Inviting Friends in Pakistan

Upon arrival in Brussels today I was pleased to receive an email from the Pakistani blog community I had written to, requesting their participation in an upcoming podcast about what people are writing about during this “state of emergency.”

Throughout the long train ride today, it seemed like every podcast I listen to was covering the situation. I heard that same Musharraf speech about not letting the country commit suicide, over and over. Many of the public radio podcasts included callers in the US, most of Pakistani descent, calling to express their disapproval of the situation or in some cases, approval for the Pakistani presidents strong arm tactics.

As I walked into Blueberry Girl’s apartment here in Brussels, I heard that an old classmate of ours has been assigned to the German embassy in Islamabad. Seems like everything is turning up Pakistan for me this week. And rightfully so when so many lives hang in the balance.

I’m curious to hear the thoughts of the people on the blog community. Skimming the site, it is obviously still very new and just like in the US and communities like livejournal, people seem pretty self absorbed with work problems and personal reflection. Despite that fact, I’m looking forward to hearing from people running the site about their experience launching this community and how it relates to how Pakistani society, especially on the internet, is reacting to what is happening in their country.