Ten Fictions that Pakistani Defense Officials Love to Peddle

An old topic son but something that will keep cropping up. Pakistan has at least got a civilian system which is good but the problem is the Pakistani army which is like a giant parasite on the country region and the world. 

We will have serious issues with Pakistan as we did before and with nuclear weapons it's dangerous. But some signs of intelligence are still there like the recent neutrality proposal for the stupid Yemeni issue. 

Still read the history son. This is as much as about history as its about politics and philosophy and diplomacy and terrorism. Sad

Love

Baba

Ten Fictions that Pakistani Defense Officials Love to Peddle
http://warontherocks.com/2014/01/ten-fictions-that-pakistani-defense-officials-love-to-peddle/
(via Instapaper)

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Ten Fictions that Pakistani Defense Officials Love to Peddle

The U.S.-Pakistan “strategic dialogue” has restarted yet again.  I would be remiss if I did not point that it has never been strategic and it has certainly not been a dialogue.  No doubt the Pakistanis are worried that wary American taxpayers and their congressional representatives may close the checkbook for good when the last U.S. soldier departs from Afghanistan.  In the spirit of perpetual rent-seeking, Pakistani defense officials have recently alighted upon Washington to offer the same tired and hackneyed narratives that are tailored to guilt the Americans into keeping the gravy train chugging along.

Here are the top ten ossified fictions that Pakistani defense officials are pedaling and what you need to know to call the “Bakvas Flag” on each of them.

1.  “Our relationship should be strategic rather than transactional.”

Nonsense and here’s why.  For the U.S.-Pakistan relationship to be “strategic,” there should be a modicum of convergence of interests in the region if not beyond.  Yet, there is no evidence that this is the case.  In fact, Pakistan seems most vested in undermining U.S. interests in the region. In the name of the conflict formerly known as the Global War on Terror (GWOT), the United States has given Pakistan some $27 billion in military and financial aid as well as lucrative reimbursements.  However, during these same years, Pakistan has continued to aid and abet the Afghan Taliban and allied militant groups such as the Haqqani Network.  These organizations are the very organizations that have killed American military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan along with those of our allies in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and countless more Afghans, in and out of uniform.  This is in addition to the flotilla of Islamist militant groups that Pakistan uses as tools of foreign policy in India. Foremost among them is the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is proscribed by the United States and which is responsible for the most lethal terror operations in India and, since 2006, has openly operated against Americans in Afghanistan.

How Many Books Does the Average Self-Made Millionaire Read?

This was an interesting article kids. Interesting to learn what people read and use to become rich. We have all these books by the dozen at home, so maybe you kids need to pick this up to get better and richer :). 

The interesting bit for me was also the combination, career, how to, history, biographies, leadership, etc. etc. cool, eh? Something you need to think about why this combination works? 

Love 

Baba

Rich Habits Institute Develop the Habits to Create Opportunity Luck, Achieve Consistent Success, and Build Wealth

How Many Books Does the Average Self-Made Millionaire Read?  Jun 22nd 2015, 10:00, by Thomas C. Corley According to my research, it takes the average self-made millionaire 32 years to become rich. Those who achieve this status have adopted the daily habit of reading for self-improvement every day. According to my study, 85% read two or more books every month. If you do the math, that’s 768 books. But these millionaires don’t read just any old books. They read books that will help them grow and learn. Here’s a list of the types of books self-made millionaires read: Career-related books. How-to books. History books. Biographies of successful people. Self-help books. Health-related books. Current events books. Books on memory improvement and learning. Psychology books. Leadership books. Science books. New age books that offer inspiration and create a positive mental outlook. The key to success in life is growing your knowledge base and skills. Devote 30 minutes or more each day to learning by reading books. If you do, it will set you apart from the competition, as most people do not read. Reading every day puts you in the top 5% of the crowd.

Fwd: The Woman Who Married a Bear: Elizabeth James,

Choti


i found reference to this book and have ordered it, i thought you might love to read the blurb.

I loved your description of Jekyll and Hyde, sweetheart, i never thought of the book that way. It is a fascinating book and we all have a Hyde inside us which comes out at the wrong times…we have to keep him under control.

and I loved dancing with you tonight :) you make me so happy.

Anyway, love you and looking forward to watching the movie with you :)

Happy New Year, It will be a very important year for you and I am looking forward to being with you all year long, cuddling, discussing, teasing, tickling and and and.

