When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough #91 Posted by Urstruly on May 11, 2008 5:52:12 pm

here's what you said..


the number of women in higher education is 75% vs. 25% men in Pakistan alone.


Table 9: Number of Students Produced by Level of Degree during 2001-04.

Male:61799
Female: 56257

Are you numerically challenged? Does that looks like a 75%-25% split?

Lets take bachelor degrees

Male: 40350
Female:41714

Does that look like a 75%-25% split to you?


but I'd like to rub it in your face anyway


yeah pal..way to go..you really won that one..

p.s. I'm not even going to comment on the ridiculously low number of grads overall...

PPP Isn’t Convinced! prophetboy: meet the new boss, same as the old boss..

Why another crackdown on media is round the corner

Monday, May 12, 2008
Comment

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Yet again, the media in Pakistan is under serious threat. Alarm bells have already started ringing. Naked warnings are being overtly given. Lists of "troublemakers" in the media are being compiled and the NRO-laundered intelligence sleuths are being assigned to straighten out the "crooked" pen pushers.

Some media houses have been pinpointed for "conspiring" against the elected government (read presidency if you like) and are being warned to get ready for another round of beating. The stage is being set to teach the unrepentant media a lesson.

The assault could be subtle. It could be uncouth and blatant. It could be direct. It could be vicious. Some fear, perhaps it has already been conceptualised and may be launched within days, if not already put into action.

The journalists smell a rat when they talk with government leaders, but they have not panicked. They are rather relaxed and prepared for the fight to defend the freedom of the press as guaranteed by the Constitution.

It might be new for the present day masters of our destiny to flex their newly acquired state muscles to tame the media but those associated with this profession are used to it. From the days of the draconian press laws introduced by the first military dictator of Pakistan General Ayub Khan to the era of public whipping of journalists during Zia's Martial Law and then to the post Nov 3, 2007 media-specific black days of General Musharraf's military rule, not to mention the wrongs done to the country's press during the democratic governments of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the losers have always been those trying to strangulate the media.

But the rulers perhaps are not in the habit of learning lessons from other people's experiences. At least, it seems so from what is being contemplated now to gag the media, whose major crime today is that it reminds the leaders of their actions and promises of the past.

A lunch hosted by a PML-Q lady MNA at her Margalla Road house on Friday served as an opportunity for a selected gathering of "notorious" journalists to share their views on the looming threats to the media.

The host of Aaj TV's popular programme 'Bolta Pakistan' and senior journalist Nusrat Javeed believes that the crackdown on media is just round the corner. It might strike us in just a few days. He was of the view that a 'financial emergency' was likely to be imposed to attain the objectives of the vested interests.

Hamid Mir, the host of Geo TV's CapitalTalk and a senior columnist, was certain that the D-day was just 10 days away. He said that the list of five marked journalists had swelled to 17 and possibly included the names of most of those invited to the lunch.

According to Hamid Mir's assessment, amongst the media houses, Geo News, The News and Aaj Television were said to be the first in the firing line. † Our Group Editor Shaheen Sehbai perhaps had some clear picture of what was simmering against the media but for being a man of few words he kept his secrets to himself.

Syed Talat Hussain shared his latest confrontation with some presidency-backed local businessman, who told him that the media was responsible for all the present ills of Pakistan. The man had reportedly celebrated the March 9, 2007 removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry because the latter had ruined his golf dreams. It had all happened because of the media, so for the likes of this man media is undoubtedly the villain and, therefore, should be cursed.

Kashif Abbasi of the ARY TV was sharing with this scribe the kind of pressures he was presently facing. Geo TV's Dr Shahid Masood from Dubai explained as to why he focused on Rehman Malik in his popular programme 'Meray Mutabiq' on Saturday night. Dr Shahid said that during his last visit to Islamabad, he got a plain warning from Rehman Malik in the presence of Asif Ali Zardari.

"The situation is really scary," he said, adding that Rehman Malik talked of his "punches" to respond to the "punches" of the media. Malik, he said, introduced himself as the establishment and the master of all the intelligence agencies. "Honestly, it was shocking for me," Dr Shahid said, adding that Benazir Bhutto had done a lot to support the cause of the independent media, particularly after Nov 3, 2007 but things had now changed altogether.

Media is today the only pillar of the state that is still standing but under a serious threat. The other key pillar, the judiciary, was made to collapse on Nov 3, 2007 when General Musharraf carried out his coup against the institution. The new parliament is already is shambles and lacks confidence. The Executive is simply nowhere and is hostage to the status quo of the remnants of the past military regime.

May one ask the champions of democracy and the masters of our destiny on what grounds and basis do they intend to run the state. Can the state survive without these pillars? Have our leaders developed some innovative vision, alien to the world's experiences, to run the country? Are we going to prove to the world that we actually are a banana republic? Enjoy your bananas.

