International Press Institute World Congress

"...I believe that the best journalists are not those who think they know everything, but those who are wise enough to know what they do not know. Excellence in journalism, it seems to me, does not stem from arrogant judgmentalism but from intellectual humility...Good journalism requires the best we can muster in terms of disciplined learning, intelligent analysis, prudent judgment, and nuanced expression.

Too often those who set the media agenda see it primarily as a business agenda. Too often the measure of media success is simply financial profit. I think this attitude is wrong. It often makes for manipulative media distorting and misleading in a narrow pursuit of readers and ratings. Manipulative journalism is not merely a nuisance here, it can have destructive power..." -His Highness the Aga Khan

Thus media has an extra duty, to move beyond its business agenda and realize its potential as a civil service and a force for change!

Samreen Hooda in Her Own words: On the Youth Leadership Conference in DC Posted

The Council on Pakistan Relations  was a lead sponsor  for USPAK Foundation’s American Youth Conference. The Foundation hosted a youth summit, inviting students and young adults from around the nation to come to Washington in an attempt to revive discussion and understanding on current events between the United States and Pakistan.


Read the rest: USPAK Conference

On Second Thought

On second thought, make that a large,

On second thought, I'll buy both,

On second thought, go ahead and cut it off,

On second thought, I can come tonight.

So many second thoughts, and so many decisions to make. Our second thoughts always battle with our first. Seems like the first instinct is losing ground. Why do we think twice? Our first response is ususally the truth, and the second, our justification of it.

"Hey, come out tonight!" a friend asks.

"No, I have too much to do...but well, if I finish this, and work on that tomorrow between classes, I should be alright. On second thought, I'll come out tonight!"

...on second thought..maybe its better not to have second thoughts...

Whether...

Whether or not I get it right.
Whether or not I pass with might.
Whether or not I share the light,
It will always be there.
It will never leave me bare.
This is the energy, this is the sight,
of the virtue He possesses,
of His magnificent height.

Social Media and Religion: The Role each plays in the establishment of the other

Perhaps those who ridiculed Columbus were right. The world is flat, they said. And today, we tend to agree with them. At least Thomas Friedman does, and he’s not a nobody. I think most people today agree with the idea that the world is flat. Physically it may be as spherical as ever, but socially it is flatter than a 2-liter of soda left open in the refrigerator. With the advent of Facebook, social media became the primary form of communication. It eliminated the boundaries of time and space taking away the distance between peoples, cultures, and countries. And once the box of Pandora is open, there was no turning back. Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogspot, Stumbleupon, Mashable, Wordpress, Flickr, Google+ and so many other avenues of sharing, building contacts, writing, networking, finding new people, marketing, sharing resources and life experiences developed and continue to develop. It seems the moment you join another new social network, 5 more pop up and you are once again left behind the trend. Though the benefits of social media have been outrageous for businesses, families, friends, and even cultural understanding, there are some downfalls particularly when it comes to faith and religion. For one, the pace of social media is completely counterintuitive to the pace of religion. Where social media leaves no time to even breathe, religion requires silence and nothingness. Social media enables us to use every second efficiently, faith requires a stillness that can take hours to maintain. The world of social media is rapidly taking over, and the question of faith is being left behind. Can the two mutually exist? Must we choose one over the other?

Social media is one of those forces that you either love and can’t live without, or can’t stand, don’t understand and don’t care for. This perhaps is due to the generation gap between the typewriter generation and the multimedia generation. The effect of industrialization started fast but has sped up exponentially resulting in a deep divide between those who cannot live without social media and those who abhor and misunderstand it. And then there are those who have a love-hate relationship with social media; fawning over the virtues of communicating across the seas one minute, and then panting in frustration when all of a sudden the field of social media doesn’t work the way it should. In this way it is exactly like religion. You have the truly devoted that see no problem with their faith. They find religion to be the only answer to all the problems of the world, even at the expense of rational thought. As long as these types are told precisely what to do and how to live their lives, it doesn’t seem to matter if it’s rational or not. As if the God who created us, gave us a mind that we are not allowed to utilize.

