Quote of the day (Imran Khan on cricket edition)

They are wasting talent. They have left behind Mohammad Sami, who bowls around 90 mph. He won the Bangalore Test match for Pakistan. How they can keep him out of the team is a total mystery to me. They have destroyed Sami.

Dude, let it go. He sucks. He sucks beyond belief. Just please, let it go.

Quote of the day (Imran Khan on politics edition)

I object to that work (In the Line of Fire) because it’s given the impression of a Rambo Musharraf who’s leaping right into the line of fire, bullets flying all over the place. There are terrorists, fundamentalists, extremists and here’s this enlightened moderate who’s trying to stop the country—the lone Rambo, not brave man, Rambo, who’s trying to keep all these forces at bay. Nuclear scientists trying to sell our secrets abroad, and here he is trying to hold the country together. It’s a terrible image of Pakistan as a banana republic, with this one man who’s going to solve all these problems, and of course at the bidding of the US, ‘I’m your obedient servant, I’m your man.’

I think it’s a terrible image, and I don’t think he’s even realised it. I don’t think he has the intellect required to realise the kind of damage he’s done to the country.

Read the entire interview. He actually comes off as fairly reasonable. Unfortunately for him, most of us have seen him when he's not interviewed by Indian journalists. When he's on Geo or in Dawn, that's when the true nutty Imran Khan comes out.

Guess he really is in the line of fire

Musharraf has called a meeting this week with his closest confidants to discuss personal security. Why? Because there was an assassination attempt a few weeks ago, one in which several young officers of the Air Force were involved. I don't mean to sound callous about a man's life or anything, but is anyone else willing to bet that Musharraf won't die a natural death?

You know why African countries are poor and suffer ill-health?

Why, it's because they're dumber than everyone else! If an LSE professor says so, it must be true, right?

Remember him?

An absolute must-read on Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi exile who helped start one of the most disastrous wars of the last 200 years - and I don't say that lightly. The story includes spies, false intelligence, who's-fooling-whom questions, Jewish art in Iranian museums, blame games between Iraqi exiles and the neo-cons, Richard Perle quotes, conspiracy theories, stories from Baghdad College in the 50s, and this beauty from Chalabi, a man who was too smart and too ambitious for his own good:

We would have taken hold of the country. We would have revitalized the civil service immediately. We would have been able to put together a military force and an intelligence service. There would have been no insurgency. We would have had electricity. The Americans screwed it up.

If there's one story you read this week, make it this one.

Crazy-idea-that-might-just-work of the day

Irfan Hussain, on how to end the Kashmir issue:

I seriously suggest a similar technique for leaders unable to resolve differences: lock them up together without food, and wait for them to announce an agreement before allowing them out. After all, many of their people suffer from hunger because of their inability to solve problems, something they are paid (and elected, except in Pakistan) to do. So if they are deprived of their aloo-gosht and chicken biryani for a bit, it will be no bad thing.

A question

How many headlines will say "Hair today, Gone tomorrow" on Sunday?

Response-to-a-question-in-an-interview of the day

Maureen Dowd: A fake news show, "The Daily Show," spawned a fake commentator, Colbert, who makes his own fake reality defending the fake reality of a real president, and has government officials on who know the joke but are still willing to be mocked by someone fake. Your shows are like mirrors within mirrors, using a cycle of fakery to get to the truth. You've tapped into a sense in society that nothing, from reality shows to Bushworld, is real anymore. Do you guys ever get confused by your hall of mirrors?

Jon Stewart: I didn't know we were going to have to be high to do this interview.

From the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Retroactive quote of the day

And, whisper it, but he's now played six Tests in a row without breaking down.

Osman Samiuddin on Shoaib Akhtar, after the conclusion of what turned out to be the last Test of his career. Looks like he didn't whisper softly enough.

Indiscreet Ogler of the day

Listen, jackass, can you stop staring at Shakira's ass? Everyone can see you're doing it, and you're giving the rest of us a bad name.

