A pattern is emerging. This is how it works. Say you are a regular at your mosque. One day you find yourself praying by a person who shakes your hand after the prayer. Then it happens again, another day, then another day, and then this person strikes a conversation with you. He is your nationality, he dresses up and speaks just like you do. But this person is a mole. He doesn't look anything like the FBI agents you are used to seeing on TV. He was caught in a minor crime while being out of status in the US; he risks deportation. There is only one way he would be given a second chance: if he can identify the 'bad guys' among his fellow Muslims and provide strong evidence so that the 'potential terrorist' can be tried in court. He is even getting paid for this sting operation...but the money is tight and the time is short. He has to perform and perform well. It all boils down to this simple equation: He can remain in the US only if he can get somebody in the jail. So this fellow Muslim of yours takes you out for lunch one day and tells you how bad the Muslims are being treated and how important it is to do something, anything, to avenge the injustice. You get alarmed by such stupid conversation and you decide not to talk to this person again. But sooner or later this person does find a pair of sympathetic ears. The reason differs on why someone gets entrapped--people can be in all forms of weak state of mind. Then a lot of audio recording is done, most of the recorded talk is meaningless. Parts of conversation that are against the interest of the federal prosecutor are deleted, only favorable parts are kept. If the mole is good enough to persuade the victim to make videos of targets or handle decoys, the case becomes stronger. When enough evidence is collected, an arrest is made.

[This is how Hamid Hayat of Lodi, California, got entrapped--a case this-he has first hand knowledge of.]

These cases have to be produced in the media at a regular frequency so that the Americans do not forget how important it is for their country to keep fighting the 'War on Terror', that budget cuts can be made in education and other unimportant matters, but not in defense or government security agencies.

=====
The gem of the following Associated Press story is here:
"Farooque Ahmed is accused of plotting with individuals he believed were terrorists to bomb our transit system, but a coordinated law enforcement and intelligence effort was able to thwart his plans," Kris said.
---end of excerpt---

In other words, 'intelligent effort was able to thwart' the plan the intelligence agency put together. Bravo!

======
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_terror_arrest

Va man charged in fake bomb plot against DC subway

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Alicia A. Caldwell, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – A Pakistani-born Virginia man was arrested Wednesday and accused of casing Washington-area subway stations in what he thought was an al-Qaida plot to bomb and kill commuters.

The bombing plot was a ruse conducted over the past six months, the FBI said, but 34-year-old Farooque Ahmed readily handed over video of northern Virginia subway stations, suggested using rolling suitcases rather than backpacks to kill as many people as possible and offered to donate money to al-Qaida's cause overseas.

The public never was in danger because FBI agents were aware of Ahmed's activities and monitored him throughout, the agency said. And the people that Ahmed thought were al-Qaida operatives were actually individuals who worked on behalf of the government, according to a federal law enforcement official who requested anonymity to discuss details of the case.

Ahmed was indicted under seal by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va. on Tuesday, and the charges were made public Wednesday. He is accused of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to carry out multiple bombings to cause mass casualties. Ahmed, a naturalized citizen, lives in Ashburn, Va., outside Washington.

During a brief court appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Ahmed did not enter a plea and was ordered held without bond. He told U.S. Magistrate Judge John Anderson he couldn't afford to hire a lawyer. Prosecutors said they planned to use some classified information as evidence in the case.

U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said in a statement that it was "chilling that a man from Ashburn is accused of casing rail stations with the goal of killing as many Metro riders as possible through simultaneous bomb attacks."

Ahmed's arrest comes as the U.S. has been struggling with an uptick in Americans plotting terrorist attacks in the past 18 months.

Last week, a Hawaii man was arrested and accused of making false statements to the FBI about his plans to attend terrorist training in Pakistan. In August, a Virginia man was caught trying to leave the country to fight with an al-Qaida-affiliated group in Somalia. And in May, Faisal Shazhad, a naturalized citizen also from Pakistan, tried to set off a car bomb at a bustling street corner in New York City. U.S. authorities had no intelligence about Shahzad's plot until the smoking car turned up in Manhattan.

The FBI has made several cases with agents working undercover: Last year, authorities arrested a Jordanian national after he tried to detonate what he thought was a bomb outside a Dallas skyscraper. In an unrelated case, authorities in Springfield, Ill., arrested a man after he tried to set off what he thought were explosives in a van outside a federal courthouse. In both cases, decoy devices were provided to the men by FBI agents posing as al-Qaida operatives.

Federal investigators said that, starting in April, Ahmed met several times with people he believed were al-Qaida operatives. During one of those meetings, investigators said, he agreed to watch and photograph a hotel in Washington and a subway station in Arlington, Va. He also was accused of recording video of an Arlington subway station on four occasions, and agreeing to get security information about two stations.

According to the indictment:

_Ahmed took video of four northern Virginia subway stations — Arlington Cemetery, Courthouse, Pentagon City and Crystal City, which is near the Pentagon — and monitored security at a hotel in the District of Columbia. In a series of meetings at hotels in northern Virginia, Ahmed provided the videos to someone he believed was part of a terrorist organization and said he wanted to donate $10,000 to help the overseas fight and collect donations in a way that would not raise red flags.