On the other side of the spectrum there are those who critically undermine every element of faith as if their reason is perfect and nothing can exist if they cannot comprehend it. The world, to them, is only that which they can grasp with their rational thought, though time and history have proven over and over again that human reason is fallible and ideas once accepted as absolute truth have proved to be absolute false. Then there are those who love faith when it is convenient, but when it comes to conviction of practice they resent religion as old-fashioned. In this way both the realms of religion and social media provide connection with something outside of ourselves, yet a need to believe in the power it offers. Though similar in service to the human race, social media and faith cannot be likened as two peas in one pod. There is a critical difference in how each attempts to shape the human experience. One is about the depth of purpose and realization of a reality beyond the world, and the other is obsessed solely with the world, its forces and implications of societal interaction. One is about the reality beneath the appearance, the other about the appearance over all substance. 

As our world begins to depend more and more on the force of social media, will we be replete in living solely on the illusion of appearance? 

Could China be Pakistan's new sugar daddy?

"While Pakistan's ties with China have grown stronger, its relationship with the U.S. has been weakened by deep mutual distrust." So can China be Pakistan's new financial backer? Will the U.S. be replaced? Not anytime soon, some say: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/01/world/la-fg-pakistan-china-20111001

Steve Jobs

It seems everything I could say about the passing away of this great man, has already been said. Yet, I couldn't just leave it at that. I couldn't shake the feeling that I too should contribute to the man's legacy and write even a short, cliched message in his memory.


But then it hit me. My message for the man could not be a restatement of what others have said. Jobs would never accept mediocrity or repetition. His message had to be innovative and sleek, forceful, yet compact. His message had to be his life. The antithetical start to success by dropping out of school. The creative force of realizing the future before it was created. The simplicity of life that accompanied such huge success. The message of his life was to live. To live fully, to live simply, to never compromise on one's values. This was the way Jobs lived and this is the legacy that he inspires. 


Why is it that Apple has become a trend, a necessity rather than a mere appliance? Because Jobs showed us how we could love the value of innovation, of genius, of human potential. How having a macbook, an ipad, an iphone, or an ipod could allow each of us to tap into the human genius present in us all. It's quite simple. It's the human exceptionality; its the creative spirit of the human experience; it's the sheer reality of being. Jobs tapped into that, and in so doing, he gave us all permission to do the same. 


It's as Marianne Williamson so eloquently put it: 


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are younot to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."


This is what Steve Jobs did, liberating us from the trap of failure. Letting us fully believe in ourselves and the untapped human potential. And shining his light on the world. 

Carpe Annum Israel. Seize the Day!


On Tuesday September 27, the Israeli government announced it would be building 1,100 new settlelement units in occupied East Jerusalem. The fact that the announcement came as the world powers are scrambling to save the peace process in the UN suggests that Israel may not be serious about its desire to abide by the promise of a Two-State Solution. Meanwhile, there has been growing protests across Israel as the country’s citizens are increasingly voicing their frustration with a government that no longer listens to their needs. As tensions continue to mount both domestically and abroad, Israel faces rebuke from most of the world powers, with the sole exception of its blindfolded ally, the United States.


Read the rest here.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations: A Hyphenated Perspective

It was the morning after the big announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death. I was sitting at work when my Google Chat icon pinged and a coworker said, “I’m sorry.” “For what?” I asked, unaware of a comment he had typed a few minutes earlier. With quick hesitation he filled me in. “I was just saying that they should bomb everyone in Pakistan for hiding bin Laden, but it was just a joke. I didn’t mean sane people like you, just the crazies.”

Read the Rest of my story here:

U.S.-Pakistan Relations: A Hyphenated Perspective

Do we need incentives to do our jobs?

At work we've got certain incentives that we receive in favor of doing a good job. This is presented to you in front of everyone as motivation to work harder and push yourself farther. I never thought much about it before, nor did the incentive ever really add to my level of motivation. But today, as discussion of work incentives seemed to float about, I had a philosophical awakening. According to Aristotelian telos, one's life task is to be the best at their lives. A tree is to be the best tree it can be. Same with fish, or pets, or even air particles. It is the task of the living being to entertain its full force and put ahead its most expert work into the universe.

