Of flood, duds and places in between

The newest saga in the ongoing tragedy which is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is much better reported elsewhere, but within that reportage, a few things which stood out:

Burqas, chadors, hijabs and baggy shalwars aren't conducive to survival in a flood or while wading through the aftermath of a mudslide.

The common citizen has spent his or her entire life with no help from the government, yet for some reason expect the government to morph into a all beneveloent government during crisis and behave effectively. There is tragedy all around, but so many people seem to be just waiting for someone else to do something. Which isn't to bellittle the many heroes all around, but their seems to be a sense of entitlement which has no basis in reality or recent history.

The moving image is so much more powerful than print to convey the unfolding tragedy yet the majority of the talking heads, the editorial people and a bunch of others working for the TV media need to be fired, right away. Journalism isn't entertainment, though it might entertain at times, and it certainly isn't about vaccous half formed opinions. The print media, though not much better at least isn't standing around mouths agape trying to cover up the silence within with a machine gun rapid fire of drivel.

Continue reading "Of flood, duds and places in between"

ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism

There have been a lot of books on the recent economic crisis, but most of them address only small parts of the systematic failures which caused the crisis, and they don't do a good job of explaining what the financial system looks like before moving onto the crisis itself. ECONned is a really good overview of both the systems in place and the crisis.

The book isn't about just the crisis, but rather the current financial system and the regulatory, personal and economic interests which shaped it. The author's blog is really interesting as well.

Other books, like Micheal Lewis's The Big Short do a good job of telling a small part of the story, but completely fail to deliver on what actually happened.

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Getting from A to B

Zegras observes that fundamentally, people do not desire travel .... they wish to have accessibility. Travel is a derived demand, prompted by our activities. If we could make better use of telecommunications, or, if our cities were more compact, perhaps we would find less need for vehicle trips.

Chris Zegras on transportation in urban areas:

It's interesting, especially in light of the choices most Pakistani cities have opted regarding transport infrastructure - which in light of just about all recent academic research looks horribly wrong.

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Richard Fenyman: What do you care what other people think?

The book has more stories about Fenyman, continued on from his earlier book, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character).

In this he writes about love (the book title come's from a letter from his wife), science, and random bits from his life, like how he became a scientist in the first place. The second half of the book is on Fenyman's work in the commision investigating the space shuttle Challanger disaster - it gives a lot of great insight as to how government and large organizations work.

The book is extremely interesting throughout, which is apt considering Fenyman was one of the most interesting characters of the 20th century.

Continue reading "Richard Fenyman: What do you care what other people think?"

Interesting interview with Tachi Yamada on life

Interesting interview with Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Program:

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The CIA and the ISI sitting in a tree

The CIA and the ISI have a long history, but it seems they're once again sharing the same playhouse:

The C.I.A. and its Pakistani counterpart, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, have a long and often tormented relationship. [...] Yet interviews in recent days show how they are working together on tactical operations, and how far the C.I.A. has extended its extraordinary secret war beyond the mountainous tribal belt and deep into Pakistan's sprawling cities. [...] Successful missions sometimes end with American and Pakistani spies toasting one another with Johnnie Walker Blue Label whisky, a gift from the C.I.A.

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Killing your own, by Poison

A common topic in urban drawing rooms around Pakistan is how far behind the country is from the developed world. Now, that will take a whole another blog post, but one interesting metric to look at is how many people the Pakistani state deliberately kills each year by poisoning them.

So the US govt. killed at least 10,000 of it's own in a few years:

Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.

They had the good sense to stop, officially in 1933, but unofficially by 1930. Over here in Pakistan, the government continues poisoning industrial alcohol, and it doesn't seem like they're going to stop any time soon. Continue reading "Killing your own, by Poison"

America, Nukes and Pakistan

In an article on nuclear weapons in Pakistan, the New Yorker explores Pakistan's relationship with America and comes to a pretty grim conclusion:
.
bq. In an interview the next afternoon, an Indian official who has dealt diplomatically with Pakistan for years said, "Pakistan is in trouble, and it's worrisome to us because an unstable Pakistan is the worst thing we can have." But he wasn't sure what America could do. "They like us better in Pakistan than you Americans," he said. "I can tell you that in a public-opinion poll we, India, will beat you."

