardari back out or not? Let’s have a look at the pros and cons for him.

I’ll first discuss the advantages for Zardari if he decides to go ahead with his nomination.

This is perhaps the first and the last chance for Zardari to play such high level power politics in Pakistan. Getting elected to the powerful office of President will legitimise his current role of pulling the strings in the country. He is, undoubtedly, the most powerful man in the country right now and hence being the president will legalise his role in policy-making.

Getting elected to the office of President, Zardari will have no fear of the judges (if they’re restored) or the cancellation of NRO because the constitution of Pakistan does provide protection to the president in office such that none of his previous cases can be reopened as long as he is in office while any current charges cannot be taken up in the courts, the only forum being the Parliament where his party enjoys a viable majority.

If Zardari decides to go ahead, he will have to declare all his assets. These may not be difficult to hide for him, but I suppose the list is long enough to hide. So this can be a troubling aspect. If a lot of it is declared then we all know what that can lead to.

In case he backs out, will that decision be fruitful for him?

He will still have the fear of NRO and hence cannot restore the judges, which apparently he isn’t interested in doing in any case.

Backing out in favor of someone else might have been popular decision, but giving the chance to his own sister will raise eyebrows.

The people of Pakistan may breathe a sigh of relief if Zardari backs out, so the decision may appear to be one respecting public sentiments.

Zardari may be able to gather more votes from other parties if he himself is not the one standing for the chair.

At the moment, nothing can be said with certainty. There is a lot at stake for Zardari. Both decisions can have far reaching effects. A deep analysis of the situation isn’t conclusive enough to predict the events of the next two days.

So, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed hoping for some common sense to prevail.