This may be too abstract to be implemented into the workforce and motivate employees to put their all into their work, but have we become a culture that needs gratification or praise for the tasks we do correctly? Why can't we just do the right thing because its the right thing to do? Is this need for praise for good work the reason we have what many might call a moral void in the universe?

Teleology is the end cause or purpose of human experience. Aristotelian teleology focuses on a final cause behind our life. At the expense of sounding too pessimistic about human nature, if our final cause or purpose of action has become a need to seek praise or fanfare, to be recognized and spotlighted, maybe we need to reevaluate American work ethic.

Save the Bees

“For bees, the flower is the fountain of life; For flowers, the bee is the messenger of love.” -Khalil Gibran

We've heard the dilemma of the bees that are slowly creeping away from our planet. Whether its the radiation from cell phones, the nature deficit disorder, or the mysterious case of global warming causing this fiasco, the result is the bees are leaving for good.

But each of us know that something is very wrong in the world without bees. Bees pollinate 1/3 of all our food, meaning if we didn't have bees, 30 percent of what we eat would no longer be available. Without bees, many flowers would not be able to pollinate, meaning they to would go out of existence. In this TED Talk, Dennis VanEngelsdorp makes a case for the vanishing bees and what we can do to help: A Plea for bees

Jon Stewart vs. Bill O'Reilly

Do you think rapper Common should have been invited to the White House? See who you think wins the debate below:

Jon Stewart Debates Bill O'Reilly About Common On 'The O'Reilly Factor' : Monkey See : NPR

www.npr.org

President Obama confirms the Death of Osama

President Obama confirmed that Osama bin Laden was killed deep in Pakistan, on the outskirts of Islamabad at Abbottabad. The operation began months ago when the President was made aware of a leak in early August that hinted at the location of bin Laden. A military campaign was begun and a week ago the plan was taken to the ground. Tonight the plan was carried to fruition.

Not only has the President confirmed that a small team of American military personnel killed bin Laden in a firefight, but also took custody of his body. He said, "Today at my direction, the United states launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbadabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed."

One question that automatically came to mind: Was Pakistan harboring bin Laden or aiding the United States in the quest to find him? The President clearly praised the Pakistani civilian government saying that the Pakistani government cooperated alongside the United States in carrying out the plan, however, the details of their partnership are still murky.

The President ended his dramatic prose by reciting the pledge of allegiance, telling the American people, "justice has been done."

Osama bin Laden is dead.

Osama bin laden was killed by a "targeted assault" supposedly by U.S. military Sunday night. He was found in a mansion outside Islamabad, Pakistan. More details to come.

Remember.

We seem to remember tears longer than we remember smiles.
We seem to remember a heartache for years, but laugh out loud for merely a second.
We seem to let our fears inhibit our courage, and let our weaknesses defeat our power.

But sometimes we learn to rise up beyond the pain, to smile through the sadness, and to fight through the storm. It is during these times that we tap into the strength that resides within to serve the world that seems without.

And it is these times that we remember most of all.

Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson Controversy from a TRULY unbiased perspective. This is what Journalism should be, reserving judgement until truth comes to light as it always does:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/opinion/21kristof.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=nickolas+kristof+greg+mortenson&st=cse

On Faith

Faith is not when you believe something in the deep, private recesses of your heart; rather, it is when the belief is so strong that it proudly pours forth to the world and becomes your reality.

Epiphanous Silence

Today's epiphany left me in silence. Sometimes its easy to ignore the yet-to-do's and the have-to-completes. It's especially easy to do so when we feel stuck, as if there is no way to get out of the very real life circumstances. However hard we try though, the seeker will find those who are hidden. He will force us to the surface and make us examine ourselves. We may not like it, but that's his job. He lives to seek. I, on the other hand, mostly seek to hide...