_In a Sept. 28 meeting in a Herndon, Va. hotel, Ahmed also suggested that terror operatives use rolling suitcases to blow up the subway instead of backpacks. During that same meeting Ahmed said he wanted to kill as many military personnel as possible and suggested an additional attack on a Crystal City subway station.

The indictment alleges he also handed over diagrams of the Arlington subway stations and gave suggestions about where to put explosives on trains to kill the most people in simultaneous attacks planned for 2011.

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was aware of the investigation before Ahmed was arrested. Gibbs also offered assurances that the public was never in danger.

In a statement, David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, said the case "demonstrates how the government can neutralize such threats before they come to fruition."

"Farooque Ahmed is accused of plotting with individuals he believed were terrorists to bomb our transit system, but a coordinated law enforcement and intelligence effort was able to thwart his plans," Kris said.

There are no indications Ahmed was connected with larger terrorist groups like al-Qaida, according to a U.S. counterterrorism official, who requested anonymity to discuss an intelligence matter.

Nonetheless, the arrest came as unsettling news for some Washington area commuters.

"As I look around, I think about how vulnerable we are," said 45-year-old McCarthy Council, who lives near the Pentagon City Metro station. "I'm just going to stay off the Metro system for now."

Mary Brereton, 55, a personal trainer who lives in nearby Alexandria, Va., said she's more worried about the safety of Metro's trains after a deadly crash last year than about a terrorist attack.

"Who was it who said, 'If we live in fear every day, then 9/11 was a success?'" she said. "You just can't."

Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the FBI Washington field office, declined to comment on how authorities learned about Ahmed. The Washington Post quoted an unidentified administration official as saying Ahmed drew the attention of law enforcement officials by seeking to obtain unspecified materials.

Ahmed faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted.

A LinkedIn page that was created for Farooque Ahmed identifies him as a network planning engineer with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the City College of New York in 2003, during the same period that other records showed he had been living in New York. The profile listed Ahmed as a network planning engineer for Ericsson and said he previously worked with Verizon and Sprint.

In Reston, Va., Ericsson Federal Inc., issued a statement confirming that Ahmed had done contract work for the company, which promised cooperation with the federal investigation.

A check of legal records for Ahmed found several traffic offenses in Virginia, including speeding.

Officers with the FBI, the Virginia State Police and the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office left the brick town house where Ahmed lives on Wednesday afternoon. One took a photo of the entrance and another carried out a plastic bag containing used exam gloves.

In some ways, Ahmed and his family seemed like many other suburbanites.

Ahmed's wife, Sahar, joined the Hip Muslim Moms, a support group for women with children under 5 years old, and brought her young son to play dates with other mothers, said group organizer Esraa Bani. She had moved to the area and was looking for a mothers group when she joined. She was very quiet and kept to herself.

Next door neighbor Marc Otterbac described the family as "pretty reclusive," but said he talked with Ahmed and his wife on occasion. He recalled commenting once that a dinner they were cooking smelled good and the family brought him some saffron rice and chicken.

Margaret Petney, who lives on the same block as Ahmed in Ashburn, said Ahmed moved in about a year and a half ago with his wife and young child, and that they wore traditional Muslim clothing.

"They didn't seem to be too friendly with anybody," Petney said. "You never know who lives around you."

___

Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan, Matt Apuzzo and Sarah Brumfield in Washington, Brett Zongker in Arlington, Va., Kathleen Miller in Reston, Va., and Kasey Jones and Ben Nuckols in Baltimore contributed to this report.

Photo, courtesy of AP.

Copies of collection of Iqbal Azeem's poetry titled 'Ma-Hasal' sold out in a short time. Here you see Anupama Chandratreya at the podium; Anupama beautifully sang two Iqbal Azeem ghazals.

Almost 100 people attended a program arranged by Bay Area Urdu teacher Hamida Bano Chopra to pay tribute to legendary Urdu poet Iqbal Azeem. Here you see Hamida Chopra at the podium; AliShan Zaidi presided over the literary meeting.

Another Example of US Media Lies

Were you there at the UN General Assembly to listen to Ahmadinejad? Probably not. Do you understand Farsi enabling you to listen to Ahmadinejad's speech broadcasted from several Farsi radio and TV channels? Probably not. Is the Internet your primary source of information and news? Probably yes. When you see news flashes on the Internet do you read the whole stories? Probably not; like most people you probably only read the heading or at best the lead of the story. So, if you had a passing interest in Ahmadineja's speech at the UN, you would read the following lead of the New York Times of September 24.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/world/24nations.html
=====
UNITED NATIONS — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran made a series of incendiary remarks in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, notably the claim that the United States orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks to rescue its declining economy, to reassert its weakening grip on the Middle East and to save Israel.
=====
After reading the above you would, like most Americans, shake your head in disbelief, call Ahmadinejad a stupid person, and close the book on him.

