Loud Thinking

Archive for March, 2014

Secrets of LUCK..!

By Professor Richard Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire

Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve?

A psychologist says he has discovered the answer.

Ten years ago, I set out to examine luck.

I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune. I placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me.

Hundreds of extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research and over the years, I have interviewed them, monitored their lives and had them take part in experiments.

The results reveal that although these people have almost no insight into the causes of their luck, their thoughts and behavior are responsible for much of their good and bad fortune. Take the case of seemingly chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not.

I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities.

I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying: “Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $50.”

This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected.

As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties’ intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends.

They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and miss other types of jobs.

Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. My research eventually revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Towards the end of the work, I wondered whether these principles could be used to create good luck. I asked a group of volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person.

Dramatic results! These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck. One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80% of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier.

The lucky people had become even luckier and the unlucky had become lucky.

Finally, I had found the elusive “luck factor”.

Here are Professor Wise man’s four top tips for becoming lucky:

1) Listen to your gut instincts – they are normally right

2) Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine

3) Spend a few moments each
day remembering things that went well

4) Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.

Have a Lucky day and work for it.

The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect.

Integrity is to act according to moral and ethical principles.

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

Aristotle (384-322);
philosopher

“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

The ordinary person strokes their ego. The exceptional person polishes their craft.

How the Kangaroos were conquered by the Eagles..!

First of all, the whole nation thanks the Pakistani cricket team, for giving immeasurable joy and happiness to the entire nation, on the very auspicious occasion of the Pakistan Day, falling on the 23rd March.

The positive attitude and the aggressive mind set of our cricket team, was visible from the very word go. Our players displayed the INTENSITY of a wounded tiger, which was clearly missing against the Indians, thus Pakistani team was looking a totally different unit, from the Friday’s match.

Let us now dwell, on where we improved over the 1st match and where still we could have done a better job.

1. The score we got in 20 overs vs India, was achieved in 14 overs vs Australia. Our run rate (RR) on completion of 10 overs (83 runs) was reasonably good at 8.30 runs /over. In the next 10 overs, we scored another 108 runs, at a RR of 10.8 runs/over. We scored 191/5, at a healthy RR/ over of 9.55.

2. Pakistan played only 34 DOT balls (22 or 3.4 overs in 1st 10 overs and ONLY 12 or 2 overs in 2nd portion of 10 overs). Remember, we played 51 DOT balls against India.

3. Pakistan ONLY gave 5 no ball runs, that too on a single no ball, bowled in the whole Australian innings. Whereas, Australian bowlers also bowled 1 no ball, but gave 9 runs on wide account, by bowling 3 wide balls. This also reflects remarkable bowling discipline displayed by the Pakistani bowlers, as compared with the Australian bowlers.

4. Here, we must give full marks to the captaincy of Mr. M. Hafeez, for keeping his cool and focusing on the victory, in this high voltage match, when Australia blasted off to 102/2 in just 8 overs, during which the last 5 over, went for 82 runs. The way Hafeez marshalled his bowlers and fielders, immediately paid dividends in the next 10 overs, which resulted in 8 wickets for 58 runs.

5. We must salute the captaincy of Muhammad Hafeez, who in my opinion deserves 99 marks out of 100, for his crisis management abilities.

Just let me repeat, that we got to overcome our following short comings, if the remaining 3 matches journey to the final match, has to be without any hiccups.

a). Again our score in the 6 power play overs, was just 34 runs, when ONLY TWO fielders are allowed out side the 30 meters circle. We may ask Shahid Afridi to open the innings, with license to play freely, as per his temperament. However, we must aim for a score of 60-80 runs in the power play period. Not forgetting that Australia scored 82 runs against us last night, in 30 balls during overs numbers 4 to 8, even when they had lost both of their openers, in the first six balls; and their score was just 8/2, in the 1st over. Actually, we don’t have to look back whatever happens. Just focus on our aim of 60-80 runs in the power play overs.

