We're Moving

So a bit of blog news: we're moving.

Over the last few weeks, we/I have been in discussion with the people over at Asian Correspondent, a website which aggregates news, views and blogs with an Asian focus. I've agreed to have our blog hosted on their site for an agreed upon time.

Some questions:

Wait, what? What does this even mean?

Well, functionally all it means is that I blog on Asian Correspondent, so our new address is asiancorrespondent.com/fiverupees. If you've been nice enough to bookmark us, then you can update that. But you don't really have to worry about not being able to find Rs.5, because anyone going to our current URL will be automatically directed to the new one when it goes into effect. RSS feeds should also be redirected, as well as all posts from our archives.

Why is this happening?

I gain in two ways from this. One, I'm being monetarily rewarded, and it's nice to get paid. Two, I get (the promise of) more readers, because, um, AC is a bigger website than we are.

They gain from this because they get the potential of a Leo Messi homage every week. So it's fairly even, and that's why this is happening.

So you sold out, eh? Well done. Seriously, well played.

Look, just because I was bought out doesn't mean I sold out! And besides, I have learned at my time at the University of Chicago that free-market enterprise between two consenting parties is good.

What changes?

The address obviously, and the layout. What we're trying to do is keep as many of our features from here so that the change is as seamless as possible. The blogroll, the archives, the categories, the comments, and so on will stay the same. The basic idea is that I don't want to lose any of our current readers, who add so much to the blog with comments and emails and suggestions, so it's important to keep the basic architecture and familiarity.

The color scheme and the way the blog looks will be different, and will be basically in the hands of AC. I've received enough complaints about our color scheme over the years to understand this is probably a good thing.

And content?

The content is the same. II'll be blogging the exact same way I do now, i.e. badly and increasingly sporadically. Nothing changes on that front. I even retain my right to curse as much as I please. The only thing I am exlpicitly not allowed to do is promote hatred or incite violence, or be defamatory and racist, but remember, Imran Farhat is not a race.

When does this happen?

In the next couple of days, maybe as soon as tomorrow. The move has been a while coming; I've basically been in discussions with Hybrid News/AC for about a month, and with my coming to Pakistan for AKS' wedding and so on, the details of the move have just taken a while to iron out.

Technology is involved, so I'm sure they might be a couple of glitches as we migrate, but I'm also sure that if anything arises, it'll be taken care of fairly quickly. One issue that might come up is the RSS feeds being transferred, so those of you who subscribe to us, please let me know with an email (fiverupeesadmin at googlegroups dot com) if something seems to be off.

Programming Note: Liveblogging Spain-Honduras Tomorrow (But With A Twist)

Greetings, loyal readers. I have not been able to blog in the last few days for a couple reasons, but suffice it to say, I've missed you too.

Anyway, just letting the footie fans out there know that tomorrow there will be a live blog of the Spain-Honduras game on Rs.5, only none of the regular contributors will be doing it. Instead, we have a guest blogger, friend of Rs.5 and long time commenter, JJY (my college roommate and still good friend) taking the reins. I must take this opportunity to emphasize that JJY invited himself.

Lessons Learned On Coming Home

I arrived back in Pakistan a few hours ago; I'm here for the next month to spend time with family as well as celebrate AKS' wedding. Here are some quick lessons:

1. Never underestimate how soon you will be subjected to a conspiracy theory. In my case, I heard my first about 17 minutes after stepping in my house from a family member who shall remain unnamed. Did you know Faisal Shehzad was a CIA agent? Yes, evidently they used him to create pressure on Pakistan to take action in Waziristan. Look how quickly "Hillary Clinton's tone changed!" Man, I miss being home. I've said it before and I'll say it again: living through conspiracy theories in the media is very different than living through them in the flesh. Good times.

2. If your flight is more than 12 hours long, and the airline sits you next to a couple with a 1-year old, God hates you. To be fair, the kid was very cute when she wasn't crying. That qualifier is more important than you think.

3. One needs to ease oneself back into Slims Chili Chips. I ate two large packets at 5 in the morning after going six months without 'em, and my mouth felt like I had just made out with Lindsay Lohan (i.e. diseased). I need to pace myself.

4. Don't be tempted by the free computers or the Wi-Fi internet at Abu Dhabi airport. My twitter account got hacked one hour after I did. Though I suppose it serves me right for being one of those obsessive losers who goes on Twitter at an airport.

5. Kids grow up very fast. It's been half a year since I saw my neices. I barely recognize the younger one (14 months), and the older one (5 years) now has a wider vocabulary than I do.

