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Taliban militants have been out in force once again, harassing the inhabitants of Afghanistan. Two voters that had dipped in the purple ink were attacked by Taliban militants in the province of Kandahar, shortly after voting.

Rumors that such activity would take place during voting were spread far before the elections were to take place. Whilst a Taliban spokesman said that such attacks would not take place, we are once again faced with the mistruths that the Taliban represent. It has been alleged that Independent commanders of the Taliban are responsible for authorizing the attacks.

Many Afghan residents have been too frightened to vote following the threats made prior to the event. In particular, the South of Afghanistan seemed to suffer the most as no less than twenty six Afghan civilians and security members were killed during the militant attacks.

From the Sichuan earthquake, we can see the unity among people in China. After the Sichuan earthquake occurs, people around China showed their concerns about the incident. All the newspaper articles are reporting the situation in Sichuan. In Hong Kong, we donate money, sing songs to support them, bless the god, all these encouraged the victims to fight for their life.

In our life, we often meet obstacles. Our attitude towards difficulties, however, is most important. While facing difficulties, someone choose to be optimistic, someone choose to be pessimistic or even someone just ignore them. For me, I will choose to be optimistic. Take for an example in Sichuan earthquake. If I were one of the victims who will easily give up, I must not be alive. On the other hand, if we think positively and think out some methods to help ourselves, we may have some chances to be rescued. Even though the result may not be good, at least we have tried our best. In the Sichuan earthquake, a victim drinks his secrete to seek to survive. At last, he succeeds and hasn’t died. This is just a good example of being optimistic.

In addition, when we are facing obstacles, supports from others are especially essential. Supports from others, in fact, motivate victims to face the difficulties positively. In Sichuan earthquake, President Hu Jintao went to the front and encourages the victims not to give up. As a result, victims, including some children, felt full of courageous and said they at last overcome the difficulties. This showed that supports from others are really important.

After the Sichuan earthquake, many victims lose their home as well as their family members. Yet, we should release ourself and confront the fact. The deceased cannot be restored to life. It is hope that victims in Sichuan will think positively and continue with their life.

Some are even of the viewpoint that Pakistan, may sooner or later face the same consequences as East Pakistan, today known as Bangladesh, which separated as a result of the uncontrolled ethnic and various other differences. Yet still, some questions still remain unanswered. 

The problems that emerged around more than sixty years ago, right after the independence, have still not been fixed. The socio-economic troubles such as wealth distribution has remained critical. The feudal societies have not promoted the nourishment of any government, civil or military, to prosper and resolve the problems of people, if ever they tried to felt sympathetic to them.

The educational problem also tend to linger around with less than 45% capable of reading, or even writing their own name. The same goes with the health care facilities. With high infant mortality rates, and death rates, the accessibility to basic health-care seems to be out of reach of people.

Besides, the hay-wired religious segregation and implementation, by those who have used religion to bulwark themselves, or for the acquisition of their personal motives, have marred the religious concepts and beliefs for the Pakistanis as a whole. 

The problems can be extended to every aspect and facet of a mundane Pakistani. The list goes on and on. Yet the derivation of a panacea seems inevitable.

In the light of my personal synthesis, the following seems to be the most  derivative to most ails of the country.

Firstly, the Constitution, which is meant to be a compass and a guiding principle for the nation, should be upheld supreme, unadulterated and sacred. No amendments should be allowed into it that tends to cater politicians’ avarice and appetite.

Secondly, the law and order should be made equal for every citizen, not matter from which background a person may belong to, and must be ensured that it is PRACTICED the same way.

A lot of budget is wasted upon the defence of the country, mostly to protect against the neighbour country’s aggression and belligerence. Hence, rather than spending such a huge amount gratifying a useless needs of vendetta; such an amount should be invested in country’s social welfare, like education and rural development, while the government itself should focus upon building up better, and stronger relationships, based upon symbiotic fraternity with its neighbour countries.

For some people it might seem like a dream but all nations have to dream before the dream comes true. If Pakistanis don’t fulfill their founder’s dream, I am afraid their dream might turn into a violent nightmare in the not so distant future. 

Currently the president of Azerbaijan is Ilham Aliyev elected in 2003 after being appointed a presidential candidate by his father, former president Heydar Aliyev. Since his rise to power Aliyev has been clamping down on NGOs, human rights activists, dissidents, and journalists with brute force.

The current government of Azerbaijan frequently uses tactics such as civil suits and criminal prosecution to intimidate those who speak out against the oppressive regime. In 2005 Elmar Huseynov, a prominent newspaper editor, was murdered. The killer has never been found. Sadly numerous Azerbaijani journalists have suffered physical harm by unknown assailants.