You won't know that a day later NY Times published the following correction:
=====
Correction: September 25, 2010
A headline on Friday with an article about an incendiary speech in the United Nations General Assembly by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran summarized his remarks about the Sept. 11 terror attacks incorrectly. In his speech, Mr. Ahmadinejad asserted various theories about the origin of the attacks, including the possibility that they had been planned by the United States. He did not say that the United States had planned the attacks.
=====

Even the above correction needs further correction. Listen to Ahmadinejad's speech yourself. He is saying there are three theories regarding 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"In his speech, Mr. Ahmadinejad asserted various theories about the origin of the attacks, including the possibility that they had been planned by the United States. He did not say that the United States had planned the attacks."
The above sentence of the correction still has an insidious spin to it.

It tells you how responsible the US media is, and how much trust you can put in the large US newspapers.

What does it mean that Dow Jones Industrial Average is down so many points? Down or up from what reference point?

We hear it from the radio and TV everyday: Dow Jones up 10 points, Dow Jones down 20 points. Most of us know what it means, but when this question came up today I looked up on the web to see if someone was explaining it in simple terms. I did not find a web page giving a satisfactory answer to this simple question. When they say Dow Jones (or NASDAQ or S&P) up or down so many points what reference point they are talking about?
The answer is simple. The reference point is the closure of the market the previous working day.

For example, on Friday, September 24, 2010, the market closed with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) at 10860.26 points.
Today, September 27, the market closed with Dow Jones at 10834.94 points.
Compared to Friday, the last working day, the market was down. How much was Dow down?

10860.26 - 10834.94= 25.32 points
or, in percentage
=(25.32/10860.26)X100= 0.23%

So, it would be said that the Dow Jones was down 25.32 points, today, or that the market was down 0.23%.

In short, the reference point is always the closure of the market the previous working day, even when these numbers are given middle of the day when the trading is still on.

Image courtesy of http://www.worldphoto360.com

These "scholars" are asking President Obama, Florida Governor, and Gainesville Mayor to intervene. Such a request to the elected officials proves these "scholars" neither have any knowledge of the American laws, nor they bothered to consult a lawyer before writing this letter. These "scholars" must understand that the same first amendment to the US Constitution that gives every person living in the US the right to express their feelings towards anybody and anything (freedom of expression includes the right to burn effigies of public figures, burn the US flag, and even burn the US constitution), grants freedom to all Americans to burn religious books. Unlike Sultans, Kings, and All-Powerful heads of states Muslims are familiar with, the US president, the Florida Governor, and the Mayor of Gainesville are sworn to be subservient to the US Constitution, including all the amendments; these elected figures cannot intervene in the legal system, on a case by case basis.
Muslims must grow a thicker skin and learn to ignore acts of provocation, instead of reacting to them and propelling small town news to an international level and making Johnny Nobody famous.

Photo courtesy of CBC News.

====and the original letter=========

Muslim Shia Council
In the Name of God the Beneficent, the Merciful

AN OFFENSE AGAINST THE HOLY QURAN

* Our letter and appeal to all the believers in North America
* Suggested letter to the officials
* Information and mailing details


OurLetterThe Letter from the Council of Shia Muslim Scholars in North America
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Peace & blessings upon you (Salam Alikum)

On September 11th, a group in Florida is organizing a day to burn the Holy Quran. The Council of Shia Muslim Scholars in North America is sending this letter to:

* The United States President Mr. Barack Obama
* The Governor of the State of Florida Mr. Charlie Crist
* The Mayor of Gainesville, Florida, Mr. Craig Lowe
* Senator of the State of Florida, Mr. Bill Nelson
* Senator of the State of Florida, Mr. George LeMieux

We urge you to please show your support for our position by sending this letter from your own e-mails or home address to the detailed addresses below (please refer to the end of this e-mail for the detailed information.)

In this Holy Month, the month of revelation of the Holy Quran, the least we can all do is defend the Book of God by communicating this position to others.

May God shower with His Mercy and accept your work.
Thank you.

Peace & blessings upon you (Salam Alikum)


OfficialLetterSuggested Letter to the officials in support of the position of the Council
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dear ____________________,

Kind greetings to you.

Surely, you are aware of some of the radical voices calling for burning the Holy Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 tragedy. This issue is becoming increasingly worrisome to American citizens with each passing day.
We, the Council of Shia Muslim Scholars in North America, with the responsibilities we hold toward our fellow citizens - whether they be Muslims or not - and with that which is entrusted to us by thousands of our adherents from mosques and Islamic centers across the United States, say the following:

Indeed, we thank the majority of our Christian brethren as they have denounced this grave offense against one of the world's major religions. We truly do extend our gratitude to the religious personalities and groups, church officials, and humanitarian organizations that have condemned this attack on more than 1.5 billion Muslims. Still, we write to you because you are responsible for the security and stability of this nation and one of the greatest priorities is to prevent potential harm from reaching American citizens. These proposed irresponsible appeals are no more than attempts at causing sedition that can rip the fabric of the American public by playing on the strings of faction and religion - the connection between a human and his Lord and Creator.

