About me: One, caught between two.

Foreign Policy – Photo Shoot: ZH.

-ZH

As for now, I’ve got my cousin to my right, my brother to my left, both having a grand time sleeping at 5:38 AM. We watched the Simpson movie earlier tonight after watching, and re-watching, the news for hours. The reports do not sound.

On a normal day, life here would’ve proceeded with a spectacular breakfast in the afternoon, followed by a super lunch in the evening, and with an eventual visit to a coffee shop late at night. But my cousins and I have retreated back inside and resorted instead to DVDs, books, TV, and board games. Sleeping, eating, roaming around rooms, and sleeping some more has thus been the main routine.

The sun, at any rate, is expected to come out in a few hours and bring a brand new day. What it will bring for the city, the state, and life yet remains to be seen.

As for now, here in Lahore, Pakistan, battling uncertainty, I am keeping hope alive…

“Truth or truthiness?”

“Our nation is at a Fork in the Road. Some say we should go Left; some say go Right. I say, “Doesn’t this thing have a reverse gear?” Let’s back this country up to a time before there were forks in the road — or even roads. Or forks, for that matter. I want to return to a simpler America where we ate our meat off the end of a sharpened stick.”

— Stephen T. Colbert

“Colbert Announces Presidential Pursuit.“

- – - – -

Colbert’s Big Announcement (The Daily Show)

Colbert ’08 Announcement (The Colbert Report)

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The ideas & thoughts here are flying high & everything is basking in glory after the monumental success of my last post!

Not only has this blog shot up in visits (topping well over 1,208 hits!), but there is also a fascinating discussion going on in the comments section. We already have one of our Pakistani “elite” participating with full force & helping us brief on the situation in Pakistan. You must join in too!

In reference to glory, I should add here that National Public Radio (NPR) is having an additional day of fame after Philip Reeves of the NPR radio program All Things Considered concurred with me in his report, “Pakistanis Indifferent to Tenuous Musharraf Victory.” The 3½-minute report can be accessed by clicking here.

Apart from affirming my right-e-ness, the report raises some very interesting points. For example:

The election was “a matter of complete indifference” to Pakistanis.

The “election was all a foregone conclusion” & that “this was all done.”

Pakistani people “never involved themselves in the political crisis” & mostly stayed out of it, “worrying about more immediate concerns, like sharply rising food prices.”

These are the precise points my friend Saad raised in his comments on my last post. For example:

Statements from people, such as, “I don’t care” or, “I don’t have time for politics.”

“…Elections are more famous as ‘fake’ elections here in Lahore.”

A “common poor man would not really care because for him 1kg of sugar, 1kg of milk & other daily routine requirements would remain the same.”

The aforementioned really compel one to think repeatedly about all this. The political indifference, power dynamics, Pakistani people & everything mentioned in the report are very intriguing.

However, did anybody notice the following statement by Dr. Masjik in the interview?

The Pakistani people need “a new political leader.”

Excuse me?!?!? Whaa?!?!? Hello?!?!? Huh?!?!?

A new political leader???

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that statement directly baiting me & questioning if I’m going to launch a presidential run?!?!?

-ZH

P.S.: My response to the question: “I can’t answer that question. That’s…um…I’d have to talk to my family first.”

P.P.S.: Next topic – the love of my life & life of my love: Stephen T. Colbert & his unprecedented new book: “I Am America (And So Can You!).”

 

• Zaid Hassan contributed this ironic / iconic report from an undisclosed coffee shop in Austin, Texas. He lives in the library with his textbooks & backpack at the University of Texas.

Austin, Texas, Oct. 6 – Ready for yet another roller coaster ride, Pakistan & Pakistani politics neared one more milestone today with the Dawn of October 6, 2007.

General Pervez Musharraf, sighted at different instances, is reported to be euphoric & zestful on how events have unfolded so far. He is expected to win the elections.

Engulfed in a ride of a lifetime that actually recurs incessantly, the South Asian country has experienced a stringent evolutionary process in recent times.

The movers & shakers of this process, also making headlines, include Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Benazir Bhutto. The powerful corridors of a whitish house are also alleged to play a key role.

Going through this period of political transition, the Pakistani people themselves are reported to have “no comments” so far. The lack of enthusiasm & apathy are credited to a mediocre interest in politics by the intellectuals, the elites, as well as the overseas Pakistanis. There are no poor people in Pakistan.

The proceedings of today, nonetheless, are expected to mark a dramatic shift & transformation in Pakistan, and the people are already optimistic & preparing to prepare for another roller coaster ride expected to blast off immediately after this ride comes to an end.

