If You Think You Understand Life in Pakistan, But Have Never Been There

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Pakistan has been in the World News a bit lately and it is unfortunate what we've seen. The Taliban is on the run and some of them are heading to other nations like Somalia. The Swat Valley is being dismantled by the Pakistani Military, but some of this is for show and the Taliban has folks on all sides of the game, and there are brothers fighting against each other today for control. There is a lot more to it than you know.

So, if you think you understand how daily life is in rural Pakistan or in the more remote regions, but have never in your life been there, then boy do I have a great book recommendation for you. I noted this author's interview on C-SPAN and then went to the bookstore the next day, and took a look see for a few hours in the coffee shop there, I couldn't put it down, so, I purchased a copy for myself. After reading through it, I must say this author is a good read, so let me recommend it to you:

"To Live or To Perish Forever; Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan," by Nicholas Schmidle; Henry Holt and Company Publishing, USA; (2009); ISBN-13: 978-0805089387

The author met many in the Taliban, went to secret camps. He writes with a bit of objectivity, yet, presents suspended unattached commentary about the complexity of their society. This is indeed an awesome piece of journalism in my opinion and Nicholas Schmidle is cool "journal" like read, he's a very good story teller, as the CSPAN interviewer noted and after reading the book I could not agree more with his assessment.

There are some very scary situations and stories in the book, and some very interesting parties and celebrations. Most fascinating is how he describes the presence of poetry and philosophy in the 250 pages very cool book. I bet you'd like to read it too. Please consider this.

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio. Lance Winslow is also Founder of the Car Wash Guys, a cool little Franchise Company; http://www.carwashguys.com/history/founder.html.

How to Understand Antigone

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One:

As human beings we all tend to hold on to and cherish memories of loved ones, sometimes so much that is seems to outweigh the importance of ones own life, just as Antigone did. The word "Cherishing" (L 986) is significant in one of the speeches done by Antigone in regards to the death of her brother. Antigone cherished the wishes of the God's and her family, by burring her brother, she cherished the idea of seeing her family together again in the afterlife, as well as cherishing closely the relationship she had with her brother.

Two:

To cherish, to adore, to protect, to hold something so dear that it becomes a part of ones own self. Antigone had just lost both of her brothers, her parents were dead, and her sister is to afraid to stand up to the king, their uncle. Her brother deserved the respect of having a proper burial so he could continue his life in the underworld, and be reunited with the rest of his family. There was no way, anyone, even the new king of Athens was going to tell her otherwise. Antigone "cherished" (L 986) much more the wished of the Gods than the new tiresome law put down by the king. If this was a man in which she didn't know, it would be a simple task to abide by the wishes of the king, but it wasn't, it was her own brother. If "A husband dead, there might have been another. A child by another too."( L 1002-1003) however no one could ever replace her own flesh and blood, her brother, and this is why she felt so strongly to honor him.

Three:

Her committed, cherished, and preserved memories of her family and beliefs of an honored burial may have cost Antigone her life but in the end kept her true to who she was. Everyone is afraid to die, therefore dying for someone or something higher than oneself seems like the most selfless and dignified ways to go.

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