We have complete confidence in your ability to absorb and deal with a situation of this gravity, realizing its repercussions. We also have hope in what the American people have become familiar with in your awareness, boldness and courage. Thus, we anticipate that you will intervene to stop the likes of these provocative and troublesome acts which are targeting people this time by exploiting the garb of faith and posing with sacred robes in the hearts of the faithful.

Sincerely Yours,

_______________________


AddressesAddresses & Information
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. President of the United States:
* The President, The White House, Washington, DC 20500
* http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
2. Mayor of Gainesville, Florida
* Mayor: Craig Lowe, Gainesville, Florida
* mayor@cityofgainesville.org
* lowesc@cityofgainesville.org
* 200 E University Ave, Gainesville, FL, 32601
3. Governor of the State of Florida
* Governor Charlie Crist (Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com)
* Office of Governor Charlie Crist,
o State of Florida,
o The Capitol, 400 S. Monroe St.,
o Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
4. Senators of the State of Florida
* Senator: Bill Nelson
o 716 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
o Tel: (202) 224-5274
o Fax: (202) 224-5274
o Web Form: billnelson.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
* Senator: George S. LeMieux
o 356 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
o Tel: (202) 224-3041
o Fax: (202) 224-3041
o Web Form: lemieux.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorLeMieux

Catching the Wave at the OPEN Silicon Valley Forum 2010


Ever since this scribe went to his first OPEN (Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America) Silicon Valley forum the annual event seems to be expanding in the number of presentations. Last year the conference presented three different tracks. This year there were the same number of tracks plus a mini-track on “Birds of a feather”, the gatherings of alumni of various Pakistani universities.

The theme of this year’s forum was “Catch the Wave.” In the tranquility of the present recession market it was natural to ask which wave OPEN had in mind. Naeem Zafar, who replaced Dilawar Syed as OPEN’s new president last year, had the answer. In his presidential message Zafar explained that the Silicon Valley, when compared to the last couple of years, was seeing an increased activity and the theme of the conference caught the air of optimism associated with the renewed flow of capital.

For the last couple of years OPEN has been using the word “keynote” quite liberally—and understandably so: OPEN has to accommodate a number of high profile professionals and give each one of them equal importance. So, this year, there were four keynote speeches. The morning keynote was give by Faysal Sohail, Managing Director, CMEA Capital. The title of his talk was, “Beyond the Busted Decade.”

The afternoon keynote by Rafiq Mohammadi, CEO Interwoven, was on “Scaling to a Billion: Lessons for Entrepreneurs.” ‘Don’t sell cheap,” was the advice that was repeated several times during the talk.

The Gen Y keynote was given by the Ex-president of OPEN, Dilawar Syed. Syed spoke on “The Art of Organizing.”

Speaking on “Bottom-up Entrepreneurship for Democracy and Development” the evening keynote speaker Professor Iqbal Z. Quadir, founder and director, The Legatum Center, MIT, shared with the audience his experiences of working for social uplift in Bangladesh. He rejected several facets of conventional wisdom including the myth that large populations of developing countries are stumbling blocks in the economic growth of those nations, that mineral rich countries are more fortunate, etc.

In “Among the Believers” Naipaul writes wryly about his guide who while showing Naipaul around would pray at different mosques—Naipaul likened that act of his escort to that of a bee sucking nectar from various flowers. This roving reporter too tried to benefit from as many talks as he could, but finding the task daunting just attended whatever sessions he could. Although this scribe was able to catch only a fraction of the OPEN show, in the following report he would give the names of all the talks and the speakers who made presentations. This is being done not only to record the conference, but to acknowledge the hard work of OPEN volunteers who worked very hard in making each and every part of the conference successful. This reporter was fortunate to attend only the programs NOT followed by the phrase “program brochure”, below.

A panel discussion on “Ending Up in a Down Economy”—a more realistic appreciation of the economic situation, when compared to the theme of the conference—was moderated by Zia Yusuf. Panelists included Osman Rashid, CEO, Kno, Inc.; Safwan Shah, co-founder of Chowk dot com; and Rehan Jalil, President, Wichorus. [Program brochure]

Faysal Sohail, moderated a panel on “Future of Personal Transportation”; experts included an advocate of electric cars, Richard Lowenthal of Coulomb Technologies, and a campaigner of hybrid cars, Maurice Gunderson of CMEA Capital.

Lowenthal called audience’s attention to not only the environmental problems associated with burning fossil fuels, but also to the hazards of oil extraction—the continuing saga of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill being an excellent example.

Gunderson said that rough calculations indicate that even if the earth were hollow and filled up with oil, consuming at the peak demand it would only take 86 years to exhaust the hypothetical total oil supply.

A talk on “Funding: Of Angels and Super Angels”, moderated by Umair Khan included Jeff Clavier, Founder, SoftTech VC; Ann Miura-Ko, Partner, FLOODGATE; Salman Ullah, Co-founder, Merus Capital; Elon Boms, Founder and Managing Director, Launch Capital LLC; and Michael Tanne, Founded and CEO, Wink.

