A few weeks ago, I visited Hamburg’s vast harbors and storage houses. There, I saw the faded signs of an old network of traders from Iran, Afghanistan and Kashmir who came to Hamburg in the 1880s and 1890s bearing carpets and artifacts. I loved that part of Hamburg, and I wished I had had more [...]
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The New York Police Department is doing everything it can to make sure there’s not another 9/11 here and that more innocent New Yorkers are not killed by terrorists,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. “And we have nothing to apologize for in that regard.” – “With CIA help, NYPD built secret effort to monitor mosques, [...]
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I have a more detailed review of Maleeha Lodhi’s edited volume Pakistan: Beyond ‘The Crisis State’ in Dawn’s Books & Authors: All is Well… or is it? I had briefly discussed it in my previous review essay, but this is special care: Pakistan, as a subject of critical analysis, is ill-served when realities are ignored [...]
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One thing that the First World really gets right is good dental care. The more money you have, the better the teeth. Unfortunately, despite the fact that we Americans (at least those with good dental insurance) have some of the pearliest, straightest teeth in the world, we are seldom grateful for this gift. The word [...]
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The saying goes that we all have rituals – and the sayer points, often times metaphorically, to baseball players. The raise, the pinch, the shuffle, the swing, the dust-off, the spit, the spit, the spit. Ritual seems a bad word, suddenly. Habit? Superstitious habit? Let us stick with ritual for a second. I don’t think [...]
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I have a new piece up at The National, Pakistan: why the US must think outside the ‘military’ box: A decade after the events of September 11, we continue to know little and understand even less of Pakistan. This despite the fact that we are entering a golden age of production of knowledge on that [...]
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Click on Page 1 to read the diary from the beginning Page the Fourth—In which one-half of the face of metropolitan evil is presented to Jassasa who makes small talk and a funny discovery AS I WAS led up the narrow staircase and into the presence of the gang leader, I was already working out [...]
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If tear-streaked faces of broken families begged you to stop killing their sons, would you reflect and see your wrongs, or would you still load your guns? For every girl who lost a father, every wife now a widow, I hope you see that you have spilled, the blood splattered on my window * I [...]
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I recently visited Hamburg and decided, on a lark, to only photograph street typography. The results are here. Enjoy. Some of the photos document the Iranian traders of carpets who came to Hamburg in the 1870s and 80s. There is also one photo of love, scream.
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Click on Page 1 to read the diary from the beginning Page the Third—In which Jassasa learns the truth about the infamous Dajjal Island and the circumstances of his landing at Keemari Jetty A VAGUE ANXIETY took hold of me as I steered my vessel toward the source of light which was now blinking [...]
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Click on Page 1 to read the diary from the beginning Page the Second—In which is revealed how Jassasa started in search of the designated land aboard a steamer furnished by Providence NO SOONER DID I inform Master about the End of Time thing than he turned upon me with an I knew it! They [...]
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