[DAWN] AS Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... 's tirades against election irregularities continue unabated, one is tempted to remind him that, as self-anointed leader of the country's massive population of young people, he was supposed to win a landslide victory in last year's election. Given that almost two-thirds of Paks are under 25 years of age, and the great Khan had them all under his spell, no amount of pre-poll rigging should have mattered anyway.
Of course, Pakistain's young people cannot all be neatly clumped together with no consideration for class, ethnicity, gender and much else. Rhetorical claims aside, right-wing populists in today's Pakistain inevitably fail to make good on their lofty promises — whether they lay claim to power through the ballot box or mythical 'revolutions' — because 'the people' are anything but the monolith that their sloganeering suggests.
It is nevertheless worth dwelling on the rhetoric to get a sense of what categories are considered to have political traction. So, a Qadri, Khan or Sharif will invoke the 'poor', the 'youth' and even the 'minorities' regularly in their speeches and propaganda literature. Such populists might even raise questions about the mistreatment of certain ethnic groups. But no one ever mentions women.
Pakistain is amongst the most patriarchal societies in the world, and there is simply no question of articulating a political project seeking fundamental change without foregrounding the oppression and exclusion of women, and popularising a programme to dismantle patriarchal structures. Yet there is not a single mainstream party in the country that is willing and able to make the liberation of women a major plank of their political discourse, let alone practice.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] TODAY'S world is the world of democracy and we cannot have our own system irrespective of who we are or where we are. Most people in Pakistain also agree that our system of governance should be some form of a democracy. People's participation in elections, their support for elected representatives, and their explicit or implicit opposition to interventions of a non-democratic nature, as evidenced through the public discourse in the country and our history, clearly establish that.
The interdependence of all countries also demands that there should be one system of governance the world over and presently that system is called democracy. It is the only system at the moment that can give us the ability to live in peace and that can protect coexistence.
But if the system of governance has to be democratic how can the interpretation of one religion, one sect or a few sects be allowed to determine the laws and/or the basic structure of governance in the country? For instance, if the state is 'Islamic', how can it be neutral where other religions are concerned?
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
If so, we have no choice but to dispense with the role of faith in politics.
Although the discussion centers around Pakistain, that debate is ongoing in the U.S. as well. Atheists have tried to eradicate any mention or symbolism of religion in public discourse or politics. This is an impossible task for the atheists and largely a pain-in-the derrière for the rest of us. Great effort is directed towards the task of eradication. The Constitution said freedom of religion and not freedom from religion. The US. is largely a Judeo-Christian nation with other religions present to practice as they wished. There was a simpler time when the pledge of allegiance and the Lords prayer were said every morning in school. Some moral guidance was provided to children who otherwise might not have received any. The precepts presented were good. It was only later in this day that more concern was given to political correctness and the concept of a damaged self-esteem and thus the push towards eradication by atheists. Atheism, it turns out is also a religion with a bent towards tyranny.
Charles Krauthammer does what he does best. Go read the whole thing -- we'll wait.
"Here's the difference between us," explains the Israeli prime minister. "We're using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they're using their civilians to protect their missiles."
Rarely does international politics present a moment of such moral clarity. Yet we routinely hear this Israel-Gaza fighting described as a morally equivalent "cycle of violence." This is absurd. What possible interest can Israel have in cross-border fighting? Everyone knows Hamas set off this mini-war. And everyone knows the proudly self-declared raison d'etre of Hamas: the eradication of Israel and its Jews.
[Ynet] Gazooks who claim to be victims of their rulers should have rebelled against those building missile bases under their homes. Because they have failed to do so, they will have to pay a price.
Now now, Gazooks know nothing of "cause and effect"...
It's possible that the war will end by the time these words reach the outer world. If that happens, this article could well be read during the next war, which will undoubtedly break out soon. The agreement taking shape is incapable of preventing it.
I have written many times about the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, charter, which reflects the outlook and goals of the organization's founders. I know that few have taken my advice and read it, and so I will note that the worldview of many of the charter's authors is no different from that of the authors of the most despicable anti-Semitic writings.
The Jews, the world's secret rulers, are to blame for all its diseases. They have initiated the major wars that erupted since the days of yore to this very day, spread epidemics which killed millions of people, and caused all the social injustices. They are viruses which must be destroyed.
Some of my friends think that I give words too much meaning, because one who makes a living off their production tends to overestimate them. They reality, they say, is stronger than pivotal documents written by desperate ideologists, and when reality changes for the better, and even when narrow windows of hope open, the old formulas are interpreted in a way matching the changed existence. After a while, no one remembers what was written.
Jews who voice this claim are forgetting that the Zionist movement was driven by words originating in what was written thousands of years ago which we still memorize incessantly.
Don't be alarmed by this comparison. I am not dealing with justifying or condemning views embodied in words, but with their power to motivate political movements, bring about revolutions and send people to die and kill.