In a talk titled “Reason to Believe- Finding A New Public Narrative for Pakistan”,
Mir Ibrahim Rahman, the young CEO of GEO Networks TV said what Pakistanis have achieved despite all odds was unbelievable. He ended the talk stating his personal belief that Pakistan would emerge triumphant out of all the crises it is facing.

OPEN’s regular fixture, Entrepreneurship Idol competition, was moderated by Naeem Zafar and included Salman Ullah, Mark Gorenberg, and Riaz Karamali as judges. [Program brochure]

A panel discussion on “Authentic Leadership” was moderated by Saadia Ahmed, Financial Advisor, Waddell and Reed. The panelists included Imran Sayeed, Senior Vice President, Keane; Athena Katsaros, Leadership Trainer, Executive and Team Coach; Noosheen Hashmi, Philanthropist; and Voytek K. Siewierski. [Program brochure]

Sumaya Kazi, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, YoProCo.com led a workshop on “Demystifying Social Media Marketing”. Kazi spoke about her experiences in boosting traffic to business web sites through the use of social media portals.

A panel on “Media in the Mobile World” was moderated by Omar Khan, Founder, Carbonated.tv. Panelists included Mir Ibrahim Rahman, CEO, Geo TV; Amy Plemons, TV Producer; and Imran Maskatia of Microsoft. Mir Ibrahim Rahman said the Pakistani media has educated the people; he was confident that the next elections in Pakistan would be agenda-based.

Idris Kothari, Founder and VP Engineering, Vertical Systems, Inc. moderated a panel on “Pakistani Education’s Role in Entrepreneurship.” Panelists included Dr. Ahmad Jan Durrani, Vice Chancellor, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS); M. Raghib Hussain, Co-founder, Cavium Networks; Dr. Jahanzeb Sherwani, Founder and CEO of iTeleport LLC; and Monis Rehman, Chairman and CEO, Naseeb Networks.
[Program brochure]

“The Next Wave of Innovators: Meet the Social Entrepreneurs” was moderated by Saad Khan, Partner, CMEA Capital. Panelists included Salman Khan, Founder, Khan Academy, an Internet sensation and a growing collection of scores of useful educational videos; Leila Chirayath Janah, CEO, Samasource; Misbah Naqvi, Business Development Manager, Acumen Fund; and Tabreez Verjee, Board Member & Seed Investor, Kiva. [Program brochure]

A discussion on “Beyond BRIC: Opportunities for Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets” was lead by Dilawar Syed, CEO, Yonja Media Group. Panelists included
Babur Ozden, Advisor to start-ups, former CEO Emerging Market Companies;
Eric Buatois, GP, Sofinnova Ventures; Stephen Ciesinski, VP, Corporate Strategic Programs, SRI International; and Faraz Hoodbhoy, Founder and CEO, PixSense.
Hoodbhoy said he found it tough doing business in Pakistan, as a Pakistani from the Silicon Valley—“We Pakistanis are very mean to each other.” He said his company’s profit margins were higher in other countries where he and his associates were seen as the Silicon Valley guys.

“Put your passion to Work” had Zainab Jeewanjee, Sales Director, Go One Global Corp, as its moderator. The panelists included Rajesh Setty, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Author;
Ethan Casey, Author & Journalist; Cindy McCreery, Screenwriter; and Omar Ahmad, CEO, SynCH Energy. Casey said as a child he wanted to try out new things and not necessarily follow the path others laid down before him. He warned the audience of the economic uncertainty that comes with following one’s passion.

Ashish Mathur, Co-founder and Executive Director of the South Asian Heart Center, gave a talk on “Heart Diseases in South Asian Community”--an apt talk for the stressed out entrepreneurs. Mathur and the topic of his talk were introduced by Dr. Safwan Shah.

Dr. Rafae Bhatti, author of “Privacy in Cloud, Healthcare, and Social Network”, gave a talk on the subject of his book.

Dr. Amad Jan Durrani, VC, LUMS, gave a talk on “Challenges Faced by Higher Education in Pakistan.” [Program brochure]

OPEN Forum 2010 had three ‘Birds of a Feather’ sessions: of the NED University, moderated by Dr. Safwan Shah; of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, moderated by Moazzam Chaudry; and of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute, moderated by Dr. Rafae Bhatti.

A workshop on “Opening Doors” was moderated by Azhar Zeeshan, Founder, Zaaviya.
Workshop--advisors included Farzana Ali, Organizational Training and Development professional; Dilip G. Saraf, Career and Life Coach; Dr. Ashraf Shirani, Professor, San Jose State University; Ellen Shulman, Associate, Lee Hecht Harrison; and Kate Fiandaca, Recruiter, GreeneSearch. [Program brochure]

Every time the OPEN leadership changes hands, new ideas are tried out at the organization’s flagship annual event. This year, with Naeem Zafar, as the new president the conference extended its scope and ended the day long show with a music program. This year’s conference also saw a mild political activity. A hand-out distributed by the Silicon Valley Pakistani American Council and the Friends of South Asia condemned the May 28 massacre of the Ahmadis in and around Lahore; Pakistanis were urged to be vocal in supporting human rights for all the citizens of Pakistan and to work for a repeal of discriminatory laws that target minorities.