When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough #72 Posted by Urstruly on May 11, 2008 1:50:18 pm

A follow up...If participating in the workforce is such a soul sucking experience, why do muslim women living in the free west have a higher workforce participation number than the women living in the land of the free?

When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough #72 Posted by Urstruly on May 11, 2008 1:50:18 pm


the number of women in higher education is 75% vs. 25% men in Pakistan alone. This bursts your myth right there.


Setting aside the fact that the numbers you quote are straight from the famous paki thinktank PIROMPA - The Pulled It Right Outta My Paki Ass institute - would a comparison of percentages only be valid if the overall number was high enough?




As far as workforce participation is concerned one must ask at what cost. The woman in west has to abandon family, relationships and home to build a career.


yeah..let's not give the bitch a choice to participate in the workforce...she'll just open her mouth and drive everyone nuts anyway...


In America only now a woman is running for presidents' post and her being a woman is number one issue.


I believe the number one issue is the women in question being a female of the canine species with no ethics or morals whatsoever...but then you must be reading some other number...PIROMPA number perhaps?


I do not expect much from you since you are a hindu, who have no moral or societal code


That would be atheist with no moral or societal or ethical code..

look pal...as appealing as the thought of a beltway free of soccer moms sounds, you don't have a leg to stand on...

p.s. do pakis not grasp the concept of the internet and how easily fake numbers can be debunked?

When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough #64 Posted by HP on May 11, 2008 12:14:06 pm


Is it true that Christians, Hindu, Sikh,and Jews have stopped beating their wives?


christian, hindu, sikh and jewish women are doing way better than islamic women..

Take any measure..education, achievement, workforce participation...

if you're saying that this is because christians, hindus, sikhs and jews beat their women, then maybe you need to beat your women more...sorta like eight belles..

When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough #66 Posted by izuber on May 11, 2008 12:47:00 pm


This does not justify violence anywhere


Umm...you're doing exactly that..justifying violence by saying it happens in america too..if you're not, then statistics from america, where women are doing way way better than those in islamofascist countries, is as relevant as traffic statistics on the beltway...

When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough #67 Posted by izuber on May 11, 2008 12:48:27 pm

goatbrain: are you seriously comparing the status of israeli women with those of women in islamic countries?

Race to the Finish #770 Posted by Zeena on May 10, 2008 12:08:28 am


wawawawa


zeena the retard princess: that's the only coherent part of your rant..

PPP Isn’t Convinced! what happened to your old computer prophetboy? You took out your anger and frustration on it?

PPP Isn’t Convinced! #168 Posted by tahmed32 on May 10, 2008 10:11:27 am


mao-tse tung said "who cares if the cat is black or white if it catches mice"


mao was right..

And America doesn't care if the leash is leather or plastic as long as it whacks the jihadis...

PPP Isn’t Convinced! #145 Posted by tahmed32 on May 9, 2008 6:05:24 pm

going by the standard that the more people think you're a moron, the smarter you are, musharraf must be a genius then...

PPP Isn’t Convinced! #143 Posted by Naqshbandi on May 9, 2008 2:51:55 pm

his moral high horse is so tall his head is always in the clouds...

PPP Isn’t Convinced! #141 Posted by Naqshbandi on May 9, 2008 10:19:38 am

did prophet tahmed(pbuhsrr) get the memo about US support being important and about the US backing the dictator?

PPP Isn’t Convinced! prophetboy...

Call in Senate for change in pro-US foreign policy

By Raja Asghar

ISLAMABAD, May 8: Both friends and foes of the new government urged it during a Senate debate on Thursday to review what many saw as a pro-US foreign policy charted by a military-led establishment, which the coalition-leading Pakistan People’s Party said it would not become part of.

Senators from Islamic parties, majority of whom are allies of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s 40-day-old coalition government, were most vehement in demanding that Pakistan withdraw from the US-led so-called war against terrorism while most of others who spoke in the inconclusive debate wanted changes to make the foreign policy independent of American dictation and for initiatives to end the scourge of pro-Taliban militancy in the country, particularly in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Race to the Finish #765 Posted by masadi on May 9, 2008 6:47:26 am

First I thought you were an affirmative action speaker..

now we find out you're not even qualified for THAT...

I'm glad to know even AA has some minimum standards..

PPP Isn’t Convinced! #115 Posted by zeemax on May 9, 2008 6:33:05 am

scissor salesman: did you see the billionaires list from your old home, the united kingdom? The guy you were laughing at...laxmi mittal..did you see how much his net worth has grown..

you know...if you work really hard and keep your nose clean, mr mittal may hire you as a driver...diver for his chauffeur.