Fat. Obese. Who cares? We’re too obsessed by size When neo-puritans imply that slimness equates to virtue, we’re on dangerous ground Ruth Sunderland The Observer, Sunday 1 August 2010 Article history Obese. As a euphemism, it is useless. That big round “o” and that sibilant “s” – just the sound of it makes me think of the fat kid at school who would slyly pinch your arm when no one was looking. Health minister Anne Milton dislikes the O-word too: she set off a row last week by saying doctors should stop using it and instead tell people they are … Continue reading Fat. Obese. Who cares?

Yousaf Raza Gilani’s comments follow cancellation of trip to Britain by Pakistan’s spy chief Saeed Shah guardian.co.uk, Saturday 31 July 2010 21.32 BST Article history Pakistani activists burn an effigy of David Cameron. Photograph: Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty ImagesPakistan‘s prime minister hit back today at remarks by David Cameron linking the country to the export of terrorism. Yousaf Raza Gilani, the normally conciliatory premier, used a speech to make the highest level response from Islamabad so far to Cameron’s comments during his trip to India. Reports suggest that an official from the British high commission in Islamabad, possibly the deputy chief of … Continue reading Pakistan’s prime minister condemns David Cameron’s terror claims

Smokers’ Corner: Radical sheep Nadeem F. Paracha dawn.com Quite like Dr Noam Chomsky, award-wining writer, Arundhati Roy, can be one of the most predictable intellectuals this side of the post-Cold-War left. And also like Chomsky (and Naomi Klein), Roy too is fast becoming the provider of the intellectual fodder that loud, post-9/11 advocates of right-wing claptrap sumptuously feed upon. It is due to this feeding frenzy by the so-called anti-West activists who cleverly use leftist critiques of the West to give ‘intellectual weight’ to their otherwise contemptuous spiels of religious and political hatred. This is gradually rendering people like Chomsky, … Continue reading Arundhati Roy and Noam Chomsky are sheep

Ethnic conflict has led to violence at various times in the country’s history A popular Urdu proverb goes ‘mulla ki dor masjid tak’ meaning some people are only concerned with what affects them directly. Pakistan complies with this proverb when it comes to provincialism. There are different social, cultural and ethnic groups in Pakistan. These ethnic groups aren’t led by a tribal chieftain or an elder. In the 21st century the urbanity of ethnically associated people has evolved. The geriatric level of living has been abandoned. People don’t believe in tribal chieftains leading their ethnic group but a political leader … Continue reading The time for ethnic politics is over

Where sufism stands Pro-Sufism Barelvis dominate Pakistan’s religious landscape Sufism is a complex and cross-cutting belief system in Pakistan. Even Deobandis believe in Sufism. Naqshbandi, the major Sufi cult in Pakistan, is mainly comprised of the Deobandis. It may interesting that Maulana Masood Azhar, head of the major terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad, is also believer of Sufism and has restricted his followers to the practices of the Naqshbandi cult. To further complicate the intermingling of beliefs and practices, the Barelvis, who are considered representatives of Sufism in Pakistan, are not free from pro-militant jihadi tendencies. In the Kashmir insurgent movement during … Continue reading Sufism stands

Music and love mark the 758th urs of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar HYDERABAD: Prayers were shared and love was expressed amid explosions of sound and colour at the 758th urs of Lal Shahbaz Qalander. Saturday marked the first day of the saint’s birth anniversary celebrations. The small town of Sehwan Sharif, located to the north-west of Hyderabad, is jolted awake for these three days in which at least half a million people flock to the shrine from all over Pakistan. Swaying with emotion and dancing to the intoxicating beat of drums, hundreds of devotees perform the dhamaal, a devotional dance performed … Continue reading To the beat of one hundred drums

Garland of Arabia: the forgotten story of TE Lawrence’s brother-in-arms He was a mentor to Lawrence of Arabia, a maverick explosives expert who played a pivotal role in the Arab insurgency against the Ottoman Empire. By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent telegraph.co.uk Herbert Garland was a maverick explosives expert who played a pivotal role in the Arab insurgency against the Ottoman Empire Major Garland was admired by TE Lawrence for his daring and cleverness. But the part that Major Herbert Garland, a British scientist turned soldier, played in the First World War has largely been ignored, airbrushed from history in the … Continue reading Herbert Garland of Arabia

The PM wants Britain to punch above its weight, but fiscal constraints mean hard decisions over outposts like the Falklands Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk, Saturday 31 July 2010 17.00 BST Article history Liam Fox has been told he needs to find £20bn from his own defence budget to keep Trident. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianAre we approaching an “east of Suez” moment in British history? A crisis of international confidence in the nation’s finances back in the late 60s saw Harold Wilson’s Labour government forced to abandon most of the chain of overseas military bases Britain had formerly maintained from … Continue reading Britain’s ‘south of Gibraltar’ moment

Orwell may yet survive Elton John’s high-kicking pig chorus Elton John’s West End musical of Animal Farm could be the biggest thing for the dystopian satire since the CIA Marina Hyde guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 July 2010 22.00 BST Article history There are headlines that force the reader to check the date. And then there is this week’s “Elton John working on Animal Farm musical“, which would seem to elevate the spaghetti harvest to the status of a Walter Cronkite report. Yet rigorous factchecking confirms we are not in early April. Along with Lee Hall, with whom he collaborated so successfully … Continue reading Orwell may yet survive Elton John

Chelsea Clinton’s $3m not quite royal wedding Obama’s not invited, Oprah is, and security’s tight. US holds its breath as First Daughter weds Ed Pilkington in Rhinebeck guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 July 2010 19.15 BST Article history Former US president Bill Clinton walking in downtown Rhinebeck, New York, a day before his daughter Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPAThe entrance to the town of Rhinebeck, a tiny rural idyll about 100 miles north of New York, is marked by a sign reading “Mulch for Sale”. The local paper, the Hudson Valley News, is packed with such reports as an account of … Continue reading Chelsea Clinton’s wedding