Crow's Nest...

This news item is very interesting and apparently something that has been floating on the internet circles for a long time without coming into my notice.  I must admit that I am amazed every day with the amount of unique knowledge that comes my way when I open the doors of world wide web.  Sometimes I do wonder that it would be a life worth living as ‘John Henry’, from TSCC but then again human brain is a miracle in itself with 20 billion calculations going on simultaneously in an average brain and a potentially limitless memory.  I would not want to trade off mine for a cord connected ‘John Henry’. Pakistani private sector is shining in the field of arms making and development of low cost alternative solutions to modern warfare.  This should not be something new as Pakistani north is famous for its uniqueness in manufacturing weaponry of every kind from a mere pistol to a rocket launcher.  But things have progressed from the times of the old Afghan war. ...

I have been thinking about some stuff to write on the long march that seems to have started in Pakistan.  Nothing solid or concrete comes to mind.  But I was watching this old program by Hamid Mir and saw a mullah vehemently defend Asif Ali Zardari.  This reminded me of one of my old high school teachers.  He was one of many who introduced our young minds to logical thinking and political role playing.  Of many characteristics that he possessed the hatred for the religious elite was one of the strongest emotions within him.  He would narrate a story almost every week of the evils that these mullahs spur in our society and then make sure that he spent considerable time loathing the corrupt ones amongst them.  I remember one very solid thing that he made us remember.  He would tell us that these bearded fanatics had only three things in mind. One, they liked to nourish their fat and hair so that the ton that they devoured every day in form of meat a...

The past one week has been very unrestful for the people of Pakistan.  We have been turning and tossing either in the comfort of our sofas or on the streets about the developments that have transpired in the past seven days or so.  The developments are huge and the consequences will be huge still.  But should we not see how did this change of heart come into all of a sudden on Zardari's part.  I think the change of heart is not sudden in fact it is more planned and worked out and therefore will last longer than we think.  It will, for the same reason, be difficult for the people's resistance to trounce. As there were clear indications that Nawaz Sharif was feeling threatened by the present courts he decided to continue his struggle with the lawyer's movement.  Had he decided to do otherwise it would have been a political suicide.  He is in a catch 22 of a sort.  Zardari on the other hand is a product of NRO and feels threatened by any other cour...

I read this well researched and thought out article on the often not so authentic TPS today and found it to be very informative.  the writer has been very elaborate. Telecommunication industry is developing very fast in our country.  For a strong and stable telecommunication industry a constant and stable supply of electricity is essential.  In the backdrop of current supply shortages we must look into alternate sources of energy.  Given the extensive tower infrastructure of the telecommunication companies all over Pakistan it is easier and more feasible for them to use solar energy for generating electricity for meeting their local infrastructure needs.  This will help them in two ways.  It will reduce their dependability on more expensive and polluting sources for the same energy and will also reduce the operational costs of the units in the long run. It is also important for the same industry to explore this avenue because they have money to spare an...

I was just going through the pictures of the test match between England and West Indies that ended in a euphoric and very convincing win by West Indies.  It has been a long long time since we have heard of the Caribbean nation making a mark in the field of cricket.  This is a solitary win and may not mean much but to me the pictures of the bowlers jumping in joy were reminiscent of the bygone days of their glory.  Well done WI.

We recently received an email in our inboxes telling us that there is an acute shortage of opiates in the country these days.  The company that was producing these opiates has been shut down because it failed to meet the criteria set by FDA.  The result is that drugs like, Oxycodone, Percocet, Vicodin will no longer be available.  Even when these drugs become available they will be rationed and the supply will be short by many fold. This news is a huge shock to the system.  Our patient population is squarely dependent and at times addicted to opaites and narcotics at every level.  If there are no narcotics available for them to use they are going to complain and all hell is going to break lose.  As soon as people start running out of their supplies they will start calling the hospital and the clinics for answers and in the hope that the doctors will provide them with narcotics, as they had been doing ever so diligently, without fault for so long a time....