Urgent: Please Read This Post If You're Participating In The Rs.5 World Cup Bracket

Okay, I'm really happy with the response rate but there's a minor complication which a reader's comment alerted me to. Namely, the ability to track people down if they actually win.

Now, for many of the people who sent in predictions, they either used Google accounts (which makes them trackable) or I know them personally (which also makes them trackable). But there are a select few who fall into neither category. So if you are any of the following, please send me an email to fiverupeesadmin AT googlegroups DOT com, and simply identify yourself with your pseudonym:

1. Lahori
2. Disfigured corpse
3. ADBC
4. Ahad
5. KP_Red_Devil
6. McPhisto
7. Zozo

Please do this as soon as possible. Thank you.

Five Rupees Wins An Award

Well, there you go. Some of you may know that Five Rupees was nominated in the Pakistani Blog Awards under the "Political coverage" category. Last week, they announced their winners, and lo and behold, we won in our category. They even gave us this badge to put up here.

I'm obviously flattered and honored, and grateful to both the organizers as well as Mosharraf Zaidi and Kalsoom Lakhani for nominating us months ago. Also, I am very whatever-the-opposite-of-"grateful"-is to both AKS and NB for helping me in keeping this blog constantly updated.

By the way, on a completely unrelated note, this blog is set to undergo a couple of changes in the next week or two. Stay tuned.

Blogging Will Be Light For A Week

I am going on a much-deserved vacation. To New York. Hahaha. Anyway, I'll be back next week. I know it'll be hard for Pakistanis to live without me and Facebook at the same time, but you'll be okay. Connect with your family or something for a while.

P.S. No, commenters, I don't have anything to say about the Facebook ban beyond: hahahhahahahahahahahhahahahaah, God we're stupid.

Don't Forget About The Rafay Alam Conversation!

This really is my fault. I put up my conversation with Rafay Alam up on the weekend, when blog readership is considerably lower. I then completely ensured that no one would read it by adding the Hamid Mir post, which understandably is getting more attention because of its scandalous nature.

Be that as it may, I am requesting you to go read the Rafay Alam conversation. Unlike the idle speculation in the Hamid Mir post, it's actually educational. I can only speak for myself; I learned a lot. And it's about real-world important stuff, like water and electricity and development in Pakistan. So check it out.

My Wife Has Started A Blog

Seriously. It's pretty funny actually. She's given me shit for four years about wasting too much time in front of my computer screen writing opinions "no one cares about". Well, how the tables have turned. How the shoe is on the other foot. Etc.

Anyway, before you click on it, you should know we don't share any interests. At all. I'm into politics and sports, she's into business, entrepreneurship and marketing. So there won't be any MQM or Messi on her blog. But you should read it anyway.

Blog Recommendation: Kaala Kawaa

For those of our readers interested in Pakistani politics and society, make sure to check out Kala Kawa. Mr. Kawa maintains an excellent blog, and we'll be adding it to our blog roll down there on your right.

On Anonymous Comments

There's an interesting little debate held at the Guardian on anonymous comments on the internet, and the desirability of having them. The pro-side argues that it's the only way to get a free and open exchange of ideas going, the con-side argues that anonymity brings out the worst in people (rudeness, personal attacks etc). I have a few thoughts on this.

First of all, let there be no mistake: this is a purely normative debate, and has no bearing on the real world whatsoever. We have come way too far down the road of anonymity; can you imagine all those newspapers, blogs, message boards, and random websites requiring real names to post comments? I can't. That doesn't mean it's not a debate worth having, but we should be aware of the stakes, which are purely academic.

Second, there's anonymous and then there's anonymous. Anonymous is when you come up with a nickname or clever pseudonym to post comments. Anonymous is when you write comments as "Anonymous". The former is not a problem at all, and is the norm on basically 99% of well-trafficked websites out there. The latter is uber-annoying because one can't tell people apart. Unfortunately, if you want to ban anonymous comments in blogger, you're forced to use a Google ID, which not everyone has, which is why our blog still allows anonymous comments.

Third, I know the "anonymity brings out the worst in us" argument is one made very commonly; I've made it myself a million times (especially when doing my favorite thing, which is perusing comments on Youtube videos of India-Pakistan cricket matches). But it's worth considering this aspect: human beings are, at root, social animals. By that I mean that basically all of our "natural" instincts are conditioned by the social environments within which we are embedded.