Love

Baba


Grade 1–4—In this retelling of a West Coast First Nations' myth, a young woman tells her friends that bears are ugly, filthy, dumb animals. The Chief of the Bear People wants to punish her, but his nephew asks for her as his wife. From Mouse Woman she learns that bears can transform into humans and then into bears again. Her bear husband is kind to her, and the seasons pass swiftly. When her brothers hunt for her, her husband takes her up into the snow-covered mountains where she gives birth to twins with human faces and bear cub bodies. Rather than harming her brothers when they come to the mountains, her husband allows himself to be killed, asking only that the young woman sing his death song and teach her people to respect the bears. Unhappy among her own people, she is finally able to transform herself and her children into bears and return to the wilderness. Atanas's exquisite watercolor illustrations capture the natural beauty of the Pacific Coast and the distinctive culture of the First Nations people. A wordless spread of three bears in a grassy meadow with mist-hung mountains in the distance helps readers appreciate the young woman's two transformations-mentally respecting the animal kingdom and physically becoming a bear. This is a welcome addition to units on Native American cultures.—Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Who-Married-Bear/dp/1894965493

Fwd: Rogue One

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This was an interesting article on the movie.

Dada is going to become a financial engineer..Baba was and is a financial engineer…makes one think.

http://www.scifipolicy.com/blog/2016/12/18/rogue-one-an-engineering-ethics-story

Fwd: Mehdi Hasan: How Islamic is Islamic State?

Quite an interesting overview of what Isis is all about son. Not that this argument is any new. When 9/11 happened, people were asking if The terrorists Did so for religious reasons? Answer is of course yes. The shooting of the black people at the church in South Carolina was due to religion. The racial and apartheid shown to Palestinians by the Jews is because of religion and when kids are married off young in India or they are burnt alive because they belong to a different caste, they are doing so because of religion. 
Btw the Esposito book referenced in the article is a load of rubbish. I reviewed the book. It's so intellectually incoherent. Religion is what adherents do. Not what's written  in a book. A book by itself doesn't have the power. It needs somebody to execute those messages. Burning the book wouldn't help. 
I read about how the three sisters took their kids to Syria. Apparently they were brainwashed. So brainwashed that they are willing to leave a comfortable life here in the UK and go to a shithole like Syria? If religion isn't brainwashing turn what is? 
Rubbish. 
Best of luck with the exams son. 
Missing you and can't wait to see you this weekend
Love
Baba

Mehdi Hasan: How Islamic is Islamic  State?
http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2015/03/mehdi-hasan-how-islamic-islamic-state
(via Instapaper)

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An Isis propaganda video purporting to show the execution of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya. Photo: Rex Features

It is difficult to forget the names, or the images, of James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, Alan Henning and Peter Kassig. The barbaric beheadings between August and November 2014, in cold blood and on camera, of these five jumpsuit-clad western hostages by the self-styled Islamic State, or Isis, provoked widespread outrage and condemnation.
However, we should also remember the name of Didier François, a French journalist who was held by Isis in Syria for ten months before being released in April 2014. François has since given us a rare insight into life inside what the Atlantic's Graeme Wood, in a recent report for the magazine, has called the "hermit kingdom" of Isis, where "few have gone . . . and returned". And it is an insight that threatens to turn the conventional wisdom about the world's most fearsome terrorist organisation on its head.
"There was never really discussion about texts," the French journalist told CNN's Christiane Amanpour last month, referring to his captors. "It was not a religious discussion. It was a political discussion."

Marginal REVOLUTION: China fact of the day

Kannu/Diya

Fascinating article and read the chapter 1 on the link given below. The two main reasons why Europe won so many empires is (1) they were better at their health and more disease resistant and (2) their gunpowder technology was much better.

Quite interesting, no?

So how will it work out going forward? USA do the same? As their health and military technology is the best? As th

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Marginal REVOLUTION Small Steps Towards A Much Better World

China fact of the day Jun 23rd 2015, 17:08, by Tyler Cowen Qing Dynasty measured some 14.7 million square kilometers in 1790…The two biggest countries in western Europe were under 0.7 million in the late eighteenth century. That is from Philip T. Hoffman's new and interesting Why Did Europe Conquer the World?, here is the book's home page.  Hoffman does note, however, that if we count empires the Spanish empire was during that time larger than China.

International Widows Day

Today is international widows day. Not as fun as pancake day or Father's Day but I've seen these women in the ashrams in India. I used to think they are wraiths. Drifting silently through life. Desperate for anybody to show them the slightest bit of attention.

Celebrate this day, reach out or write to somebody who is starved for attention. Give them a kiss and cuddle.

As the old quote goes, old people need very little but they need that little so much.

