On the Picket Line in Islamabad

ahmadzai #101

`` IIT graduates in the USA have been successful because of networking.``

I room mated with a IITian. They do network more for social than professional reasons. A PhD in database is of little professional help to a PhD in networks. I don`t think most IITians need networking to advance professionally.

re: #101 by ahmadzai
IITans had the talent to begin with. Then, when they got together as a group (in places like Silicon Valley), they started networking.
Networking is common in US. The best eg is the Jewish community. If you do not believe me, you need to talk to a new jewish immigrant from say Russia. He/She gets a Green Card on entering US, gets a soft-loan to jump start his/her life. While others maystruggle to get a job, job comes easily to a jewish immigrant. Being a jew in US is being ahead of the game by several notches. Indians are only slowly catching up in this game.
Sridhar

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bbabu @ # 99:

``On Deobandi/Wahabi Islam I will wait for some Muslim to clearly define what it is and what it isn`t.``

Perhaps this website will help. Let this also enable me to see whether HTML works or not.

The remaining content of your post is subjective. Although I disagree, I do so only partially and respect your viewpoint.

rsridhar at # 96:

You have hit the bulls eye, but in a harsh way. The same advice could be given so as not to break any hearts.

at # 94:

IIT graduates in the USA have been successful because of networking.

Networking counts. Although it resembles nepotism, it is not. Pakistani society (and like you said Indian too) is plagued with nepotism. Networking allows people to be absorbed, but not at the cost of merit. Otoh, nepotism kills merit.

Urstruly #78
My post was about your ideas not about you. Your idea that you can hurt America by bycotting specific items is hogwash.

As for your being bored with your self, you are not the only one. we are alos bored with you.

ahmadzai #87

`` Honor killing is not part and parcel of Pakhtoon society. But it is of Sindhi and Punjabi rural society. ``

Who are you kitting ? I see no contradiction betweem honor kilings and Paktoon code of honor. What happened to the Mohajhir guy in karachi who ran away with the Afridi female lover ? I am sure that the Afridi female is a marked target.

Maybe Paktoon women are more likely to be confined to their homes unlike Punjabi and Sindhi women. This may reduce the suspicions of the males in the society. Hence it may lead to a lower incidence of honor killings in those societies.

`` If you have to point fingers at Pakhtoon society then do so on another gross cruelty - personal vendettas. The family feuds continue for ages. ``

I am sure some of the vendettas have to do with women.

`` Read about rising number of dowry deaths in India at:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/jul2001/ind-j04.shtml ``

Dowry deaths are a problem. It is a modern problem with Indian society. It did not exist 50 years ago. It was a non-issue because guys could just marry another female with no legal repurcussions. Also a lot of females died during child birth. So a lot of guys got to marry multiple times. Why kill a female if she is gone after the fourth pregnancy ?

The problem of honor killings is a age old problem. I get amused when I see Pakistanis describing it as a cultural problem not a religious one. The evidence is that non-Islamic societies have by and large eliminated the problem. It is only some conservative Muslim societies that are resisting.

On Deobandi/Wahabi Islam I will wait for some Muslim to clearly define what it is and what it isn`t.

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re:#59 by wajahat
Nobody says Capitalism is a panacea. It has some good things and some bad things. I do not know about Pak but India seems to borrow only bad things from the west. It is easy to blame west for all the ills that plague your country but think for a moment. How did all those educated young men come to a situation where they had to seek employment only in a Mac food chain? Who is responsible for that?
Western Capitalism is built on certain value system and rule of law. Almost everyone pays taxes here. Come April and everyone tries to beat the deadline (April 14) for paying the yearly tax. In India, hardly 10% pay taxes (even this figure is high).
Then, there is a rule of law in the West and people respect it. The penalty for not obeying the law is severe and people know it is not worth it. Legal redressal is quick (certainly by Indian standards).
It is the people who make the society. If Pakistanis have been copying the western model without copying its strict adherence to rule of law, the consequences are not surprisingly disastrous. For eg. why does a young graduate not get a decent job. No doubt the job goes to someone with proper connections. Merit is not the criteria whereas in the west merit alone counts. In the Indian context, when merit was made the sole criteria for excellence in certain areas (eg IITs and IIMs), the result has been terrific. IIT alumni in US are making waves. I recently saw a 60 min documentary in a US TV channel on IITs as a seat of excellence. So, when merit and excellence are valued in a society, the results are exemplary and noticed by everyone around you.
Why is Pak (or India for that matter) unable to duplicate the success of IITs in every sphere? It is our own society, our own leaders who have brought down the standards. If a deserving candidate today is unable to be gainfully employed, the society is to blame. By shutting off foreign investments, you only make the situation worse.
Sridhar

re:#67 by Urstruly
So, Mullah Sahib,
When are you returning to the ``land of pure``? Holy Jehad beckons you.
Sridhar

re: Mullahs rants
``Isn`t it tragic that in this day and age of information, and technology, and ``freedom of thought and opinion``, in the whole wide world only the Muslim lands from Indonesia to Morroco are under direct colonial occupation of the West?``

