“Check” Flag Welcomes Czech Prime Minister to Pakistan

What’s wrong with this picture?

Adil Najam, founding editor of the All Things Pakistan blog, was driving back from the airport in Islamabad when he noticed a banner welcoming Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek to the capital city. A kind notion, for sure, but there’s one problem: whoever created the banner used a “check” flag instead of a Czech flag.

“I rushed back to see if I would figure out who was responsible for this little gaffe and maybe alert them to the mistake before the Czech PM arrived,” writes Adil. “Unfortunately, it turned out that the Czech PM was already here.”

Adil’s theory — and I tend to agree with him — is the person responsible for designing the banner mistakenly Google’d “check flag” instead of “Czech flag”.

See what I mean? [via]

Photo of the Day (12/18/06)

This is a recent photo of a resort area called Nathiagali, in northern Pakistan. The picture reveals the reality: lush evergreen forests, high mountains (8200 ft, where this photo was taken). While the photo may not be like some of the super artsy items we’ve thrown on these pages, I got this from a friend who is an embassy worker in Pakistan. The photo is here because it’s a glimpse of a world that we hear a lot about (mostly bad, unfortunately), but about which we, as Westerners, know almost nothing. (To plan your trip, start here. For more photos, try here.) Thanks, Suzi!