For example, as living animals, we have a need to eat food, but the way we eat food is socially or culturally given. In some parts of the world, it's normal to eat food sitting on the floor, in others you must eat on a table. In some parts of the world, you use a knife and fork, in others your hands, and in others still, chopsticks.

In turn, such social and cultural considerations are mediated by our own personal experiences, narrowing further still the applicability of broad-brush "natural" characterizations. So our "natural" instinct is to want to have sex. Social considerations dictate, in part, what we consider attractive traits in a potential mate, so fair skin might be privileged in certain places and long fingernails in others. And then personal considerations winnow that further, so someone who wears a green shirt the first time is more attractive than someone who wears red, or whatever.

All this is a roundabout way of saying: rabid and disgusting and offensive anonymous comments seem to shine a light on what our "natural" state is -- that is, being rabid and disgusting and offensive. But there's another way of looking at it, and that is to focus on the fact that human beings have constructed society that is advanced to the extent that such outbursts are shunned. When people look at the disjuncture between our behavior in front of other people and our behavior when we are hidden, they shake their heads at what we are, deep down. But surely we can also applaud our societies for rendering such conduct exclusively to the private and anonymous domain (for the most part)?

Blogging Will Be Light For A While, At Least From Me (Updated Below)

I'm insanely busy over the next three or four weeks -- literally, 7:30 a.m. to midnight type stuff -- so blogging will be light to non-existent from me. I'll pop in every now and then with a links post, but no real analysis or anything. I'm sure the self-flagellation from you guys will commence any minute now.

UPDATE: While I'm off blogging, I will use our twitter feed to post links etc. I know it's not exactly the same, but it's something.

Links For Friday

Stuff to read as you count down to the weekend:

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a non-binding resolution on Turkey's (really, the Ottoman Empire's) conduct against the Armenians in World War I, calling it "genocide". Fair enough actually. But I do eagerly await the U.S. government terming the mass murder and relocation of Native Americans also as "genocide". Not naive in the slightest to expect that, yes? Keep your eye on that ball, kids, we should hear on this very soon.

Ad of the year, right here, from Pepsi, featuring Messi, Henry, Fat Frank, Evil Drogba, Kaka and Arshavin. The last shot of Messi is priceless -- "Thierrry?". Hahahaha. Classic stuff.

This story was all over the Twitterwebs this week. It's hilarious. Pakistan is billing the U.S. for services offered in the so-called war on terror, and is not being paid in full, because they think we're lying. Honestly, I wouldn't put it past us, though I obviously don't know which side is right. But isn't it hilarious that bargaining on the international stage replicates my mother talking to her darzi?

Osman has a fantastic column laying into the PCB administration. Must read.

Good news! AIG is going to pay out executive bonuses. Again. After suffering losses of billions of dollars. Again. Just an all-round classy crowd, these guys.

It's the final countdown on health care reform. Will it go through? Who the hell knows? But it's been a long, bumpy ride, and one hopes it gets over the line. Read Ezra Klein's reaction to Obama's "Let's finish this thing" speech.

This was probably my favorite read of the week, an in-depth look at the intersection of local crime and local politics in Karachi from Newsline. Really superb piece. It's really sad that there aren't book-length treatments of this stuff out there (trust me, I've looked). It is my aim to write a political history of Karachi one day. I don't know when -- there's at least two or three other book projects I have in mind that would probably take priority over this -- but if I remain in good health in fifteen or twenty years or so, it will be done.

If you're an IR or Poli Sci student, you've seen these quantitative-qualitative methodological battles before. Doesn't make them any less entertaining every time they happen.

Freakonomics tries to figure out if men are better drivers than women. Please. Anyone who's ever seen a woman try to parallel park should know that this is a stupid question.

Even by Tom Friedman's standards, this was a really perplexing and inane column; basically, we're supposed to take the word of a corporate CEO that cutting corporate taxes and giving corporate subsidies is a good thing. Yglesias' take on this is excellent.

Carlos Tevez says that if John Terry had done what he did to Wayne Bridge in Argentina, well...let him tell it. "In my neighbourhood if you do that, you lose your legs, or more – you don't survive."

A piece in Slate that our London-resident readers will relate to. It's on how easy it is to get lost in London, and how the signs aren't exactly super-helpful. My view on this is that "old" cities are always more difficult to navigate than "new" cities, because the latter are built on a grid. Growing up and watching Hollywood movies, I never understood how the cops knew they were going north or west or whatever when in a car chase; in Karachi there's no conception of this stuff (in fact, back home it's even worse than that, because all directions are given with reference to landmarks, not street names). It took me about 17 seconds to get to a grid city to figure out how intuitive it really is. If you get lost in America, you're an idiot, I'm sorry.