In 2007 nine Azerbaijani journalists were arrested, one of those men was Emin Huseynov the chairman of IRFS; an organization which fights to protect the rights of Azerbaijani journalists and provides legal assistance to those being persecuted by the government. Upon his arrest Emin Huseynov was beaten so severely that he was hospitalized for 24 days. he is still in the custody of Azerbaijani officials.

In 2009 Ilham Aliyev brought fourth amendments for the Azerbaijani constitution to the nation’s parliament, also called Milli Mejlis. These new rules will make life even harder for journalists and those working to improve human rights in Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani government would be able to close media outlets at will for “abuses of power” such as using anonymous sources or writing articles that could be considered biased. Non-Government Organizations would have to receive at least 50% of their funding locally, virtually crippling the ability of outside nations to monitor treatment of Azerbaijani nationals. Unfavorable NGOs can be banned for a period of up to five years and those speaking on their behalf can receive a fine of 50,000AZN or $62,500USD.

The people of Azerbaijan are suffering. They have endured years of brutal regimes, a horrific war with Nagorno-Karabakh, droughts and now they are losing their freedom of speech.

Some patients will die within 24 hours if they are not treated, and the inhalation symptoms are just like a cold.  If antibiotics are taken at the first onset of symptoms, the survival rate is very high.  Without treatment, the mortality rate is close to 100% — that is, there are few if any survivors without antibiotics.  Some animals in China are carriers of the bacterium, and humans are infected when they kill and skin infected animals, probably inhaling some aerosolized bacteria.  Surprisingly, the bacterium is destroyed by sunlight and by drying, although when released into the air the CDC says it can survive for up to one hour.

Will China be able to control this outbreak of pneumonic plague?  So far only three people have been infected, and people in the town are staying in their homes, and the town has been quarantined.  These measures are very effective at controlling the plague.  In the United States, the quarantine laws are uncertain in many jurisdictions, especially with the expansion of rights of privacy.  If plague were found in a large urbanized area of the United States, it might be very difficult to control the spread until there were a larger emergency.  China has a very good chance of controlling this outbreak.

At the same time something more sinister is emerging, with the deaths of at least 7 people in yesterday’s protest. These people were shot by the Basij, standing on rooftops and taking aim at the protestors. Yes there is carnage on the streets in Iran. At least 6 young students were murdered inside the dormitory of one of the universities. The Basij ransacked the university dormitories, bashing down doors, wrecking computers and monitors, as well as bashing the students that got in their way. What has also emerged is that the Basij includes members of Hezbollah from Syria and Lebanon.

It is disturbing to know that the lame-stream media is in fact downplaying the situation. It seems that they want the status quo even though Ahmadinejad is extremely dangerous. What is more disturbing is that it seems that Iran has given an answer to Washington.

There are some online journalists who are doing a wonderful job keeping up with developments. One of them is Nico Pitney from Huffington Post. He has posted a letter and a video that I believe should be viewed and understood by as many of the world population as possible. This is a commentary in English and it is a plea for support, not with military action but by requesting that Western governments do not recognize the illegal Ahmadinejad regime. You can view the video here.  Although I am not a regular reader of the Huffington Post (like normally never) I am finding that Nico Pitney is achieving an excellence in journalism on this story that I have not seen in the lame-stream media reports that I have viewed. I have viewed many videos from you-tube that have been posted on various sites, and I have seen some very graphic pictures of people killed by the Basij during the protests. If the lame-stream media continues to downplay the gravity of the situation then I fear for the human rights of Iranians because their plight could end up being ignored by governments in the western world.

The violence is very real. The Basij have been going on a beating and killing spree. It has been rumoured that they have arrested various people, with the intention of keeping them hostage or to kill them, since some have been taken to Evin prison. The hostage taking is just like the siege of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. What people do not understand is that Ahmadinjad was in fact one of the students who participated in that siege. Why on earth is the USA trying to connect with this particular thug? He is a threat to world peace. This is not the will of the Iranian people and they do not want him as their leader. That is why they are so willing to give Mousavi a go, even with his brutal past.

The question is: What does this mean for the world at large, to have Ahmadinejad returned as President? First of all, it must be noted that this man is an Holocaust denier. Second, according to his rhetoric, he wants to wipe Israel off the map. Third, he will continue to push ahead to obtain nuclear weapons including long range missiles that can reach Israel. Fourth, it means that he will continue to fund both Syria and Hezbollah.

