Tuesday, February 5, 2019
#PigYear - CHINESE NEW YEAR 2019 ANIMAL: YEAR OF THE PIG ZODIAC SIGN, MEANING EXPLAINED
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Midnight on February 5 will mark the beginning of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year of the Spring Festival. Midnight will mark only the beginning of the 15-day long event, which will be filled with traditional rituals and celebrations.
The 12-year Chinese zodiac calendar will enter the final portion of its circuit on February 5, rolling into the year of the pig. According to CNN, the year of the pig is considered a positive one, generally indicating wealth and fortune for those born in the upcoming 12 months.
Chinesenewyear.net explains that pigs are a symbol of wealth and their chubby faces and big ears denote good fortune. The website also lauds the pig’s “beautiful personality.” Recent years of the pig include 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 and 2007.
“Pigs might not stand out in a crowd. But they are very realistic,” the website adds, explaining some characteristics associated with people born in those years. “Others may be all talk and no action. Pigs are the opposite.”
“Though not wasteful spenders, they will let themselves enjoy life. They love entertainment and will occasionally treat themselves. They are a bit materialistic, but this is motivation for them to work hard. Being able to hold solid objects in their hands gives them security.”
The graphic below was provided by Statista, highlighting the biggest temporary migrations of people on Earth.
Pigs are generally thought to be “energetic and are always enthusiastic, even for boring jobs.” But they are far from faceless drones happy to clock in and clock out. “If given the chance, they will take positions of power and status. They believe that only those people have the right to speak, and that’s what they want.”
Men born in the year of the pig are thought to be “optimistic and gentle. They are very focused. Once they decide on a goal, they’ll put everything into it.”
However, they are not so financially responsible. “Though cool-headed, they are also gullible. They trust others easily and are often scammed. This can cause them to lose a fortune.”
They may be quiet, but male pigs enjoy close social bonds. “They’re not conversationalists, but treat everyone warmly. This results in a large social circle. Whenever they run into difficulties, there are always people who stand up to help. Though people will lie to them, more will love them.”
Women born in the year of the pig are thought to be high socialible and genuine. “ Combined with their easy-going personality, they gain everyone’s trust,” Chinesenewyear.net says.
Sometimes they go a little too far, and can “forget to give others personal space.” Like their male pigs, females are predisposed to wealth. “As long as they keep at it, the efforts will not go to waste. Though they don’t start with an advantage, their hard work will keep money flowing in.”
It should be noted that the Chinese calendar has more complexity than just 12 zodiac animals. Each animal—which refers to a so-called “earthly branch”—combines with one of 10 “heavenly stems” to create a sexagenary cycle.
For 2019, the earthly branch is “hai,” meaning the symbol that stands for pig. This will combine with “ji” which is the heavenly stem for yin and earth. As such, 2019 will be the year of “ji hai,” or earth pig.
The last earth pig year was in 1959. “These pigs are social butterflies with friends from all walks of life,” Chinesenewyear.net explains. “They have a lot of support in both work and life. They have fortunate lives and can find happiness. They are successful later in life. However, they aren’t the most romantic people and might need to work on that.”
According to the Travel China Guide, famous pigs include Hillary Clinton, Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The list of pig alumni also includes influential historical figures, including 16th-century English King Henry VIII and 20th-century Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek.
#Pakistan - Has Buyer’s Remorse Set in for the selected #PTI Government?
This is the question that is foremost in the minds of any sane Pakistani. By buyer’s remorse, the indication is towards those who “selected” Imran Khan. And before him Nawaz Sharif. Two successive self righteous, gaslighting, right wing governments have left Pakistan’s economy in the toilet ever since a Left PPP Government was repeatedly derailed between 2008-2013.By 2013, Pakistan’s exports stood at a healthy $26 Bn – at par with Bangladesh then. Today Pakistan’s exports stand closer to $18bn while Bangladeshi exports are at $40 bn! Since 2013, the Pakistani ruppee has lost close to 50% of its value.