Kannu, I have to say that I'm very proud of you for spending time with Dadu. For every sentence you write to him, he devours it 10 times, tells his friends 20 times and remembers it 50 times. When you're that old, he's 81, he can see you as his progeny. Something he has had a little hand in. His degrees. His work. His house are all immaterial. He looks at you and Diya and loves you. That's wonderful. And the golden rule applies. The fact that you are spending time with your grandfather means that you will not lack for affection when it's your turn. Keep it up son, keep huggin and kissing and loving and talking. Diya is a bit young but I can see she's also like that.

Unlike these widows who need help. Affection more like it. One day I'll take you kids to the towns next to the Ganges and we will see the real India.
Love
Baba


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Widows_Day

Everyone wants to be happy. Almost everyone is going about it wrong.k

Kids 



Here's an interesting article on how people are responding to their desire to be happy. What it boils down to is that you cannot expect to be happy all the time, material possessions cannot give you happiness, problems do not come and go quickly, everything cannot be perfect, stability is happiness and what your parents say / do is equal to happiness. 

That made me think. I am generally a happy bunny as you would have noticed. Not least because of you two wonderful lovely kids. Even though I keep on saying that you are gadha and lirbire, that's teasing, you two are the biggest reasons for my happiness every day. I hug and kiss you simply because you are lovely, warm, nice, wonderful children. You are happy so that makes me happy. I make Mamma unhappy but that's because I dont listen to her, snore at night and act like a gadha as well :). 

But how do I stack up given the below? So i dont think i am happy when "something happens" and no, Im happy generally because of various factors. So that's at variance with the below. Material possessions cannot give me happiness is right, not really that much interested in material possessions - maybe other than books but they do get consumed and read and digested and and and. And no, problems dont come and go quickly - some problems i have handled all through my life, like my knee or Dadu's illness/health or the charity issues. And no, my life isnt stable, despite all the efforts of Mamma, workwise its always moving around and there is a heavy risk of insecurity / my job going, etc. etc. 

But the last point is important, kids. What makes me or Mamma happy is not what will fit you nor should it. You have to come up with your own reasons to be happy kids :). You can, of course, learn from us but never take our limitations for yourself, kids. Be happy :) dream big, fail, deal with problems, but be happy :) 

Love 

Baba 

  

Vox - All

Everyone wants to be happy. Almost everyone is going about it wrong.  Jun 2nd 2015, 12:00, by Sherry Amatenstein As a therapist, the number-one goal I hear from my patients is: "I just want to be happy." I ask, "What would being happy mean to you?" The answers range from "Everything I wish for will happen" to "I will feel good all the time" to "I won't ever feel sad or disappointed." These patients are deeply misguided: believing that bliss is a permanent, attainable state is both unrealistic and emotionally dangerous. Awful things occur that we cannot control, and that will and should at least temporarily affect how we feel. My happiness-seeking patients are also, sadly, doomed to fail. It's a time-worn paradox: the more you obsess over whether you are happy or happy enough, the unhappier you are. As I've witnessed from years of counseling patients, contentment emerges as a byproduct of a good life, not from the pursuit of it being your life's purpose. Here are some of the most common myths my patients believe about happiness — and how I help my patients move past them. 1) They keep saying, "I'll be happy when..." When Philip (all patients' names are changed) began therapy, his heartfelt belief was it would be impossible to enjoy life until achieving X goal. After achieving X goal, there'd be a brief spike of joy before he sank back into gloom, anxiety, and self-doubt. So he'd set Y goal, hoping the elusive happiness he longed for would follow. More on mental health 9 things I wish people understood about anxiety Grief is powerful. Here are 6 lessons survivors learn from tragedy. The secrets of depression As we worked together, Philip came to realize his hypercritical father, an acclaimed heart surgeon, had drummed into his head that he wasn't worthy of being accepted and loved unless he did great things. Philip told me, "Growing up, getting a single or double in Little League wasn't enough. According to my dad I had to hit a home run to deserve to feel proud and happy." Philip was able to call his now-retired father and say that these impossible standards had left him unable to enjoy life. After this conversation, Philip told me, "Dad was mortified. He said he'd always been proud of me but he raised me the way his father raised him." Nowadays Philip is able to choose goals he wants rather than ones he desperately needs to reach. "Since how I feel about myself isn't dependent on whether or not I publish a novel or get a skydiving certificate, I can enjoy the ups and downs along the way." 2) They believe problems should come and go quickly

How inequality changes marriage

This was a fascinating article son. One of the good articles on how families will evolve. At least in USA. And I see no reason why this will not happen in other countries as the underlying dynamics remain the same despite differences in minorities, religion etc etc.  

But this gap is somewhat worrying. If the top decile (by socio economic status) is the only group which will remain married while other groups do not get married or don't want to get married, then we have a problem. The political and economic elite is drawn from the top decile. And they will draw up rules based upon their own backgrounds. 

I found the finding that it's the most highly educated and highly remunerated women who like to be married. 