By ZAID HASSAN. Published: October 6, 2007. © ZH

But ’tis still Friday, and I have not backed down from this mission. To keep my promise, I have just isolated myself in the corner of a coffee shop in an undisclosed location, and intend to stay here until I come up with my post for today!!! So, the entry is in the making…

Keep hanging in there. At least I am.

-ZH

P.S.: Topic under consideration: Pakistan.

P.P.S.: Breaking news in the making?!?!? Hint, hint: special news coverage from Pakistan?!?!? Cue: dropped jaws please.

But wait till you read this: “9 out of the top 25 teams, upset.“

Oklahoma

Florida

West Virginia

Texas*

Rutgers

Oregon

Clemson

Penn St

Alabama

This is simply unbelievable. One could watch college football for years & not come across a day like Saturday, September 29, 2007. A date which will live in infamy?!?!?

Now I happened to be at one of those football games. Among the approx. 90,000 fans braving an isolated thunderstorm, I was a collective part of thousands of appalled Longhorn fans to see my Texas fall 41 – 21 to kansas state.

But it appears Texas is not alone today. A legion of other teams stumbled as well.

Accordingly, thousands of fans – just like me – would go to bed tonight with a tough dose of reality to swallow. Already, we’ve come across devastating scenes of a crying man to appalled fans, and stunned band to rejected plans. Even more, we have instances like these, these, and especially these to frustrate & haunt us for the rest of the season.

But. Such is life in the world of sports. One week you win, the next you lose. I suppose it comes down to how badly one team wants to win than the other. The simple elements of execution, concentration, and resolution, or the lack thereof, slide one team in the winning column & the losing team in the other.

The funny thing: Texas & all of the other teams will get a chance to get back on the field again. No matter what happens during the week, all the teams would get a chance to restart by next week. And that’s a wonderful thing. Even though we may have lost today, we live to play for a chance to win another week, and for the week after that, and the one thereafter. The point: we’ll get our shots again!

On the other hand, I’ve always wondered about the same thing for myself. I wonder if I’ll get one shot, and another one if I fail at that. In real life, it doesn’t seem to be the case. And that’s a chilling prospect.

Keeping that in mind, I better get to work & put this nose to that grindstone. With this lesson of the day, I better start giving everything my 110% for I might not have the same chances to do it all again.

Accordingly, I might as well be focused to improve on my mistakes & capitalize on my gains. Better yet, I’m heading straight to my study table to start on my homework for next week!!! With today’s lesson in mind, I’ll hopefully be able to keep everything in sight & work harder so that at least I’ll not be in the “L” column in my life!!!

Until next week.

-ZH

P.S.: Come to think of it, if I study hard for next week now, I’ll be ready for the Texas vs. Oklahoma game without any concerns!!! A ha!!! ;)

P.P.S.: Hook ‘em Horns.

Recovery still in process, and in spite of the struggles against international institutions, scientific method, Indian foreign policy, international relations theory, and American history, I now might have another battle to confront. As if one Cold War wasn’t enough of a confrontation, the world might now be at the verge of yet another one!

Let me explain…

The stellar state & condition of Square One (first growing, then stabilizing, then booming, then anchoring, then deflating, and then normalizing!) was never challenged in the short time of its existence. Never, in my imaginative sphere, was another blog going to attempt to dethrone this one.

Well … say hello to the  Substrated. 

http://substrated.wordpress.com/

A recent (and brilliant!) addition to the sphere o’ blog, the Substrated is the latest venture of my fellow Substrategist, Mr. Andrew B. Roush. In the author’s own words, the site is there to “deconstruct a, b, and c.”

I very well might be in for a tough run now because of the Substrated!

And therefore the action of generating this post! My fellow □ 1-ers, I am writing this evening to not only affirm the greatness of this blog, but to also maintain a sizeable readership & a comprehensive lead over such other new entries. The blog is being updated to demonstrate a willingness of Square One to stand up to the challenges & harsh tests of time!

It is hereby that I am announcing a complete return of this domain from a self-imposed exile. Yes, I am back, and I am here to stay.

[A housekeeping note: I hope to be more consistent this time around & plan to update my blog every Friday.]

So, please allow me to welcome everybody one more time with open arms. Congratulate Mr. Roush (without any signs of hostility!) on a successful launch of the Substrated.

And start once again from square one with Square One!

-ZH

P.S.: Topic for next Friday – “Pakistan.”

“Zaid is taking* a picture** for you!!!”

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* took
** pictures