And finally, did you know that Barack Obama is a 130-year old Pakistani? Don't believe me? Check out his ID card.

Happy weekend, everyone.

Blog Recommendation

For those interested in Pakistan and Pakistani affairs, you should check out Recycled Thought. It's run by a graduate student of Political Science in London, so it's more in-depth and thought out than the average analysis you see out there. We're adding it to our blog roll on the right under "Pakistan" and you should make it a regular read.

Some Academic Reactions To The Academic Killer

The story about the University of Alabama professor who shot and killed three colleagues because she was denied tenure understandably created waves within the academe. The Chronicle on Higher Education has run some reactions from graduate students, professors and administrators on what this means going forward, and what is says about the rigors of the process of tenure and hiring in general.

I served on the hiring committee this year at Chicago, and while confidentiality concerns keep me from revealing anything of substance that happened, I can safely say that I gained a greater appreciation for the sheer difficulty of getting an academic job (at least in the U.S.). You won't believe the quality of the CVs and dissertations that we rejected simply out of hand. Moreover, with the recession hitting university endowments hard (more than 30% on average), and hiring freezes in place, it doesn't look to be getting better any time soon.

Anyway, I wanted to highlight one section from the above link. Here's John Cavanaugh, Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education:

We have done an overall poor job of providing the support and mentoring appropriate for such major, stressful, career make-or-break situations as dissertation defenses and tenure votes, despite the fact that we have considerable (faculty) expertise and a burgeoning research literature about individual differences in coping with stress. It is time to end any tolerance for the notion that "we eat our young" and that such intellectual brutality is somehow an indicator of rigor.

How? First, we must not use the notion that "we have to uphold our standards of excellence" as a thinly veiled code for professional hazing.

Second, we need to do a reality check regarding the criteria for "passing." If a majority of those voting on a tenure case, for example, would not meet the criteria in play, then a serious review of the criteria is in order. How many times do we hear colleagues admit their relief that it is not them on the docket because they "would not make it"?

Third, if rising scholars need to give up any semblance of a normal life to obtain a doctorate or tenure, then that program's values are out of alignment. I, for one, do not want institutions full of people who sold their souls for a degree or for tenure. I want balanced, well-rounded scholars. Funny thing about that—isn't that exactly what we say in our marketing materials: that we want to produce in our undergraduate programs well-rounded, educated graduates?

Fourth, we need to become as good at providing career and emotional support as we are at criticizing performance (a very highly honed skill in most academics). However, research and experience show that the ability to cope with failure varies a great deal across people and situations. Let's tap our colleagues' expertise in understanding what people need and how to provide support and teach mentors how to give it effectively.

Finally, let's reward our young scholars for having the good sense and insight to ask for support and mentorship in the first place, rather than viewing it as a sign of weakness. We may not be able to prevent another situation like what occurred in Huntsville, especially given the freedom to carry weapons in most states. But we can certainly learn from it and do our best to help those who are overly stressed. Someday they will take our place. Let's give them the best chance for success.

I agree with every word. It's really hard to get across to people outside academia how stressful and mentally debilitating this environment is. Everybody has their own coping mechanisms, but man...it's hard. At every step -- getting into grad school, defending your proposal, defending your dissertation, getting a job, getting tenure -- it's hard.

There Are More Important Things Than Football

After an abject, goalless draw with Liverpool, the Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, had this to say about Carlos Tevez who was absent and sorely missed:

"He is in Argentina and it's a big problem because we have an important week," the City manager said. "We don't have any depth and, for me, it is not good. Carlos went eight days ago and I don't even know [if he will be back for the game at ­Chelsea next Saturday]. I don't know if, while he is in Argentina, he has been working [on his fitness]. I hope that Carlos comes back within two days. I have ordered him to come back and I hope in the next few days he can come back."

Fair enough one would think, Mancini as a manager has every right to order his players back when the team is missing them. But why is Tevez in Argentina anyway?

Because his wife prematurely gave birth to his daughter who is still under the observation of doctors on life support. Tevez, like any reasonable father, wishes to stay with his family until his daughter is completely out of danger.

Mancini, get a grip man.

Links For Monday

Mondays suck, so hopefully these links will make your life a little better.