No question that one should find a spouse in uni and stick with her/him. All studies push that. But what about others? Women who cannot get suitable men? The men are randy old goats true, hooking up all over the place. The direction seems to be that they will not look for men but invest in happiness for themselves by educating themselves more, investing more in themselves and men become pretty much optional. 

Obviously this has economic and sociological and political implications. Much to ponder on son. 

Like the cat which attended my lecture today. She sat there all through the lecture and patiently listened to me although sometimes got distracted by my pacing around and licked her paws. Which was more than what I can say for my students who were trying to understand ARIMA time series modelling :)

Fun times. 

Love

Baba

How inequality changes marriage – June Carbone and Naomi Cahn – Aeon
http://aeon.co/magazine/society/how-rising-inequality-is-changing-marriage/
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We’re both happily married law professors who followed the same trajectory. We graduated from college, became established in our professions, got married, and had children. Our children and most of our friends have followed the same pattern. Our family experiences might be typical of the college-educated professionals around us – but not at all typical for large segments of the American public.
In the middle of the 20th century, during a period of more widely shared prosperity, almost everyone in the United States married. There were some differences. African-American women were a bit more likely to marry and at younger ages than white women, and college graduates were a bit less likely to marry than high-school graduates. But the similarities across class lines were striking. The age of marriage dropped in the generation after the Second World War, across the spectrum. For all Americans, divorce rates and non-marital birth rates were low, children overwhelmingly grew up in two-parent families, and white- and blue-collar couples alike wanted three to four children.
Like marriage age and divorce rates and ideal family size, family law in the post-war decades grew increasingly national. The US Supreme Court insisted that states modernise their treatment of unmarried fathers, women gained more equal rights and, in 1970 with the support of President Richard Nixon, the US Congress voted on a bipartisan basis to fund contraception access. Throughout the US, family life had a certain consistency.

Top 10 Quotes from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince

So I was dressing up today and while putting on the belt, I thought that my life till now has been on two stages, notches on the bed post in the dim and distant past and now notches on my belt. Maybe the last stage for me would me to become a notch. :) 

It was good to have both of you at home at the same time. The house feels full and happy and joyful and lived in even if you two are sleeping in strange places due to the fitting to happen in kannus bedroom today. 

Which brings me to this lovely set of quotes from one of my favourite books, The Little Prince. Kannu, you had this book as an 18th birthday gift. Do read it if / when you get a chance. It's a book at so many levels. On the face of it it's a children's book but below that is a story that rings true kids. It was written right after the Second World War which remains the most destructive event in human history. People try to make sense of such unmitigated giant disasters in different ways but this was a brilliant effort. It's the third most translated book in history. 

Lovely lovely book. 

Just wanted to mention about the desert. You haven't been to a desert. Yet. After mountains, deserts are my favourite area. Very unforgiving and brutal, they have a beauty which resembles that of mathematics. Of sculpture. Or of God. A cold awesome beauty that you can only appreciate if you are heavily prepared. And stay absolutely still. 

I'll take you kids to a desert one day. 

Have a lovely day

Baba

Top 10 Quotes from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince
http://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/top-10-quotes-from-antoine-de-saint-exuperys-the-little-prince
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To know The Little Prince is to love The Little Prince. For those of us already familiar with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's great novella, these quotes will be a charming walk down a familiar path. For those as yet unfamiliar with this children's classic, we hope the following quotes will whet your appetite for more. Read. Enjoy. Then let us know which of your favorites we missed!

1. “Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet hardly any bigger than he was, and who needed a friend.”

2. “I have spent lots of time with grown-ups. I have seen them at close range… which hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.”

3. “I have always loved the desert. You sit down on a sand dune. You see nothing. You hear nothing. And yet something shines, something sings in that silence…”

4. “‘I need to put up with two or three caterpillars if I want to get to know the butterflies.’”

5. “‘Where are the people?’ The little prince finally resumed... ‘It’s a little lonely in the desert...’ ‘It’s also lonely with people,’ said the snake”

6. “‘It’s a question of discipline,’ the little prince told me later on. ‘When you’ve finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend your planet.’”

7. “Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.”

8. “‘In those days, I didn't understand anything. I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words. She perfumed my planet and lit up my life. I should never have run away!’”

9. “Language is the source of misunderstandings.”

10. “Here is my secret. It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

And, although not from The Little Prince, here are two other Antoine de Saint-Exupéry quotes that we just had to include:

“Tell me who admires and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.”

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Enthusiast of modern and classic literature who loves transforming obscure topics into interesting reads. Writer, editor, and researcher extraordinaire. Dynamo and Chief Hakuna Matata Officer.