Photo credit: Rahav Segev/New York Times

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

I've been doing some research on the question of Urdu in Pakistan lately, specifically the role of successive governments in promoting it. In doing so, I came across an interesting survey taken in 1999-2000 of school students, broken down by the medium of instruction of the school. A few quick notes on the survey. One, I have no idea how they differentiated between "Elite" English-medium schools and "Ordinary" English-medium schools. Two, for reasons of space, M is Madrassas, SM is Sindhi-medium, UM is Urdu-medium, EE is Elite English-medium, CC is Cadet Colleges (where the language of instruction is also English), OE is Ordinary English-medium, NR is no result and DC is don't care. Three, the numbers are, of course, percentages. Four, I'm only reproducing what I found to be the most interesting parts; you can access the whole thing in the Appendix section of this paper. Onwards we march.

Are history textbooks true?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	69.5	75.8	93.5	74.2	81.4	87.4
No	17.6	15.2	5.4	19.6	18.6	10.9
NR	12.98	9.1	1.2	6.2	Nil	1.7

Should Pakistan conquer Kashmir?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	99.2	88.6	95.6	62.9	88.4	88.2
No	Nil	4.5	2.1	32	7	6.7
DC	0.8	6.8	2.3	5.2	4.7	5.1

Should Pakistan develop nuclear weapons?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	96.2	49.2	79.8	65	79.1	73.1
No	1.5	35.6	13.7	26.8	15.1	18.5
DC	2.3	15.2	6.5	8.3	5.8	8.4

Should Pakistan implement Sharia law?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	97.7	81.8	95.6	52.6	79.1	86.6
No	0.8	7.6	1.7	23.7	5.8	1.7
DC	1.5	10.6	2.7	23.7	15.1	11.8

Should Pakistan make the press free?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	43.5	62.9	58.7	62.9	73.3	53.8
No	34.4	18.2	26.4	19.6	18.6	30.3
DC	22.1	18.9	15	17.5	8.1	16

Should Pakistan establish democracy?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	27.5	69.7	75.8	65	68.6	74.8
No	48.1	6.1	8.5	14.4	14	10.1
DC	24.4	24.2	15.4	20.6	17.4	15.1

Should Pakistan give equal rights to women?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	18.3	84.9	84.8	86.6	88.4	84.9
No	73.3	5.3	9	7.2	5.8	8.4
DC	8.4	9.9	6.2	6.2	5.8	6.7

Should Pakistan give equal rights to Ahmedis?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	6.9	58.3	44	53.6	33.7	47.9
No	81.7	18.2	33.9	22.7	39.5	28.6
DC	11.5	23.5	22.1	23.7	26.7	23.5

Should Pakistan give equal rights to Hindus, etc.?

	M	SM	UM	EE	CC	OE
Yes	11.5	65.2	56.7	57.7	41.9	51.3
No	71.8	18.2	23.7	20.6	36.1	27.7
DC	16.8	16.7	19.6	21.7	22.1	21

I love the fact that the Sindhis are the most pacifist when it comes the question of nukes. Someone has got to find a sociological explanation for that one. I also love the fact that only the madrassa kids outflank the elite kids on not wanting democracy. Other highlights include: only the Army kids seem to be interested in a free press, at least half of the elite kids want to implement Sharia, there were at least 5-10% of non-madrassa kids who said "No, I don't want to give women equal rights", and that Pakistanis are willing to give even Hindus more rights than Ahmedis.

Just another Gang Rape
Lets shoot, maim and kill these bastards

Dawn editorial:

The reported gang rape of a 20-year-old woman in Multan by her former, cleric fiancé and three of his accomplices on Sunday is the latest act of violence against women in the long list of such crimes that have gone unpunished in recent months. Details speak of the accused, one Hafiz Mohammed Idrees, having tried to kill his fiancée back in August after she refused to marry him. She had to jump down from the second floor to save her life; the fall left her with broken bones. The police had arrested the cleric then, only to release him on bail the next day. Thus emboldened, the accused allegedly threatened the victim’s family of avenging the insult of rejection. Sunday’s brutal assault came when the victim was alone at home and unable to protect herself because of her immobility. She was later taken to hospital by her mother, who, on returning home, found her daughter in a semi-conscious condition. However, citing ‘inconsistency’ in the accounts of the assault given by the mother and daughter, the police have refused to arrest the cleric and his accomplices — a common practice in cases involving violence against women.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please God, don't let this happen. Please, please, please, anyone but him.

Pornstar Politician

Match the porn with the politician on Slate, hahaha!