Chowk`s mullah is ranting at his best. He has perhaps forgotten the fact that history is always written by the victor and victor is the one who is ahead of the game.
So, life was good for Chowk`s mullah when Ghazni came with his horde of faithfuls to plunder and rape a less powrful nation. Life was good when the Arab world ruled from Morocco to Spain.
Now, suddenly the mullah does not find things to his liking. What has changed? The roles have been reversed. West, which has assiduously built institutions and reposed faith on Science, is ahead of the Islamic nations who have only Holy Qoran to show as achievement in the last several centuries.
Today, western nations are ahead because they do cutting edge research which most Islamic nations (or any other for that matter) do not even think about. It is not as if Saudi Arabia does not have the money. But the ``powers that be`` in that benighted nation have no inclination or motivation to build any scientific institutions. Yes,they may have state of the art hospitals or universities but these are just replica of the west. No cutting edge research is done here. It is the scientific talent that matters in today`s world. That is why a very poor country like India can send a satellite into space or proudly display its talents in the IT sector but what have the Saudis to show except the Oil money. Even that money will vanish the day scientists invent a cheap alternate form of energy.

So, instead of bemoaning the fate of Islamic countries, may be the mullah can talk about how things can be changed in his country and what he can learn from the west.
Sridhar

Iraq will be Bush`s undoing...

New York Times editorial:
Diplomatic Bonfires

This is not what the White House wanted as President Bush starts pointing toward next year`s election campaign.

Iraq is in a state of near anarchy. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is escalating again, and Islamic terrorists are on the attack in the Middle East.

Just at the moment when Mr. Bush would like the nation to think of him as a statesman, everything seems to be going the wrong way in one of the world`s most combustible regions.

Mr. Bush has himself to blame in part. (in part? -- 100%)

Iraq is a mess because the Bush administration failed to plan adequately for the postwar period. The Pentagon has proved itself great at fighting wars but not very good at dealing with their aftermath.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his aides seemed to think that Iraq would emerge from the war as a functioning country that could then be led toward democracy by American officials.

Now, more than a month after the fighting subsided, Iraq remains a lawless land without basic services like electricity, fresh water and decent medical care. Instead of serving as a model for enlightened American rule, Iraq is turning into a symbol of American maladministration. (and American malfeasance)

It is not too late to turn Iraq around, but Mr. Bush will have to be prepared to throw far more resources into the situation, for a much longer time than he originally intended(NYT)

It IS TOO LATEto turn Iraq around

Iraq will be Bush`s undoing...

New York Times editorial:
Diplomatic Bonfires

This is not what the White House wanted as President Bush starts pointing toward next year`s election campaign.

Iraq is in a state of near anarchy. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is escalating again, and Islamic terrorists are on the attack in the Middle East.

Just at the moment when Mr. Bush would like the nation to think of him as a statesman, everything seems to be going the wrong way in one of the world`s most combustible regions.

Mr. Bush has himself to blame in part. (in part? -- 100%)

Iraq is a mess because the Bush administration failed to plan adequately for the postwar period. The Pentagon has proved itself great at fighting wars but not very good at dealing with their aftermath.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his aides seemed to think that Iraq would emerge from the war as a functioning country that could then be led toward democracy by American officials.

Now, more than a month after the fighting subsided, Iraq remains a lawless land without basic services like electricity, fresh water and decent medical care. Instead of serving as a model for enlightened American rule, Iraq is turning into a symbol of American maladministration. (and American malfeasance)

It is not too late to turn Iraq around, but Mr. Bush will have to be prepared to throw far more resources into the situation, for a much longer time than he originally intended(NYT)

________________________________________________

It was TOO LATE to turn Iraq around from the very day the illiterate Texas Cowboy crossed the international boundries of the national morality and decency --

TO EXPECT FROM A COKE AND ALCOHOL DAMAGED presidential brain to understand -- the `consequences` of HIS CRIME -- committed against a foreign country -- of destroying a poor third world BUT functioning country -- into total anarchy --

is equivalent to-- asking a Chimp if it understands -- reverse evolution.

jay/88 . . . I dont understand the logic behind being scared about imported stuff from China . . . here in India Chinese batteries, bulbs, aircon, microwave, tv, aircon etc have come and vanished mainly because of quality issues. It is back to Indian brands or foreign brands made in India. As a matter of fact, some of the South Korean brands are also beginning to wilt across the board.

now the same Shia clegy wants a big piece of Bush`s ass in Iraq -- the same way it bit off a big chunk of Carter`s ass in Iran -- 2 decades ago.

but we -- the ADHD afflicted Americans -- will ever learn? -- nah