The Hamas charter is a text expressing a frame of mind and creating a frame of mind which creates actions. If it has no importance, then neither have the "death to the Arabs" chants and the writings of rabbis recommending that many foreskins of Philistines be removed.
Those who play down the importance of the charter also argue that few Paleostinians have read it. I suppose that's true, but how many of us can quote the Israeli Declaration of Independence, have red Leo Pinsker's "Auto-Emancipation," have memorized Theodor Herzl's "Der Judenstaat" and have heard about Ze'ev Jabotinsky's "Iron Wall"?
The essence of pivotal writings infiltrates the spoken language, the educational systems, the language of the press, politicians' speeches, religious holy mans' sermons, and sinks into the national consciousness. The Hamas charter is an important component in the consciousness of those who fire missiles at us, even if they haven't bothered reading a single line of it.
There are those who take pleasure in the Paleostinians' suffering, and there are those who feel sorry for innocent Gazooks who get hurt despite the army's efforts to only hit those who harass us. We can try to reduce the killing of innocent people can, but the conduct of a political entity is the creation of a collective rather than of individuals.
Not all Jews support the occupation and settlement policy, and I am one of those who oppose it, but I do know very well that at the end of the day I will pay the price for this policy, and so will my children and grandchildren, and I would never think of claiming that I am not responsible for it.
I am responsible because I share the responsibility for the society I live in, and if I have failed to change its conduct, the responsibility for that lies on my shoulders as well. That's the way it is in the lives of nations in which the rules of their lives are different from the rules of life of individuals.
Paleostinians in Gazoo who whine that nothing is their fault, because they are the victims of their rulers, because all they want is to make a living and live in peace, may be telling the truth. But if they are indeed telling the truth, they should have rebelled against their rulers and dealt courageously with those building missile bases under their homes.
Because they have failed to do so, they will have to pay a price I would have liked to spare them.
#1
They just might all be good men, but as the saying goes about evil and good men doing nothing... America is free because good men, who would rather be home living in peace raising their families, stood up against evil. If they want peace, they will have to stand up and earn it....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/18/2014 11:50 Comments ||
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#4
innocent Gazoo civilians also ululate and hand out candies at missile strikes in Israel, kidnapped and killed teenage Joooz, and dead Americans on 9/11. I will NOT forgive, forget, or abide
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/18/2014 18:40 Comments ||
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#5
The Paleo-Simians give us such fun spectacles, like the grabbing of dudes at random in the street and dragging them around gazoo until death ensue...
Posted by: Albert Noodleman2094 ||
07/18/2014 23:17 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] An IDF ground incursion into the Gazoo Strip is growing increasingly likely. Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has rejected an Egypt-backed ceasefire, and rockets continue to fall on Israel despite intense Arclight airstrikes. Some Israeli commentators say that the air campaign has reached its culmination point, and is not likely to achieve much more than it already has.
The problem with a ground invasion, say experts both in Israel and abroad, is that it will cost Israel dearly in the lives of its soldiers.
"A limited ground incursion is more likely than ever. And if that happens, Netanyahu knows the IDF is likely to suffer casualties," read an article in the National Review. "A threatened ground invasion of Gazoo would cause heavy casualties on both sides," wrote the Washington Post editors. A ground operation "could exact a heavy toll in blood," predicted Brig.-Gen. (res.) Tzvika Fogel in Israel Hayom.
Continued on Page 49
#1
For a civilian like me, this is a good look at boots on the ground ---- and I really wouldn't want to be near enough to hear those tanks coming.....
Hamas has offensive tunnels whose purpose is to facilitate incursions into Israel
They have smuggling tunnels between gaza and egypt
They have tunnels that store rockets, tunnels that house combat personnel, etc.
The smuggling tunnels have been hit hard from the air.
The offensive tunnels are now being discovered and disabled.
The other tunnels have only barely been touched.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/18/2014 7:50 Comments ||
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#3
Who's afraid of boots on the ground in Gaza? Not the IDF!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/18/2014 10:37 Comments ||
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#4
It seems to me that Hamas is losing big time, so, keep fighting, until they win and all is lost.
In short fight/win/ lie, till you have lost everything.
Like Obama.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/18/2014 11:17 Comments ||
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#5
Israel's most difficult battle IMO is to overcome the bad press they get in America. I have great faith in their military strategists, fire power and the comittment of their people both military and civilian. But here in America, Hollywood and the press would have you think these people are anything but patriots. It disgusts me.
#6
It is as simple as this, If the Palestinians, Hammas, and Arabs put down their weapons, there would be peace. If Israel put down their weapons there would be genocide. Israel need to keep the wolves at bay.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/18/2014 16:53 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] TODAY'S world is the world of democracy and we cannot have our own system irrespective of who we are or where we are. Most people in Pakistain also agree that our system of governance should be some form of a democracy. People's participation in elections, their support for elected representatives, and their explicit or implicit opposition to interventions of a non-democratic nature, as evidenced through the public discourse in the country and our history, clearly establish that.
[IsraelTimes] An IDF ground incursion into the 