Liberia - "Land of the Free"

This is a follow up to my previous post on Mittal Steel. I've just spent the last 2 days reading about Liberia, and it’s truly fascinating. In the United States, Liberia is associated with the ideal of freedom and liberty, as it is perceived as having been founded by freed American slaves. This romantic notion has become entrenched in American society but is not quite based on historical facts. “Liberia was actually founded by the American Colonization Society, a group of white Americans—including some slaveholders—that had what certainly can be described as mixed motives. In 1817, in Washington, D.C., the ACS established the new colony (on a tract of land in West Africa purchased from local tribes) in hopes that slaves, once emancipated, would move there. The society preferred this option to the alternative: a growing number of free black Americans demanding rights, jobs, and resources ata home”. The society found support amongst the white communities of Maryland where there were large number of fee slaves, and the state passed a law “that required any slave freed after that date to leave the state and specifically offered passage to a part of Liberia administered by the Maryland State Colonization Society”. By the 1840s, the American Colonization Society was largely bankrupt, and hostile local tribes, bad management, and deadly diseases demoralized the transported Liberians. The U.S. government would not claim sovereignty over the colony, so in 1846 the ACS ‘demanded’ that Liberians declare their independence.

After independence Liberia faced serious pressures from France and Britain who challenged its sovereignty and enroached upon some its lands. Liberia, was seriously economically starved and would soon find itself seriously in debt to foreign donors (prophesizing the predicament Africa would face a cenruty later). Thereafter two events would shape the fate of modern Liberia, one "was the grant in 1926 of a large concession to the American-owned Firestone Plantation Company; that move became a first step in the modernization of the Liberian economy. The second occurred during the Second World War, when the United States began providing technical and economic assistance that enabled Liberia to make economic progress and introduce social change".

Surely with its economic liberalisation, democratic institutions and deep rooted respect for Freedom, Liberty and the 'American Way' - in Latin, Liberia translates to "Land of the Free" - Liberia should be a beacon of hope for Africa and yet it remains a desoerately poor war-ravaged state. The two events that were meant to 'modernise' Liberiaended up enslaving it.

The Firestone rubber plantation is spread over an area in excess of one million hectares making it the largest rubber plantation in the world. The conditions there are appalling: "all of the workers are poverty-stricken Africans, enduring extremely inhuman conditions under the constant guard of American and now Japanese overseers who live in the finest houses in Liberia, looking down on the field hands from their verandahs and the company's private golf coursess." By contrast, "most of the workers have never been off of the plantation and do not even know that the world has moved on and slavery has been abolished." The company was sued by the International Labor Rights Fund in 2005 for "forced labour" - i.e. slavery.
The second event - economic liberalisaton meant to bring about 'social change', led to the country owing billions of dollars which it had absolutely no way of repaying.

Far from being a symbol of freedom, Liberia is a symbol of subjugation. The emancipated slaves who were 'sent' to Africa to 'establish' this country lost their freedom the moment they were 'asked' to leave. America challenged the very model of colonialism (discounting The Philipines, Puerto-Rico, Cuba, Panama and Iraq...so maybe its not all that against the occupation of nations !) by being the power that sought not to expand but that was only because it found other ways of enslaving people and Firestone is a testament to that. Liberia also proves that free and fair election don't translate into freedom. In 2005 the country elected Africa's first female Prime Minister in transparent elections, her first course of business: attracting foreign investment...you might remember Mittal Steel.

I-had-no-idea-about-this fact of the day

Did you know that China has only one time zone?

Reawakening the Yellow Peril

Two exhibitions at the Battersea power station reveal the West’s double standards when it comes to Chinese modernisation.

India in the First World: Learning the tricks of the trade
Mittal Steel has just bought the entire iron ore reserves of Liberia from its interim government after intense lobbying by the company of the US government. The deal will see the creation of a state within a state, with Mittal Steel controlling the port and parts of the railway system not to mention the control it will exhert on the country's economic policy. The company will have a tax holiday for 5 years after which it can choose which taxes it wishes to pay. The deal seems to me to be reminiscent of the deal under which Shell bought oil reserves in the Ogoni region of Nigeria, depriving the indigenous people of any rights over the oil reserves - the protests of the Ogoni people got some coverage after the execution of their spokesman Ken Saro-Wiwa, a University professor, and eight other leaders of the Moverment for the Survival of the Ogoni People , but these were short lived.