How OPEN, a completely non-profit organization, successfully arranges such splendid events year after year is commendable. What is easy to miss by the attendees of the conference is the hours of hard work the OPEN volunteers put in—whereas the event takes place in July, the planning and preparation work starts early in the year. The program brochure listed the following as the planning team volunteers of OPEN; AbdulRahman Rafiq, Azhar Zeeshan, Babar Yasin, Bari Abdul, Faisal Hanif, Iftikhar Mirza, Jumana Ghadiali, Laiq Chughtai, Melanie Ananthraman, Moazzam Chaudhry, Mubashir Yazdani, Moez Naseer, Mohsin Imam, Mufti Ghadiali, Nadir Rahman, Nayeem Qureshi, Naziya Sayyed, Pooja Batra, Rafae Bhatti, Shahab Riazi, Sonya Sohail, Umair Muzaffar, Zainab Jeewanjee, and Riyadh Abdullah.

[Photo shows OPEN President Naeem Zafar speaking at Forum 2010]

The gem of the following news report is here:

"The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. In a one-minute video, the group said the attack was in revenge for the death of its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq."

Doesn't this remind you of the hackneyed joke about the famous rape case? A young tigress was raped in the middle of the night. The jungle police was looking for the rapist and was questioning every lion, tiger, and cheetah. And then the phone rang. It was the mouse. He claimed responsibility of the rape.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36892505/ns/us_news-security

Cops quiz SUV owner after failed NYC bombing
Investigators also looking for man seen on security video in Times Square

NEW YORK - New York City police have spoken to the registered owner of the vehicle used as a homemade car bomb in the heart of Times Square but say he is not considered a suspect.

Chief NYPD spokesman Paul Browne would not give further details Monday.

The dark-colored sport utility vehicle didn't have a clearly visible vehicle identification number. Its license plates came from a car found in a Connecticut repair shop.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said a white man in his 40s was spotted in security video footage about half a block from where the vehicle was left on Saturday evening with its engine running and hazard lights flashing.

In a video released by police, the man, who appears to be thin, is seen removing a dark shirt, stuffing it into some sort of bag and walking away down the sidewalk, carrying the bag and glancing at least twice over his shoulder.

Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters Monday that investigators had some good leads in addition to the videotape.

He said it was too early in the probe to say whether the incident was of foreign or domestic origin, or to designate it as a terrorist incident, but he did say that those behind the act "intended to spread terror across New York."

Police said they'll be releasing more video of people seen acting suspiciously in and around Times Square, including footage, taken by a tourist, of a man running away from the scene, heading north.

Police told NBC News that it would be incorrect to characterize the people, including the man shown changing his shirt, as "suspects." They were sought for questioning, a spokesman said.

Police found the "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb in a smoking SUV in the busy theater district Saturday night after being alerted by two street vendors, then cleared the streets of thousands of tourists so they could dismantle it.

'Mayhem'
The 1993 Nissan Pathfinder contained three propane tanks, fireworks, two filled 5-gallon gasoline containers and two clocks with batteries, electrical wire and other components, police said. Timers were connected to a 16-ounce can filled with fireworks that were apparently intended to set the gas cans afire, then ignite the three barbecue-grill-sized propane tanks.

Commissioner Kelly said it was "the intent of whoever did this to cause mayhem, create casualties."

Police also found eight bags weighing more than 100 pounds of a substance that turned out to be fertilizer that was incapable of exploding.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said that unlike the ammonium nitrate grade fertilizer that has been used in terror attacks including the Oklahoma City bombing, this fertilizer would not have caused a massive explosion.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there was no evidence of a link to al-Qaida or any other militant organization in the failed bomb attack that prompted the evacuation of the teeming entertainment and shopping district.

"It's unfortunate that this happened. I'm confident that we will find out who did it," Bloomberg told reporters outside a Times Square restaurant.

Officials were treating the incident as a potential terrorist attack, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on NBC's "Meet the Press," though it was too soon to tell who is responsible. She added that investigators had no suspects but that they had recovered forensic evidence, including fingerprints, from the vehicle.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. In a one-minute video, the group said the attack was in revenge for the death of its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Kelly said there was no evidence to support the Pakistani Taliban's claim.

In another video released early Monday and apparently dated early April, Pakistan's Taliban chief promised attacks on major U.S. cities, a monitoring group said.

"We avoided what could have been a very deadly event," Bloomberg said at a news conference earlier Sunday. "It certainly could have exploded and had a pretty big fire and a decent amount of explosive impact."

A T-shirt vendor and a handbag vendor alerted police at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the height of dinner hour before theatergoers head to shows.

T-shirt vendor and Vietnam veteran Lance Orton said he alerted a mounted policeman when he noticed smoke coming from a parked SUV.

