Peace

Instead of speculating who may or may not be behind the horrific attacks in Mumbai that couldn't be condemned enough, and instead of giving in to the ridiculous finger-pointing being done by the media right now, I would just like to say a prayer for peace. Because if we don't, we will be doing exactly what these inhumane people want us to do. Peace is our birthright, and we must do everything to preserve it.

Our city, country, and religion are all going through trying times. Being blatantly labeled as `terrorists`, being squashed on either sides by mindless accusations, there's no telling what the future holds for us. Remember, there is strength in unity. And so we must unite, unite against this plague that threatens to engulf our entire region, and the world.

I, therefore, say a prayer that things improve back home - be it the ethnic killings in Karachi, or the situation in Mumbai that has threatened to derail the peace process. Amen.

Vintage Pakistan

You may or may not know this, but Google Image Search has recently expanded to include photos from the LIFE photo archive. To those who do not know what this means and/or have never heard of LIFE photo archive, check this out: LIFE represents hundreds of thousands of works of photo journalists dating back to the 18th century, and perhaps more importantly, we now have access to hundreds of unpublished images back form the old days. I just ran a simple query for 'pakistan' and it brought back some astonishing images, including the one on the right of the great Quaid. Just add the word 'source:life' to your google image searches to search the LIFE photo archive.

More from the Google blog post:

Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos.

So please take a look for yourself and experience these great photos. Your exploration will be limited only by your imagination and your desire to keep on clicking. Be sure to check back often as more photos from the LIFE archive will be added regularly to Google Image Search. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we do!

Pretty awesome eh?

Blog Analyzers

I've been running into one blog analyzer after another, so decided to try them all out in one go and post the results here. These are the ones most popularly used on the web: Typealyzer, Blog Gender Analyzer, Readability Test, Blog Rating and lastly, an analyzer that determines how much is your blog worth. So here goes ...

Gender Analyzer

We think http://razzita.blogspot.com is written by a man (80%). - Cool!

Readability Test

I guess I need to up the standards a bit eh?

Typealyzer

ISTP - The Mechanics

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

Hmm ... not sure what to make of that.

Blog Rating

Fair enough. I can't quite recall when I cursed heavily on a post (although, I would love to).

How much is my blog worth?

Your blog, razzita.blogspot.com, is worth $10,161.72

Not bad.

The Modern Life

Yup, that pretty much sums up my life on most days (as lame as that may sound).

Go Pa(c)k!

It feels so great to be winning cricket matches again .... doesn't it? The last two games could be described as close but today's victory was the icing on an already sweet cake. Long may this streak continue. Amen.

P.S. `Go Pack` is a term used to cheer teams of NC State since they're popularly known as the `Wolfpack`.

It's Obama!

He did it! And what a crushing victory too! Congratulations to the American people on this momentous occasion. They haven't called North Carolina yet, but looks like it's going BLUE alright. Amazing how it was considered inconceivable only a couple of years ago that the states of Virginia and North Carolina, which are hard-core red states, could ever become battleground states - let alone go BLUE!

I'm just glad there's a sensible person in the White House for now. What remains to be seen is how he handles the Middle Eastern and Pakistan situation. Time will tell.

Update: North Carolina goes for Obama

On the eve of the US Election

The clock is about to strike midnight here on the east coast, and polling is set to begin in the morning in an election that's being billed as pretty historic. Speaking strictly from an American point-of-view, I think there's no doubt Obama's the better candidate. He represents a kind of change that is needed here after 8 years of idiotic rule that has resulted in mindless invasions and shit leadership culminating in an economic meltdown the likes of which they haven't seen since the Great Depression of the 20s.

But speaking from a point-of-view of a Pakistani and a Muslim, there's little distinction to be made among the two candidates. They're both ridiculously pro-Israel, and they both want to continue bombing border areas of Pakistan in an attempt to kill militants. There's one thing about Obama that has pissed off more than anything, his incessant drivel and posturing about Pakistan "not doing enough" in the war on terror. I've said many a times now on god knows how many blog comment sections: would you just look at the current condition of Pakistan for a freaking second? We're reeling with suicide bombings for the last couple of years the likes of which we haven't seen before. Our army is fighting anti-establishment forces in Baluchistan and FATA with no end to that in sight. And lastly and perhaps most worryingly, there's an ever-growing influence of Taliban in the country. The once peaceful and stunningly beautiful region of Swat now lies in ruins, with its tourism all but finished. Need I say more? There have been several other instances where Obama has made such reckless comments about Pakistan and how it is still not doing enough, when we've been dealing with the effects of their invasion into Afghanistan all along. Joe Biden, on the other hand, seems to have a much better and sensible head on his shoulders when it comes to Pakistan and the War on Terror. I'd rather have him as the President to be honest. But anyway, we'll have to wait and see who the American people choose as their President tomorrow. Here's hoping they don't end up regretting it once again.