The trade deficit stands at a whopping $18 bn; up from $2 bn in 2013!Meanwhile, oil prices that’s were hovering between $90-$140 between 2008-2013 have stabilised between $40-60 for most of 2013-2018.Clearly, the numbers support PPP while serving as a damning indictment of both PML N and now PTI!Both PML N and PTI faced far fewer hurdles from the Right wing and Jamaat e Islami dominated Judiciary. Both General Raheel Sharif and General Bajwa were more supportive of PML N and PTI respectively while General Kiyani spent his entire tenure plotting against the PPP government and using Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, the judiciary and the media as his proxies.General Kiyani did nothing to combat Takfiri terrorism and allowed it to grow while General Raheel and General Bajwa took some steps (far from sufficient) to curtail it.
(Note to the dishonest and the stupid whose petty opportunist careers are built on distorting posts here: this is a statement of fact and not an absolution).Even under more favorable situations, both PML N And PTI have failed.At what stage will buyer’s remorse set in regarding those who managed the selection of the PTI government?In a confused and mumbling speech in Turkey today, Imran Khan cheered on the Congress Party-backed Khilafat movement that was opposed by both Jinnah and even the Turks who wanted freedom from the decaying Ottoman Regime. In the same breath, Imran Khan praised the socialist policies of China while condemning the socialist government of Bhutto. Ironically, it was Bhutto who set in place the regional alliances with both China and Turkey.“Let me not forget that when the Taa… Turkey was finding I mean fighting for it’s independence, when the Greeks had invaded the mainland, ppl…. What is now in Pakistan that was in India, but from what is now in Pakistan, ppl were collecting money to support the Turkish movement for independence under Karam… Kamal Ata Turk”(PM Imran Khan’s exact speech in Turkey today)Clearly, intelligence is not the strong suite of PM Khan.
https://lubpak.net/has-buyers-remorse-set-in-for-the-selected-pti-government/
January 7, 2019
#Pakistan - #Balochistan: Bullet-ridden dead body found in Kharan, three abducted from Khuzdar
Pakistani forces have abducted three people from district Khuzdar while a bullet-ridden dead body was found in district Kharan on Monday.
According to details, the bullet-riddled dead body was found in Zahrozai area of Kharan which was identified as that of Adreshan Ahmad Qambrani son of Dr Ayoub Qambrani.
Meanwhile, Pakistani forces have abducted three people from Ornach area of district Khuzdar Balochistan.
The victims have been named as Abdullah Jan, Obaid and Mullah Khan Mohammad. They’ve been shifted to an undisclosed location and their whereabouts remained unknown at the time of filing this report.
http://balochwarna.com/2019/02/04/balochistan-bullet-ridden-dead-body-found-in-kharan-three-abducted-from-khuzdar/
Bilawal Bhutto holds meeting with Kashmir Council, delegation
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with Kashmir Council on Tuesday to express solidarity with Kashmiri people in Washington DC.
The Kashmir Council delegation comprised Patron-in-Chief Irshad Kiyani, President Zulfiqar, General Secretary Zareef Khan and others.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari assured the delegation that he would continue to raise voice against the brutalities of Indian forces against innocent and unarmed Kashmiri people at every available forum both nationally and internationally. He said that loyalty to the cause of Kashmir was in his blood and he would stand with the people of Indian-Held Kashmir in their just struggle for right to self determination and freedom from illegal and immoral Indian occupation.
Meanwhile, the PPP chairman met Council of National Policy Chairman Bob McEwen on Tuesday to discuss matters of mutual interests. Senator Anny Marri accompanied the party chairman.
Pakistani premier, president back rebels in Indian Kashmir
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Rallies were also held in the Pakistani-controlled sector of the territory while a Pakistani minister declared the struggle of the rebels in Kashmir a jihad, or Muslim holy war, saying it would go on until Kashmir becomes part of Pakistan.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Indian-controlled Kashmir be united either under Pakistani rule or established as an independent country.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi in their statements condemned India for what they said were violations of human rights in the Indian section of Kashmir. They said Pakistan would continue its “diplomatic and moral” support for people living in Kashmir.