"People take it lightly," Orton said on NBC's TODAY show. "I've had a few situations where I've told people about things; they say, 'That's nothing.' But you can't take that attitude."

One of Orton's helpers suggested calling 911. Orton said he pointed at mounted police Officer Wayne Rhatigan, who was on duty in Times Square.

"There's a patrolman right there on the horse. I asked one of my guys, 'Go over there and grab that officer,' " Orton recalled. "He came over on horseback. He saw what I did. It was steadily getting worse."

After the vendors noticed the SUV, police cleared buildings and streets at the so-called "Crossroads of the World." Officers were deployed around the area with heavy weapons on empty streets in the heart of busy midtown Manhattan.

A white robotic police arm then broke the windows of the vehicle to remove any explosive devices.

While he called the device "amateurish," Bloomberg said it could have been deadly.

"We are very lucky," he said.

A Connecticut license plate on the vehicle did not match the SUV, according to authorities. Police interviewed the vehicle's owner, who told police he had sent the plates to a nearby junkyard, Bloomberg said.

'Act of terrorism'
New York Gov. David Paterson called the incident an "act of terrorism."

"Luckily, no one is hurt, and now the full attention of city, state and federal law enforcement will be turned to bringing the guilty party to justice in this act of terrorism," Paterson said in a statement.

[Photo courtesy of AP]

World's Worst Industrial Disaster Remembered in the Bay Area


Are you looking for a powerful metaphor that would highlight the clash of personal and corporate greed with the public good? A metaphor in which the greed would ultimately win by putting the dispensable, no-good public in a gas chamber? We already got one. It is called Bhopal. In the middle of the night on December 3, 1984, a poisonous cloud, emanating from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal, slowly enveloped the vicinity of the factory and started killing and maiming people. Over three thousand people died within hours of this tragedy—those who survived, after being exposed to the deadly gas, lived and have been living a life of agony. The current death toll related to the gas leak stands at over 20,000.

Twenty-five after the disaster, a closure still evades the suffering people of Bhopal: the decrepit factory stands to this day—a constant reminder of the triumph of corporate bottom line over community interest; old chemicals, still present on site, continue to pollute the underground water reserve; and the survivors of the tragedy still wait for the day when they would be properly compensated.

On the 25th anniversary of the world’s most gruesome industrial accident, several groups of the San Francisco Bay Area came together to highlight the lingering Bhopal issue and raise awareness about the legal battle people of Bhopal are fighting with Dow Chemical (owner of Union Carbide). Two programs were held: a staged reading of ‘Bhopal’ a play by Rahul Varma, and a screening of the movie “The Yes Men Fix The World.”

The play was performed at the CounterPulse Theater in San Francisco on Friday, March 26. The main force behind that program was Vidhu Singh, a veteran artist and the director/producer of the play; Ashok Malani acted as the production manager. The staged-reading of ‘Bhopal’ was a sold-out program--in fact, people were turned away because of lack of space. ‘Bhopal’ did a great job in educating the audience about how the tragedy unfolded. The play starts with the Karbide’s CEO (Mick Laugs as Warren Anderson) sending Devraj Sarthi (Muder Kothari) to India; Mr. Sarthi promises to increase the production of company’s facility at Bhopal. In Bhopal, a Canadian researcher (Caroline Wampole as Dr. Sonya Labonte) is at odds with the state machinery (Abhishek Das as Chief Minister Jaganlal Bhandari) because her research is exposing the harmful effects the pesticide making factory is having on the community. Izzat Bai (Nidhi Singh) is one of the slum dwellers—her pregnancy is being deleteriously affected because of her exposure to the chemicals. On reaching Bhopal, Mr. Sarthi strikes deals with the state government for the expansion of the factory operation; he also buys out from the community evidence of ill-effects of chemical exposure. As the operation of the factory is ramped up, problems multiply and even Mr. Shustri is affected by them: Shustri’s lover (Palak Joshi as Madiha Akram) loses her child. And then there is this explosion that brings to fore the dirty secrets Karbide Inernational and Mr. Sarthi were trying to hide.

The effort Vidhu Singh and her team members put in the production bore fruit. Even though the play was a staged-reading most actors seemed to have memorized their lines. Nidhi Singh, Abhishek Das, and Caroline Wampole gave stellar performance. Jaysi Chander, as the hollow-eyed angel of death, performed a particularly haunting rhythm (Choreographer: Roko Kawai) at the end of the play--the dance supported by glum vocals (Leslie Schneider) and tabla (Esther Adams) created a chilling atmosphere of morbidity and despair.

Around forty people showed up for the Saturday program at the ICC, Milpitas—the event was organized by the Friends of South Asia (FOSA) and Association for India’s Development (AID). A partial screening of the movie "The Yes Men Fix the World" was followed by an eyewitness account and a thorough discussion on the 25-year history of the Bhopal tragedy. Sudarshan Suresh of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), Anu Mandavilli, and Ramkumar Sridharan answered audience's questions.

