IRSHAD SALIM: There appears to be a three-an-a-half star like situation. The Starry Night by Van Gogh, Dance Like an Egyptian song of Bangle Sisters, and lately the hilarious Patriot Act sitcoms of Hasan Minhaj are emojis I stare at when I ask myself How’s it Going.
Countries have never been tongue-and-grooved so well or so badly (consensually or inevitably) even on the buzzword “terrorism” — it failed to make fear and sacrifice buy and or sell on the global stock markets. Coronavirus seems to be doing it.
Consequentially, we have martial law in all homes — and without Putin’s stony-faced appearance on the global village billboard (social media) or Xi’s. Across the Atlantic, Trump pulled the best that he could do with whatever he had (read my lips).
“With elections looming, Trump is desperate, says Energy analyst Rashid Husain Syed while commenting on a report that the President told Saudis to cut oil supply or lose US military support. “He is using every trick in his bag. Yet, the gap is considerable. And the gap between demand and supply cannot be plugged overnight. The end result – the US energy industry will not be out of (the) woods anytime soon. Trump’s campaign may have to bear (the) consequences”.
It’s all about oil stupid, I always told, and over the years it graduated out of “conspiracy theory” lexicon to sort of becoming “not really, it’s a national security” currency. Lately, buy-one-get-one-free theories flood the world: 5G for IoT, Bio war, depopulation, global government thru biochip vaccine, etc.
The big one The Onion could have should have picked and published as its Editor’s Choice is this: “It’s a Jewish conspiracy for greater Israel and global supremacy to replace USA as Trump and Xi teams battle a hybrid war for numero uno slot”.
Meanwhile, over 150,000 Indians in the UAE have registered themselves with the Indian Consulate in Dubai to return to their home country once COVID-19 flight restrictions are lifted, tweets award winning investigative journalist Mazhar Farooqi at @gulf_news Dubai. “Kerala said nearly 400,000 Malayalis worldwide have applied to return home”, he adds.
In Islamabad, where desi bees and birds are my Harvey the Rabbit too, I could not help but pen this while evoking social distancing — mind, body and soul:
We’re all marshmallows now in whipped cream. Can we beat that? My Grandma (Dadi Amma) is silent.
The writer is Editor/Publisher of DesPardes.com and a business consultant, analyst living in Islamabad.