b). Again we played a very high number of 22 dot balls in the 1st 10 overs. As we did in the 2nd half of the innings, where we played 12 dot balls, our aim should be (as we are aiming to be the world T20 champions) that not more than 8-10 dot balls are played in the 1st half, where there is a luxury of 6 overs of power play, as well. Our players ought to shun any negativity coming into the mind, due to the falling of early wickets, as was displayed by the Australian number 3 and 4 batsmen.

c). Mr. Hafeez, must realise that there is no room for complacency, because our position in the group is extremely precarious; as Australia, can easily bounce back, with better run rate, to oust us, from the race of the semi finals.

d). The joke must now end, of playing Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal. Believe me, whatever, they are contributing to the team, Younis Khan, Fawad Alam and Misbah ul Haq can do much better. These players (Shoaib and Kamran) are not the T20 material (obviously nothing personal against them or any other player, management committee members or any PCB person). And now, the next matches against the West Indies and Bangladesh, are going to be very crucial for us, because if we have to remain in the contention for the semi finals, we have to win these games with not a big margin, but with a HUGE margin.

e). As our team showed during the match against Australia, our players must remember that OFFENCE IS THE BEST DEFENCE. All our game scheming and strategy planning, must be based on just one premise, not just to win, but to win with a HUGE margin.

Wishing and praying for all the best for our cricket team in the days ahead.

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore.

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

Mon Mar 24 (20 ovs)

09:30 GMT | 15:30 local
14:30 PKT 18th Match, Group 1 – New Zealand v South Africa
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong 22 – 30° C
Mon Mar 24 (20 ovs)
13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 19th Match, Group 1 – Netherlands v Sri Lanka
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong 22 – 30° C

Tue Mar 25 (20 ovs)

13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 20th Match, Group 2 – Bangladesh v West Indies
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur 24 – 35° C

Thu Mar 27 (20 ovs)

09:30 GMT | 15:30 local
14:30 PKT 21st Match, Group 1 – Netherlands v South Africa
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong 23 – 32° C
Thu Mar 27 (20 ovs)
13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 22nd Match, Group 1 – England v Sri Lanka
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong 23 – 32° C

Fri Mar 28 (20 ovs)

09:30 GMT | 15:30 local
14:30 PKT 23rd Match, Group 2 – Australia v West Indies
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur 24 – 38° C
Fri Mar 28 (20 ovs)
13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 24th Match, Group 2 – Bangladesh v India
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur 24 – 38° C

Sat Mar 29 (20 ovs)

09:30 GMT | 15:30 local
14:30 PKT 25th Match, Group 1 – Netherlands v New Zealand
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong 23 – 32° C
Sat Mar 29 (20 ovs)
13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 26th Match, Group 1 – England v South Africa
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong 23 – 32° C

Sun Mar 30 (20 ovs)

09:30 GMT | 15:30 local
14:30 PKT 27th Match, Group 2 – Bangladesh v Pakistan
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
N/A
Sun Mar 30 (20 ovs)
13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 28th Match, Group 2 – Australia v India
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
N/A

Mon Mar 31 (20 ovs)

09:30 GMT | 15:30 local
14:30 PKT 29th Match, Group 1 – England v Netherlands
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
N/A
Mon Mar 31 (20 ovs)
13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 30th Match, Group 1 – New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
N/A

Tue Apr 1 (20 ovs)

09:30 GMT | 15:30 local
14:30 PKT 31st Match, Group 2 – Bangladesh v Australia
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
N/A
Tue Apr 1 (20 ovs)

13:30 GMT | 19:30 local
18:30 PKT 32nd Match, Group 2 – Pakistan v West Indies
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
N/A

Thu Apr 3 (20 ovs)

13:00 GMT | 19:00 local
18:00 PKT 1st Semi-Final – TBC v TBC (1st Group 1 v 2nd Group 2)
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
N/A

Fri Apr 4 (20 ovs)

13:00 GMT | 19:00 local
18:00 PKT 2nd Semi-Final – TBC v TBC (1st Group 2 v 2nd Group 1)
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
N/A

Sun Apr 6 (20 ovs)

13:00 GMT | 19:00 local
18:00 PKT Final – TBC v TBC (Reserve Day 7th April)
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
N/A

Australia’s first 10 overs: 117/2

Australia’s last 10 overs: 58/8

#PAKvAUS

HAY JURM E ZAEEFI KI SAZA MARG E MAFAJAT

Wake up pakistan..!

