It’s been disheartening to see the lack of coverage the floods in Pakistan have been getting in L.A. The relief efforts have been slow, and contributions to relief organizations have been much less than one would expect for a disaster of that magnitude. Surely the media's bias against Muslim countries doesn’t help. Add a depressed economy and other variables and most relief groups will tell you that funds are not rolling in to help the millions affected by the floods.

But how about the people that seem to champion every worldly cause? You, know, the ones that seem to Tweet or send Facebook links about global warming or “Haiti: One Year Later?" When local deejay Kutmah was deported, people came from all over the city to donate and help out, especially those not privy to immigrant rights issues. He is only one person and look at the effort that went to help him! It's amazing what people can do when focused. In Pakistan, there are 20 million people affected by the flooding. You would think there would be an uproar about the lack of aid and humanity.

How bout those artists that seem to write a song about any social issue in the media? There are no “We Are The World” style songs for Pakistan. I guess if the media isn’t covering Pakistan, then there will be no coverage for a song about Pakistan. Like the expression goes, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" So why bother writing that song, right?

Balochistan (بلوچستان) is a UNPO member nation that lies along the division between the Middle East and South Asia. It is currently divided between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mehrgarh

The area was first settled c. 7000-6000 BCE by the Dravidian ancestors of the modern day Brahui. The ruins of the Neolithic Mehghar reveal it to be one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia.

From the first to third centuries, AD, the area was ruled by Indo-Scythian or Indo-Parthian kings, the Pāratarājas. During the Arab Conquest in the 700s, Islam and Arabic culture arrived. In the 1000s, fleeing the Seljuk Turks, and in the 1200s, fleeing the Khagan of the Mongol Empire, numerous Aryan tribes arrived. All found the harsh, arid and mountainous ideally isolated and today, Baloch people's DNA reveals a rich genetic mix with varying degrees of Arab, Aryan, Dravidian, Greek, Kurdish and Turk ancestry.

South Asia is the most populous and densely populated region in the planet's most populous continent. Not surprisingly, therefore, it's home to many culturally rich nationalities who still struggle in the post-Colonial world for recognition, equality and self-determination.
 
Assam


The earliest known settlers in Assam are believed to be the Khasi and Synteng people of southeast Asia. The were later marginalized by the arrival of the Tibeto-Burman language speaking Monpas, Sherdukpens, Bhutan, Mishings, Deuris and Bodo-Kachari. The last major wave of immigrants seems to have been the Hindus around 500 BCE, although small numbers of many other groups have arrived since. As such, Assam today is a highly hybridized place that nonetheless is struggling for autonomy.

Not that anybody asked, but I thought I’d toss up a couple of my picks for the best photos of the year.

This image is of Mary McHugh at the grave of her fiancé, Sgt James J. Regan at Arlington National Cemetery. He was from Manhasset, New York. Sgt Regan was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

After a record drought year, this past fire season was one of the most destructive and costly in Southern California history, photographer Karen Tapia-Anderson took this photo of 12 firefighters trapped atop a ridge in Orange County after flames jumped the road sending the fire up the hillside, prompting the firefighters to deploy their fire shelters. "We just remained calm, everyone did," one firefighter said after he was checked out by paramedics. All 12 firefighters were treated at the scene, none of them wanted to be sent to the hospital. 

A photo of the gruesome aftermath of Pakistan’s oppositional leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the suicide attack left more then 20 people dead.