“The wish of Kashmiri people for freedom cannot be suppressed,” Alvi told lawmakers in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir. In Islamabad, Ali Amin Gundapur, a minister in charge of Kashmir affairs, told a rally that “one day, Kashmir will become part of Pakistan.”
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor tweeted that decades of “atrocities by Indian occupied forces have failed to suppress ever strengthening freedom struggle” of the Kashmiris.At a rally in Peshawar, protesters burned and stomped on the Indian fag as Pakistani girls in traditional Kashmiri dress chanted anti-Indian slogans.
And at a pro-Kashmir rally in the eastern city of Lahore, Pakistani radical cleric Hafiz Saeed, suspected in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people and also wanted by the U.S., urged followers to stand up against India’s crackdown on “unarmed civilians in Kashmir.”
There was no immediate comment from New Delhi on the statements from Islamabad.
On Sunday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a day-long visit to the Indian section of Kashmir as separatists there called for a shutdown — shops and businesses closed while thousands of armed government forces and commandos spread out and closed off roads with razor wire and iron barricades to prevent protests and rebel attacks during Modi’s visit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistani-premier-president-back-rebels-in-indian-kashmir/2019/02/05/854356f8-2915-11e9-906e-9d55b6451eb4_story.html?utm_term=.46a6e85d2325
Will Imran Khan’s government recognise Israel? - Husain Haqqani
A tweet by Fishel Benkhald, a Pakistani Jew, announcing that the country’s ministry of foreign affairs had allowed him to visit Israel on his Pakistani passport, resulted in a fresh round of speculation about Israel-Pakistan ties. But as with earlier rounds of similar rumours, the Pakistani Foreign Office denied that Pakistan was on the verge of changing its policy towards the Jewish state.
Pakistani passports explicitly say that they are not valid for travel to Israel – an avowal of non-recognition and unwillingness to engage that has remained consistent for over 70 years.
Periodic rumours of secret engagement notwithstanding, it is unlikely that the world’s first Sunni Islamic republic will abandon its traditional hostility towards the Jewish State any time soon. Only a change in the collective position of the Arab-Islamic world, possibly with the emergence of a sovereign Palestinian state, might make it possible for Pakistani leaders to normalise relations with Israel.
At the same time, without a demonstrable change in Islamabad’s position on Jihadi terrorism, Israel also might not want to risk its deepening partnership with India. If various terrorist groups promising to ‘punish Israel’ or ‘kill the Jews’ –like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) – operate freely in Pakistan, it would be difficult for Israel to trust promises of friendly engagement.
The desire for a covert relationship with Israel has been periodically voiced by some Pakistanis, notably those concerned about Pakistan’s global position in relation to India. Ironically, it stems from anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish influence over global affairs rather than a genuine recognition of the right of Jews to a national homeland in historic Palestine.
Musharraf’s ‘justified’ outreach
As a military dictator in 2003, General Pervez Musharraf spoke about the need for an open debate in Pakistan about the merits of recognising Israel. Amid worries about India’s “military, economic and intelligence ties” with Tel Aviv, Musharraf wondered aloud, “What is our dispute with Israel?”
Two years later, Musharraf’s foreign minister met his Israeli counterpart in Istanbul. With characteristic bravado, Musharraf claimed that his initiative “enjoyed widespread support.” According to him, “When we are talking to the Israelis and the Israeli foreign minister, or I address the Jewish congress, I am very clear that this is the strategic direction that Pakistan needs to take.”
Some secret contacts between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Israel’s intelligence services followed but the initiative withered soon, and so did Musharraf’s control over power.
To his military colleagues, Musharraf had justified his outreach to Israel as an attempt to prevent Israeli-Indian collusion against Pakistan.
As president and chief of army staff, Musharraf felt he could take risks in external affairs. Even Pakistan’s raucous media and anger-prone religious parties could not accuse an army chief of acting against the country’s ideology or national interest.
Musharraf’s civilian successors could not take such risks. They left the Israel account to the ISI and the military, fearful that any attempt on their part to build upon Musharraf’s initiative would be exploited by the country’s establishment with help from the fanatical crowd.