A really eye opening article published by the daily “Pakistan Observer”.

A must read..!

Ukraine’s message to Pakistan
Syed M Tariq Pirzada

Monday, March 24, 2014 – Following the end of the Soviet Union, the then nuclear-armed new black sea state of Ukraine- the third largest nuclear weapon state until May 1992- abandoned it’s massive nuclear arsenal amid US, British and Russian security guarantees that the territorial integrity, and sovereignty of the largest Euro-state will not be violated.

Well that was then, and this is now that Crimea has gone to Russia. The poor Ukrainians, as they gave up their nuclear deterrent, didn’t realize that a hollow foreign security guarantee, minus an indigenous military muscle, could only ensure a recipe for sheer aggression. The theory has materialized. Today, when the Crimean secession from Ukraine is no longer a mystery, it’s principal security guarantor, the super power USA and the West are noticeably absent from the zone of their commitment to the territorial defence of kiev. The US, and it’s allies have ruled out any military resolution of the conflict with Moscow.

Thus, comfortably trampling their own security guarantees, the US and its partners are telling the disarmed Ukraine that(1) the diplomatic solution is the only way forward over Crimea, (2) if diplomacy fails, a punishing sanctions-regime shall be imposed on the aggressor Moscow, and (3)in the mean time, the US-led moral support for Ukraine shall continue to reclaim Crimea. The news is that the US led reaction has found some 32 culprits though Ukraine has been promised more sanctions. How nations fall in their post independence period is exemplified by Ukraine’s leadership blunders. It’s leaders, as mentioned earlier, jettisoned their ultimate defence—their nuclear arsenal- under US-Russian guarantees.

They failed to rebuild their conventional forces. Their corruption did not let them manage the economy that remains in shambles. They could not understand the strategic sensitivities of relations with Moscow. They kept overlooking the fact that, despite becoming independent, and disliking the Russians, their fate was intertwined with Russia in almost every conceivable area from the bonds of common history, geography, culture, people, politics, trade, commerce, exports, and the energy supply from Moscow- their lifeline- to the presence of Russia’s strategic black sea fleet base in Crimea, and the list goes on.

Despite these evident realities, the men in Ukraine could not figure out that their desire for strategic integration with the West, and NATO coupled with a deliberate show of overt disdain for Russia could cost them, as it actually has, not only their sovereignty, but also their territorial integrity— which means the secession, in this case, of the Russian majority Crimea from Ukraine.

In fact, the other Russian speaking parts of Ukraine could very well follow the same route of secession for their ethnic linkage with Moscow. A small, defenseless state, Living in a supper power neighborhood, and challenging its might, and strategic interests, cannot get away with the arrogance as demonstrated by Ukraine’s interim leadership, particularly, in over throwing it’s elected pro-Moscow president, Mr Yanukovich, inadditionto the euphoric Anti-Moscow street celebrations, and governmental vows to be quickly associated with the EU, and the NATO—the main theme of anti Yanukovich campaign. The Ukrainian leadership is out of touch with the bitter reality even now when UKraine has fallen apart. While sitting next to US president, and later addressing the UNSC, Mr. Yatsenyuk, the interim prime minister of Ukraine vowed never to surrender to Moscow at a time when the preferred strategy, under similar circumstances, should have been one of deeply, and swiftly engaging Russia.