Favorite read of the week, right here. Do not, under any circumstances, mess with Viv Richards. Quite possibly the most intimidating cricketer of all time -- and he never said a word on the field. There's about four quotes in there that make me thank God that I wasn't an international bowler in the 70s and 80s, but this one is my favorite: "I love a guy who is up in my face. I didn't like it when a guy would beat my bat and just smile. I wanted him to say something, to give me something to fuel my emotions. Guys used to tell me to eff off when I was out. I enjoyed that. I wanted to come back every time. I thought, "Have your day. You knock me over, it takes only a couple of seconds to walk off, but I tell you, I back myself enough to know that so long as I'm batting you are going to see my face for a long time and it's going to hurt. Big time." Hahaha. Classic Viv.

Speaking of quotable cricketers, read Shahid Afridi compare himself to Tiger Woods.

And speaking of Tiger Woods, here's Charlie Booker on adultery, where he compares flirtatious texts to a "Matrix shag". And here's an article advancing the theory that Tiger wouldn't have cheated if he were a Peru poison frog.

My two favorite pieces from the Pakistani blogosphere this week. First up, Tazeen deals with the PML-Q MPA who's been arguing vociferously in favor of polygamy, saying "If there is no bar on them marrying again, all of men’s frustrations would be reduced, while women would be able to salvage their honour and lead secure lives." By the way, the MPA is a woman. Good times.

Second, here's Rabia talking about the right in Pakistan arguing against Basant, and the methods they employ to do so. An interesting post. Basant is one of those strange things that (a) shouldn't really be politicized, but is because we're sort of a crazy country, and (b) is politicized in non-predictable ways in the sense that the dividing lines on the issue aren't the usual faultlines in our society.

Here's a nicely written piece in Dawn on Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf and Shaikh Rasheed's Awami Muslim League (the most poorly chosen name for a political party in Punjab that I can think of) attempting to be more than "drawing-room parties".

Jonathan Chait thinks the Republicans have declared victory too soon in the healthcare battle, and that they are in for a rude surprise (via Krugman).

Speaking of Krugman, here's a long profile of him in the New Yorker. As always with the New Yorker, it's a great read -- though I'm not sure they tell me anything I didn't already know (other than random personal details).

A really interesting piece on how being horny makes the economy stronger. Not just in terms of buying flowers and chocolates etc. But in terms of driving males, especially, to greater accomplishments than they would otherwise achieve. The key quote: "More fascinating, perhaps, and ultimately far more consequential, the urge to find a mate drives us — particularly men, it seems — to increase our productivity and make bigger investments in human capital (e.g. education) than we otherwise would. It’s also suggestive that so much creative genius — in fields as diverse as physics and jazz — seems to peak before or around 30. And, that marriage seems to have a negative impact on productivity in such fields." (via Andrew Sullivan)

In his last press conference, Mustafa Kamal claims that his city district government has completed 2,496 projects in Karachi, with 126 projects still in process. Even if the numbers aren't completely accurate -- how would we independently verify this? -- can anyone doubt that the dude worked his ass for the city and its residents, and will be dearly missed? Anyone at all?

Well, India has finally arrived. No, I'm not talking about their economy or military. No, this is much more important: an Indian-American has finally made it to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Well done. Kudos. By the way, make sure to check out her picture without makeup from the link provided.

I'd venture to suggest that the U.S. is one of the few countries in the world in which you'd find an online article titled "Outsmart Restaurant Menus". I'm not usually one to take on a menu in a battle of wits; I usually just read it and order. My basic point is that America, as a country, has a very strange relationship to the concept of diet and fitness. They worry and talk an awful lot about it, and yet aren't a particularly healthy country. Gymming is huge here too, and yet...I don't know. It's a tough one.

Rape Victims Are Blameless

Consent. When it comes to sex this one word separates us from barbarians, and when a sexual act takes place without consent, no matter what the circumstances, it is barbaric. It is rape. By acting without consent an assailant the person in question the most basic of freedoms, the freedom over their own body.

It is therefore shocking to learn that over half the women in a recent survey carried out in the UK blame rape victims in some form or the other for being raped. Victims were accused of being too drunk or dressing scantily. This sort of thinking is absolutely wrong.

A woman who is incoherently drunk is comparable to a person who is mentally handicapped; they both lack the ability to consent to a sexual act. We would not blame a rape victim for being mentally handicapped then why do we apportion blame on a woman who passed out after being drunk? And the fact that being drunk is self inflicted does not change things, the key is that the person was not in a position to offer consent at the time the act took place.