Imran Khan and the supposed thaw
The selection of Imran Khan as prime minister has reportedly ended the civil-military divide, and the military’s concerns are once again centre-stage. Khan also has the reassurance that the military and intelligence services will take care of any domestic constituency he annoys while trying to end Pakistan’s international isolation.
Soon after Khan took office in 2018, the rumours of a Pakistan-Israel thaw resurfaced. Jack Rosen, an American Jewish personality who had previously hosted Musharraf, broke years of silence on Pakistani affairs by writing an article praising Imran Khan and arguing why Pakistan deserved US support.
Rosen’s critics immediately listed the numerous anti-Semitic and pro-Jihad statements by Khan and other officials of his party Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and wondered aloud why Rosen was lobbying for the new Pakistani prime minister.
In the subsequent back and forth, Khan’s previous marriage to Jemima Goldsmith was cited as evidence of his tolerance of Jews. Ironically, Jemima has always insisted that she is a Catholic even though her father Sir James Goldsmith was Jewish by birth. Jemima has herself faced allegations of anti-Semitism, which she strongly denies.
In October last year, the editor of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz’s English edition, Ami Scharf, fuelled gossip when he tweeted about a private jet possibly carrying Israeli officials to Islamabad from Tel Aviv. That claim was based on following the plane on one of the several flight path tracking sites and was strongly denied by the Pakistan government as well as Pakistan’s aviation regulators.
Soon after, retired military officers close to Musharraf revived the arguments on Pakistani television channels in favour of recognising Israel as a means of depriving India of exclusive Israeli friendship. A PTI legislator advanced the case in a speech in parliament. But the government officially denied the likelihood of normalisation of ties with Israel vehemently.
Haaretz described “the outraged reaction to the very idea that an Israeli jet could enter Pakistani airspace” as “a prominent indicator” of Pakistan’s hostility towards the Jewish state. It noted that “the government of Pakistan not only categorically dismissed the very idea that an Israeli jet could land in Islamabad (“No Israeli plane can land in Pakistan”), it has claimed that the report itself is a part of the old-new “Zionist-Hindu conspiracy” against Pakistan.
Roots of Pakistan’s antipathy
The belief about Pakistan being the target of conspiracies by enemies of Islam has over the years become an integral part of Pakistan’s national DNA. Tactical suggestions of normalising relations with Israel to drive a wedge between Tel Aviv and Delhi cannot overcome the view that Pakistan is a citadel of Islam and that several non-Muslim powers (Israel and India foremost among them) seek its destruction.
Antipathy towards Israel goes all the way to Pakistan’s founding. In March 1947, Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah told one of the first American diplomats to meet him that “most Indian Muslims felt Americans were against them.” Jinnah cited two reasons for this view: first, he said, “because most Americans seemed opposed to Pakistan,” and second, because the “US government and people backed Jews against Arabs in Palestine.”
Margaret Bourke-White, who covered Pakistan’s birth as a correspondent for Life magazine, observed that soon after independence, “Pakistan was occupied with her own grave internal problems, but she still found time to talk fervently, though vaguely, of sending a liberation army to Palestine to help the Arabs free the Holy Land from the Jews.” She reported calls by religious leaders “advocating that trained ex-servicemen be dispatched” in the “holy cause” of Palestine.
Bourke-White also noticed in early 1948 that Dawn, then the official government newspaper, condemned the “Jewish state” and “urged a united front of Muslim countries in the military as well as the spiritual sense,” with one editorial asserting, “That way lies the salvation of Islam.’’
That was 1947-48, when Pakistan was new and the ‘ideology of Pakistan’ taught at all levels of schooling had not even covered. Now, with Pakistan’s status as an ideological state fully consolidated, pursuit of pragmatic foreign policy initiatives such as normalisation of relations with Israel (and India) has become less likely.
For the foreseeable future, the powers that be in Pakistan will continue their ‘one step forward, one step back’ approach to Israel. Being the pragmatists that they are, Israelis are also unlikely to risk their relationship with India – a lucrative arms market, tourist destination, and reliable counter-terrorism partner –in pursuit of half-hearted recognition by Pakistan.
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