Whereas most of us are still shocked at the Bhopal disaster, a relevant question—given the uneven fight between powerful corporate greed and powerless, naïve communities living under corrupt administrations—is: how come such disasters are not taking place more often? And perhaps the answer is: industrial accidents, harming people, are still happening all over the world; helpless communities are still being taken advantage of, left and right, it is only a matter of scale. If there were no explosion in Bhopal, the Union Carbide factory would probably still be functioning, insidiously killing more people over time than it did the night of December 3, 1984.

Movement for the establishment of Khilafat in Pakistan thrown back to the TV Studio

News reports suggest Zaid Hamid’s elaborate plan of passing a historical declaration at Minar e Pakistan—on the 70th anniversary of the 1940 Lahore resolution-- turned out to be a humiliating failure. Fearful of his life (of nuts who consider Hamid to be responsible for Jalapuri’s murder), the organizers changed the venue of the ‘historical gathering’ from Minar e Pakistan to Alhambra Open Air Theater. Hamid’s media campaign was telling us there would be hundreds of thousands of people at the occasion—well, at least a few dozen people indeed showed up.

People are calling the 23rd March washout an unceremonious end of Zaid Hamid’s career, but we should doubt this hasty conclusion. This man appears to have a super-inflated ego--delusion of his grandiose leadership was probably only slightly injured by the lackluster show two days ago. He would most likely retreat to his home ground, the TV studio, and run his movement for the establishment of khilafat in Pakistan on air.

Are there any lessons to be learned from this episode? Yes, many. For example,
1. Roaring within in the confines of a TV studio and having a popular show does not make one qualified to run a mass movement.
2. Pop culture icons (naives like Ali Azmat and Maria B.) can fall for the ‘mesmerizing’ speeches of a self-proclaimed security analyst, but the drama of giving fiery talks and for others to be awe-struck by such oratory looks good only on TV: it does not have any value other than entertainment, for the rest of us.
3. Students filling up auditoria at the university campuses intently listening to a particular speaker are often there because of the celebrity status of the speaker—not because they agree with the speaker’s views.
4. People on the Pakistani street are much smarter than they appear to be. They know what their real issues are: disappearing writ of law, lack of economic opportunities, education, and healthcare. They understand they don’t need to follow anyone not addressing the core concerns of the society.


Photo, courtesy of panoramio.com [Photographer: Uzi82]

A Dream to Live For

Once, during a long phone conversation my architect friend Neil Edwards pitied the people who get so bogged down by the meaningless stuff in life that one day when they are very old, their life has slowed down and finally given them the opportunity to look back, they reflect on their own experience and say, “Life is whatever happened to me while I was doing something else.” That was one gem of an observation—I thanked Neil for it and resolved to keep track of my course every single day of this life. And I am very conscious about wringing the most out of every second of the time that has been given to me. But still, the world we live in keeps pushing strong waves towards us, which often lead us astray.
The year 1992 was my Wanderjahr. I resigned from my job and left the country, to discover the world. I was out on the road for eight months. During that time I passed through twenty-two countries and closely witnessed a range of human experiences the present age is all about. And somewhere in those observations I discovered the purpose of my life. I found out I was born to work with people in the “developing countries” and create islands of hope in oceans of anguish and despair. The previous sentence my sound high-flown and philosophical, but it really is not; it still took a lot of writing, a book titled “Elmustee, A Growing Island of Hope” to be more precise, to describe what oceans of anguish and despair I see, and how islands of hope can be created in the middle of such seas. It has been roughly eighteen years that I formulated my dreams and desired to one day peacefully die working on my pet project. Planning the initiation and the implementation of the project has been a big challenge—the strategy keeps changing. And in thinking about the project, about the strategy, about the challenges I sometimes lose focus, for months at end. Almost a week ago, another such long period of doldrums came to an end when my friend Sabahat Ashraf (iFaqeer) called and we decided to meet. We met at a deli and talked about Elmustee. Sabahat came up with an elaborate scheme to put the ideas in the broad daylight of the Internet and get people interested in the project. I liked his strategy and hoped this revival of the project would really take it to the launching pad.

[More information about membership communities is present here:
http://elmustee.wikispaces.com/]

Photo, courtesy of
http://www.teacakemartini.com

Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Bhopal tragedy, Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27

TWO Events, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the
Bhopal Gas Disaster

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FRIDAY, March 26, 2010, 8 PM


A Staged-Reading of Bhopal

A Play by Rahul Varma • Directed by Vidhu Singh



At CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street @9th, San Francisco, CA 94103

http://www.counterp ulse.org • 415-626-2060
Tickets: brownpapertickets. com or 1.800.838.3006



Presented By: Theater Rasa Nova
and Friends of South Asia (FOSA)

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SATURDAY, March 27, 2010, 5 PM

"The Yes Men Fix Bhopal"

Featuring a partial screening of the acclaimed film
"The Yes Men Fix The World" (2009)

followed by an eyewitness account and a discussion

Where: India Community Center (ICC)
525 Los Coches St, Milpitas

This event is free and open to all.

Presented By: Association for India's Development (AID)
and Friends of South Asia (FOSA)
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