On the other hand, it must be remembered that in a country such as Iran, when people talk of reform, it is not the same as reform in the USA, Great Britain or Australia. To be liberal in Iran is not the same as having liberal tendencies in Australia or the USA. What it really means that the opposition would have been prepared to wind back some of the restrictions introduced by the more conservative types which has led to women being forced to cover up, and when they refuse they are severely beaten over the head. It must be kept in mind, for example that the main opposition contender actually started the nuclear program!!

The riots on the streets of Tehran and in the provinces are a sign that the people are fed up with the control that is being exerted over their lives by the theocracy. It is the mullahs, under the Supreme leader Khamenei, who control every aspect of the daily lives of Iranians. It was Khamenei who picked those who would run in the Presidential election, and it was Khamenei who has declared that Ahmadinjad is the winner, even though the large turnout was due to people voting against and not for him. The huge voter turnout was something like 85% of the population, which was 30% higher than the previous presidential election in Iran. They did not turn out to vote for the incumbent President.

The question that is uppermost on my mind therefore, is what will happen next? Some of the moderate leaders have already been arrested by the regime. The regime thugs have already tried to use their batons on the rioters, although in some of the available footage these thugs were chased away by the hordes. There has been rocks thrown at the police, with the police throwing the rocks back again, plus there has been gunshots. There is a rumour that more than 50 people have been killed by the Ahmadinejad thugs. Will the people back off now? Or will the rioting continue? Will the regime attempt a Tiennamen Square style of oppression? We will just have to wait and see how it unfolds.

The journalists, who were working for Al Gore’s Current TV, had been investigating reports along the Chinese-North Korean border concerning trafficking in women. The two had never intended to cross into North Korea and their doing so has been termed “accidental”.

Friends and family members of the two women, as well as the US government, are working hard to obtain their release.  Lisa Ling, a former The View co-host and Laura’s sister, has appealed to the North Korean government to show mercy. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has gone so far as sending a letter to the North Korean government apologizing for the intrusion and asking that the journalists be sent home.

Nobel Prize winner Al Gore, Chairman of Current TV has remained  publicly silent on the issue, although there are indications that he is working behind the scenes to negotiate the women’s release. 

No one is sure exactly what North Korea, one of the world’s last Communist bastions, hopes to gain by continuing to detain the two women. Some experts believe the North Korean government plan to use the journalists’ fates as leverage in continuing talks over nuclear proliferation.

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Kim Jong-Un is still in his 20s. It is believed that he is 26. Like his father he is also said to be shrewd and media shy. There is no photograph of him outside the North Korea except one taken by a formal royal chef which is a passport photo of 11 year old third son of present ruler.

The question arises, when this change in the governance is going on then why the North Korea has done what they have done recently. They have directly challenged the world order by conducting a nuclear test and successfully testing nuclear capable missiles. Analysts say that these tests were done to make the next ruler more mature. Some even suggests that these tests were done by direct order of the next ruler as his current capacity of chief of National Defense Commission.

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It is believed that under the rule of Kim Jong-Un, nothing is going to change as far as foreign policy of the North Korea is concerned. It will be seen how the world order will engage him. At present, the North Korea is the most isolated country of the world.

A large development company had started the construction of China’s First Sex Theme Park. By all reports the material being exhibited was all quite explicit.

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 Displays are said to have included explicit but ‘educational how to…’ displays and a graphic exhibition on the history of sex. There were also neon lit giant genitalia and naked bodies in various poses all around the park.

The star attraction was to be a giant revolving statue of the lower half of an almost naked woman. These are scenes more reminiscent of Amsterdam, than China.

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The entrance to the park was quite grand and it featured a huge model of a woman’s legs which were adorned with a scarlet thong and straddled across the name of the park, ‘Love Land’.  (This alone may have been enough to offend the sense of decency in some more conventional areas of the west.)

Unfortunately copyright laws prevent me from showing the photograph of this giant lady on this page, but anyone who is curious may view it here.

Source:  Wikimedia Creative Commons

Attitudes to sex in China are not as open as they are in the west, so this was a really innovative idea and one that was welcomed by many Chinese and the site owners stressed that everything would be done tastefully. The emphasis was to be on education.  (How a giant revolving half naked woman can be tasteful, I can’t imagine, but the question of taste may be a matter of personal opinion.)

This kind of bizarre idea can only have come out of the Orient.  Plans were approved and a huge amount of money had been spent on laying the foundations and constructing a fabulous entrance to the park which is in the city of Chongquing.

Source:  Wikimedia Creaive Commons

However, certain officials decided that the park that was planned to open in October 2009 was distasteful and offended decency. An order has been made to tear it down before it even opens.