A woman could walk around in a bikini at the truck adda in Shireen Jinnah colony and consent to a sexual act but then if she said no to that particular act, or any other act, and if said act continued it would be rape and she would be blameless.

There is no question of extenuating circumstances limiting the culpability of the perpetrator, except for him being insane; in a rape the fault lies entirely with the aggressor. However, when we apportion blame to the victim, we tacitly accept that in some situations the actions of the perpetrator are understandable, that they are somehow justifiable. They are not. Rape is unjustifiable.

But then why do a majority of people still blame rape victims? Dr Roxanne Agnew- Davies, a clinical psychologist and an expert on the effects of sexual violence, quoted in a Guardian article, says “it can be to reassure themselves that this will not happen to them.” Unfortunately this skewed logic borne out of fear hides the fact that your typical rape victim is not a scantily clad woman in Shireen Jinnah colony, the typical rape victim is likely to be a typical woman. And the assailant is likely to be someone known to the victim, in our society it is most likely a husband, a cousin, an employer or a neighbour.

The reason why we don’t hear more about rapes is not because they don’t take place but because women who are raped choose to stay silent. And who can blame them, as a society we’ve convinced ourselves that the woman who is raped is worthy of blame, that she is immoral or has a ‘bad character.’

This absurd way of thinking has to change. We can lie to ourselves and pretend that only bad people are raped, but this only makes us all more vulnerable.

Links For Thursday

Stuff to help you waste time:

A friend of mine in New York is doing Teach for America, which involves teaching basically poor kids who've always done terribly at school. Lo and behold, he's started a blog to chronicle some of his adventures. Read this post, it's hilarious.

Speaking of hilarious, check out this report from AFP, which says that an unnamed Arab ambassador had his marriage annulled because he had never seen his wife-to-be before they got married (she covered her face), and that when he did finally see her, she was cross-eyed and had facial hair. Too. Many. Jokes. (Courtesy Nabeel)

A nice piece from Cyril Almeida on the Pakistani military feeling a little too pleased with itself. I was saying this exact thing to a couple friends on email the other day -- great minds and all that.

The only word that comes close to describing this Glenn Greenwald post on Rich "Starbursts" Lowry is "evisceration".

Via Rabia, check out this Facebook revelation from Ahmed Quraishi, where he basically admits to lying and spreading propaganda. Also, how dumb is that Sabeen Syed chick?

Since I've stopped being a cricket fan, I don't really comment on it any more. That said, I couldn't let this patent lie by Iqbal Qasim, who only recently resigned after we lost everything on the OZ tour, go free. My response on PakPassion is here and here.

Yay! Gail Collins declares Illinois to have the worst political culture in the U.S.! This only confirms what everyone living here knows to be a fact. I mean, do I even need to say anything other than "Blagojevich"? Also, on an unrelated note, can we get Collins to replace Tom Friedman as the NYT's so-called foreign affairs expert on the op-ed page? Actually, while they're at it, can they give her Dowd's space too? If not, can the NYT just stop printing op-eds on Wednesdays and Sundays (except for the excellent Frank Rich)? I think most people would be okay with that.

I didn't really have much to say about this whole Aafia Siddiqui thing. But others apparently did. Read Tazeen, Saba Imtiaz, and Nadeem Paracha on this.

Call me crazy, but I think there's some logical inconsistency in a quote which says "I talk on behalf of the jihadi leadership, that we all stand for a negotiated settlement."

An analysis of what role the full backs have in Pep's 4-3-3.

Via Nabeel, Megan Fox has more "fans" in Pakistan than Zaid Hamid, if Facebook pages are anything to go by. In fact, she is only narrowly beaten out by Prophet Muhammad. There's hope for our country yet. Details here.

Why is Barack Obama saying nice and non-critical things about bankers making lots of money?

The Guardian details a disgusting honor killing of a 16 year-old girl in Turkey, who was buried alive because she chose to talk to boys.

And finally, courtesy Negeen, check out what Google's suggested search term is when you punch in "recursion" into the search box.

No Title For This Post

I have wavered for about ten days on the question of whether to write a post on my brother's death. I have decided against it for now, mainly because of privacy issues. I may write a post restricted to friends and family members, but then that's basically a Facebook note, so I may as well write it there. I have so many things to say, but I think it would all come out as jibberish were I to write it now, so I'll wait a while on that front.

I would advise, though, to go read Oba's tribute to Asim. It's the best one I've read anywhere. He also has a bunch of links to other tributes and some images of Asim's art.

Status Update

I'll be back in a couple days, I think. More news then.