Liberia - Key Facts (Source: CIA World Factbook)

Population - 3 million

Life Expectancy - 39 years

GDP/head - $1000

Literacy Rate - 57.5 %

Budget - Revenue: $ 85.4 Million
Expenditure: $ 90.5 Million
Millitary Spending: $ 67.4 Miliion


On a similar note Mittal Arcelor workers are protesting in Kazakhstan over low wages amid adverse safety conditions after 41 miners died in an accident.

And you thought Shoaib was bad

It appears that in the Centurion Test of 2000 (the one that Hansie forfeited SA's innings for a result) Darren Gough was bowling hung over.

When South Africa resumed it soon became clear that the track had lost many of its demons and Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock scored with ease. They were helped somewhat by Darren Gough not being at his best. "Gough bowled a pile of shite," Hussain recalled. "I knew then that he'd had a few drinks the night before. It was stinking hot, so I decided to punish him by keeping on bowling him."

Man, I love Nasser Hussain. Great captain, great commentator.

Pakistan: The New India?

Well, no not exactly. But this article talks about the growing software industry back home. What's interesting about it is the angle it takes, framing progress in the service sector of the economy as a tool to tackle extremism.

While such a rapid explosion of wealth among Pakistan's elite has raised concerns about a parallel explosion in social inequality, Malik is part of a wave of young entrepreneurs who see an emerging antidote: their businesses. By creating jobs for young people and exportable products that promote stability, they reason, they can give Pakistanis viable alternatives to extremism.

"How many people who have jobs would actually go to their employer and say, 'There's a protest. I'm going to go burn some American flags'?" asks Shakir Hussain, a Whittier College graduate who employs 45 people at his software-consulting business in Karachi.

This is something I've often thought about, but not just in terms of economic progress. Simplistic as it may sound, I think having fun is such a big part of this. In our big cities, unless you're a rich kid, you have very little to do. There are very few parks where you can go and kick a ball. The cinema industry is in shambles. Those video arcade places are either ridiculously expensive or magnets for drug/gang related activities (or both). And have you seen the state of our museums and zoos? What's a middle/lower class kid to do? I almost feel like (and I have no scientific basis for saying this, just a hunch) if there were more outlets for adolescent restlessness, we'd have less tyre-and-bus burning. But that's just me.

By the way, if the guy whose picture is shown in the article really is "Pakistan's new face", I'd like to switch nationalities, please.

Non-verbal message of the day

Nothing can describe the power asymmetry between Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz better than the fact that Musharraf gets to sit next to his wife but poor old Shaukat has to sit all the way across the room from his.

Photo credit: Geo News

Knicks note

This headline in the NYT says "Thomas Asks Curry to Stop Being So Nice". Great. Maybe he can also ask him to stop being so crap. I also loved this part of the article:

At a glance, the 23-year-old Curry cuts an imposing figure: 6 feet 11 inches, 285 pounds, his bulging muscles outlined with tattoos. But the tattoos might as well be of bunnies and daisies.

The Knicks are such a joke. Thank God they're in the Atlantic, otherwise Philly would finish last in the division.

Quid Pro Quo

America to Germany: We'll give you access to one of your citizens who's been detained on account of being an Al-Qaeda suspect. All you have to do is help mute EU opposition to extraordinary rendition, the program used by the CIA to send terrorist suspects to countries that torture, a program whose tentacles reach the Middle East (including avowed enemies, like Syria), North Africa, Guantanamo Bay and, yes, Western Europe.
Germany to America: Ok.

Quote of the day

If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside... and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat?

Australian cleric Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali, blaming women's attire for rape.

A quick rejoinder...

By the way, in reference to the Daily Times editorial on Musharraf's nonsense I linked to in this post, I should say I agree with most of it, except for this part:

India’s poverty may be on the decline, but in Pakistan, despite President Musharraf’s success in the economic sector, it may still be on the increase.

Poverty in Pakistan is not on the increase. According to the World Bank, the poverty rate in Pakistan has fallen by 5 percentage points this decade. An editorial in Dawn a couple of days ago, while of course worrying about the future, provided pats on the back.

Correction: In an earlier version of this post, I had said poverty had dropped by 5%, which was misleading, not to mention inaccurate. Poverty has dropped by 5 percentage points, not 5 percent. My bad.