Ukraine’s blind reliance on the West and it’s mindless confrontation with Russia bear enough testimony to how the leadership failure ends up leading a beleaguered state to the very point of committing a strategic suicide. Ukraine befell its present predicament, not only for it’s political misjudgment, but also for the well orchestrated media- backed US-led incitement of anti-Yanukovich, anti-Russia hate-movement in Ukraine. The Western propaganda, that Ukraine belongs to the West, demonized the image of Russia as an obstacle, and sought the ouster of MR Yanukovich, with the direction that Ukraine has to be liberated from “evil Russia” like Lithuania, and the other ex-Russian republics It could have served as a great strategy if Ukraine had the requisite nuclear ,and conventional deterrent, strong economic punch, and the Western military assistance of which It has none. The 1994 Budapest security guarantees are a sitting duck.

Ukraine, decapitated via it’s denuclearization by the US and Russia, which is not even being alluded to in the current crises, is simply meandering in the US-Euro rhetoric . The Western calculation that Moscow would not so forcefully react against the US- led Ukrainian revolt miserably failed. Today, Crimea’s secession from Ukraines’s geography through a Moscow backed referendum, has, without a single bullet being fired in this process, exposed the hypocrisy, and the hollowness of the US-British guarantees to Kiev. Brother Ukraine, says the US, there is no military option on the table.

Lessons: At present, the militarily abandoned Ukraine can only complain before the comity of nations as it has, neither thise 1900 nuclear weapons it traded in 1994 for the empty guarantees given by the US , UK, and Russia, nor the conventional power it once had- 780,000 standing forces curtailed to under 100 thousand after independence in 1991. Today, the March 16 referendum based outcome—Crimea’s decision for secession— seals the dismemberment of Ukraine.

Thus, the lesson for Pakistan, and the Pakistani Arms forces is abundantly clear. The word betrayal defines US foreign policy, and who knows it better that the people of Ukraine, and the bleeding Syria. There is no second chance. No security guarantee equals the guarantee of nuclear deterrence which the US has been seeking to put an end to ever since Islamabad became a nuclear power.

The need is greater than ever to double the quantum and lethality of the Pak- nuclear warheads, as well as increasing the range and accuracy of their delivery systems. Pakistan cannot afford any betrayal. The United States cannot be trusted – a message from Kiev to Islamabad.

—The writer is New York-based columnist.

Wake up pakistan..!

A really eye opening article published by the daily “Pakistan Observer”.

A must read..!

Ukraine’s message to Pakistan
Syed M Tariq Pirzada

Monday, March 24, 2014 – Following the end of the Soviet Union, the then nuclear-armed new black sea state of Ukraine- the third largest nuclear weapon state until May 1992- abandoned it’s massive nuclear arsenal amid US, British and Russian security guarantees that the territorial integrity, and sovereignty of the largest Euro-state will not be violated.

Well that was then, and this is now that Crimea has gone to Russia. The poor Ukrainians, as they gave up their nuclear deterrent, didn’t realize that a hollow foreign security guarantee, minus an indigenous military muscle, could only ensure a recipe for sheer aggression. The theory has materialized. Today, when the Crimean secession from Ukraine is no longer a mystery, it’s principal security guarantor, the super power USA and the West are noticeably absent from the zone of their commitment to the territorial defence of kiev. The US, and it’s allies have ruled out any military resolution of the conflict with Moscow.

Thus, comfortably trampling their own security guarantees, the US and its partners are telling the disarmed Ukraine that(1) the diplomatic solution is the only way forward over Crimea, (2) if diplomacy fails, a punishing sanctions-regime shall be imposed on the aggressor Moscow, and (3)in the mean time, the US-led moral support for Ukraine shall continue to reclaim Crimea. The news is that the US led reaction has found some 32 culprits though Ukraine has been promised more sanctions. How nations fall in their post independence period is exemplified by Ukraine’s leadership blunders. It’s leaders, as mentioned earlier, jettisoned their ultimate defence—their nuclear arsenal- under US-Russian guarantees.