That's probably true.. the only real relationship with America is dependant on the crates of arms they send to the Army and the bribes they give people like Zardari. Some other tidbits from Musharraf:

Musharraf, who was forced out of office in August, 2008, under threat of impeachment, did not spare his successor. "Asif Zardari is a criminal and a fraud," Musharraf told me. "He'll do anything to save himself. He's not a patriot and he's got no love for Pakistan. He's a third-rater."

It's good that 2 years after his retirement Musharraf finally grew some balls and spoke about the idiot savant leader of Pakistan, Zardari.

Continue reading "America, Nukes and Pakistan"

A criminal gang masquerading as a pious religious movement

On TV screens across Pakistan empty heads discuss Taliban this, Taliban that, ranging from calling them soft cuddly creatures who need to be protected from the evil American's to pretty bad stuff. Somehow, though, the popular opinion seems to place them somewhere in the "bad, but misguided" bracket, or as Fox News would say, "our boys".

While there is a lot of reporting about the people the Taliban blow up, and the even more people the US and Pakistan Army have blown up in their 8 year old on and off again fight against the Taliban, there hasn't been much real reporting about the actual Taliban.

A NYTimes reporter was captured by the Taliban held for almost 8 months in captivity:

I had written about the ties between Pakistan's intelligence services and the Taliban while covering the region for The New York Times. I knew Pakistan turned a blind eye to many of their activities. But I was astonished by what I encountered firsthand: a Taliban mini-state that flourished openly and with impunity.

Everyone knows this in Pakistan, but here's the key part:

I saw the Haqqanis as a criminal gang masquerading as a pious religious movement. They described themselves as the true followers of Islam but displayed an astounding capacity for dishonesty and greed.

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That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stranger

So, the old rule of thumb that you're never as tired as you think you are is true:

A spate of recent studies has contributed to growing support for the notion that the origins and controls of fatigue lie partly, if not mostly, within the brain and the central nervous system. The new research puts fresh weight to the hoary coaching cliché: you only think you're tired.

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Iran

After much fuss and muss, the Irani govt. finally admitted to election fraud:

Iran's most powerful oversight council announced on Monday that the number of votes recorded in 50 cities exceeded the number of eligible voters there by three million, further tarnishing a presidential election that has set off the most sustained challenge to Iran's leadership in 30 years.

The interesting part about the whole protesting the elections bit is how little the country actually listens or even respects their leaders. Khomeni must be turning over in his grave.

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Milestones in the devolution of Pakistan: Death Penalty now mandatory for blasphemy

The News reports:

The death penalty is now mandatory for blasphemy, under Article 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The government has been making some noise recently about how they don't support the ongoing takeover of Pakistan by the Taliban, but their actions clearly speak otherwise. The terrorists had pulled 2 steps ahead of the Pakistan government by introducing a mandatory death penalty a few years ago, but the Pakistan govt. finally woke up and is now closing the "killing it's own citizens" gap.

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Older Entries

• The dark side of Dubai - Posted 08 Apr 09 in World
• A short doc on the impact of Aghanistan on Pakistan, and vice versa - Posted 21 Mar 09 in Pakistan
• Return of Justice, Pakistan edition, as Zardari exits backstage - Posted 16 Mar 09 in Pakistan
• The endless boredom of Saudi Arabian youth - Posted 08 Mar 09 in World
• A short history of Asif Ali Zardari - Posted 18 Feb 09 in Pakistan
• The deadweight loss of Bakra Eid - Posted 07 Dec 08 in Pakistan
• Zardari: We don't need no Education - Posted 20 Nov 08 in Pakistan
• President Obama - Posted 05 Nov 08 in America
• Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine - Posted 02 Nov 08 in Books
• The great Pakistani stock broker bailout - Posted 27 Oct 08 in Pakistan
• Information poverty - Posted 18 Oct 08 in Pakistan, Technology
• While the rest of the world is poised on a cliff, the Pakistan economy has already fallen off - Posted 10 Oct 08 in Pakistan

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