They failed to rebuild their conventional forces. Their corruption did not let them manage the economy that remains in shambles. They could not understand the strategic sensitivities of relations with Moscow. They kept overlooking the fact that, despite becoming independent, and disliking the Russians, their fate was intertwined with Russia in almost every conceivable area from the bonds of common history, geography, culture, people, politics, trade, commerce, exports, and the energy supply from Moscow- their lifeline- to the presence of Russia’s strategic black sea fleet base in Crimea, and the list goes on.

Despite these evident realities, the men in Ukraine could not figure out that their desire for strategic integration with the West, and NATO coupled with a deliberate show of overt disdain for Russia could cost them, as it actually has, not only their sovereignty, but also their territorial integrity— which means the secession, in this case, of the Russian majority Crimea from Ukraine.

In fact, the other Russian speaking parts of Ukraine could very well follow the same route of secession for their ethnic linkage with Moscow. A small, defenseless state, Living in a supper power neighborhood, and challenging its might, and strategic interests, cannot get away with the arrogance as demonstrated by Ukraine’s interim leadership, particularly, in over throwing it’s elected pro-Moscow president, Mr Yanukovich, inadditionto the euphoric Anti-Moscow street celebrations, and governmental vows to be quickly associated with the EU, and the NATO—the main theme of anti Yanukovich campaign. The Ukrainian leadership is out of touch with the bitter reality even now when UKraine has fallen apart. While sitting next to US president, and later addressing the UNSC, Mr. Yatsenyuk, the interim prime minister of Ukraine vowed never to surrender to Moscow at a time when the preferred strategy, under similar circumstances, should have been one of deeply, and swiftly engaging Russia.

Ukraine’s blind reliance on the West and it’s mindless confrontation with Russia bear enough testimony to how the leadership failure ends up leading a beleaguered state to the very point of committing a strategic suicide. Ukraine befell its present predicament, not only for it’s political misjudgment, but also for the well orchestrated media- backed US-led incitement of anti-Yanukovich, anti-Russia hate-movement in Ukraine. The Western propaganda, that Ukraine belongs to the West, demonized the image of Russia as an obstacle, and sought the ouster of MR Yanukovich, with the direction that Ukraine has to be liberated from “evil Russia” like Lithuania, and the other ex-Russian republics It could have served as a great strategy if Ukraine had the requisite nuclear ,and conventional deterrent, strong economic punch, and the Western military assistance of which It has none. The 1994 Budapest security guarantees are a sitting duck.

Ukraine, decapitated via it’s denuclearization by the US and Russia, which is not even being alluded to in the current crises, is simply meandering in the US-Euro rhetoric . The Western calculation that Moscow would not so forcefully react against the US- led Ukrainian revolt miserably failed. Today, Crimea’s secession from Ukraines’s geography through a Moscow backed referendum, has, without a single bullet being fired in this process, exposed the hypocrisy, and the hollowness of the US-British guarantees to Kiev. Brother Ukraine, says the US, there is no military option on the table.

Lessons: At present, the militarily abandoned Ukraine can only complain before the comity of nations as it has, neither thise 1900 nuclear weapons it traded in 1994 for the empty guarantees given by the US , UK, and Russia, nor the conventional power it once had- 780,000 standing forces curtailed to under 100 thousand after independence in 1991. Today, the March 16 referendum based outcome—Crimea’s decision for secession— seals the dismemberment of Ukraine.

Thus, the lesson for Pakistan, and the Pakistani Arms forces is abundantly clear. The word betrayal defines US foreign policy, and who knows it better that the people of Ukraine, and the bleeding Syria. There is no second chance. No security guarantee equals the guarantee of nuclear deterrence which the US has been seeking to put an end to ever since Islamabad became a nuclear power.

The need is greater than ever to double the quantum and lethality of the Pak- nuclear warheads, as well as increasing the range and accuracy of their delivery systems. Pakistan cannot afford any betrayal. The United States cannot be trusted – a message from Kiev to Islamabad.

—The writer is New York-based columnist.