[Dawn] THERE must be some method to the `aggressive` tone that Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... adopted during his meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on the margins of the Saarc summit in Addu, the Maldives, on Friday. Although officials have tried to project that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere, the Pak leader was reportedly taken aback by the force with which the Afghan president asked him to provide earnest help in probing the liquidation of Afghan peace jirga chief Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... . Mr Karzai is known for his blow-hot, blow-cold performances, especially with regard to Pakistain. But there has to be a motive behind whichever face he chooses to present on a specific occasion.
It has been observed that the meeting took place not too long after Mr Karzai`s talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. India has a large aid programme in Afghanistan and a strategic cooperation treaty with Kabul. In the hostile environment that has long permeated this region, a logical explanation for Mr Karzai`s tough talk with Pakistain could be found in his growing closeness to New Delhi -- sufficient `proof` of an Afghan `sell-out` to India and the consequent Afghan wariness towards Pakistain. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... some recent developments defy this old approach to understanding positions in the region.
Islamabad is striving to secure not only a political role in Afghan peace talks, it also wants its share in the emerging trade conduit in Afghanistan that is to link South and Central Asia. A few months before the signing of the India-Afghanistan strategic pact, Islamabad resolved a long-standing issue by concluding the Afghan Pakistain Transit Trade Agreement in June this year. Also, Pakistain is making a serious attempt to forge a working relationship with India, especially by deciding to give the latter the status of Most Favoured Nation to facilitate not only bilateral but also regional trade. All these moves are anchored by the US, which finds it prudent to remind Islamabad that the India-Afghanistan partnership has taken into account Pak concerns and therefore does not (for the moment at least) entail the execution of the controversial proposal under which India was to train the Afghan cops. At a time when the latest Saarc summit has attracted adjectives such as `ground-breaking` from business watchers, Mr Karzai appears to be fully aware of the value of a potential South Asian trade bloc to Pakistain. This is an opportune moment for him to demand decisive steps on contentious issues, such as Mr Rabbani`s liquidation. With both the US and India sharing his concerns on terrorism, Mr Karzai appears confident he has got might on his side. Observers would say he is not acting on impulse.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
One of a family of drug manufacturers and dealers, Karz was also an oil company employee. He is the only one in Afghanistan to wear an Indonesian cap. His sovereignty is in his shoes.
#1
FTA: In the case of economics, traditional views and standards have gone completely out the window in a way that I and probably every other analyst in the field have never heard of or encountered. All expectations are now null and void. Manipulation of the marketplace is no longer a subversive and secretive process, but open government and central banking policy!
Been there for all to see since 2007, perhaps earlier. Ultimate outcome is still uncertain, but it looks to be awful.
[Dawn] FOR hundreds of thousands of years the ancestors of today`s man were hunter-gatherers. They were spread all over Earth and wandered around in mobile family bands, foraging for food as their chief occupation.
They lived on wild plants and animals that they picked or trapped. It was an egalitarian system, as each had to find his/her own food: if one didn`t, he/she starved. The surviving Aborigines of Australia and Bushmen of the Kalahari are prime examples. There were no kings, presidents, parliamentarians, ministers, court officials, soldiers or other parasites that we have today.
The discovery and development of agriculture and animal domestication, which started some 12,000 years ago, has been the raison d`être for the extraordinary progress of our species, the kaboom in worldwide population from five million (10,000BC) to seven billion (2,011AD), the gigantic development of art and science, the progressive establishment of villages, towns and cities -- and the overexploitation of the planet`s resources and decimation of its environment, accelerating over the past 250 years with the advent of the Industrial Revolution.
But many modern men, especially in societies such as in Pakistain, have, in numerous complex ways, remained hunter-gatherers. And it is these new `hunter-gatherer` breeds that are slowly, but surely, destroying the fabric and peace of life in our society.
Criminal gangs, sponsored by political parties, make urban areas their hunting grounds, gathering kidnap ransoms, extorting from industries and business houses, looting from armed burglaries, hold-ups, snatching vehicles, cellphones, watches and wallets from the general public.
Corrupt `leaders` (in and out of uniform) and their cronies are hunters of a comparable kind, gathering kickbacks and commissions from licences and contracts, grabbing land and amenity plots, and robbing public banks, financial bodies and government-run institutions (PIA, Steel Mills, Railways, Wapda, etc).
Not to be left behind are hunters of a different ilk, the industrialists and businessmen and others, gathering evaded taxes and duties, monies that should have been spent on compliance with various laws, and the benefit of fair wages not paid to employees. All seem determined to empty the national exchequer.
The latest struggle over `spoils` of the hunt involves the nature of the local government system. With a large proportion of the province`s population and financial budget (and consequently its power), Bloody Karachi and Hyderabad are the `plums` in the `pudding` that is Sindh.
For the past six months, the partners in the province`s coalition government have been quarrelling over the form that the local government (LG) should take. The MQM wishes to retain the 2001 Musharraf version which gave maximum autonomy to the city district government, while the PPP and ANP are rooting for the 1979 Ziaul Haq version (incorporating the commissioner structure) where the provincial government called the shots.
For a brief while in August 2011, a compromise solution (Musharraf`s in the larger cities, Zia`s in the rural areas) was legislated, but quickly amended when the nationalist parties objected.
These hunter-gatherers of all persuasions are not really interested in which system actually better serves the citizens: the MQM wants the 2001 system so that they can effectively control Bloody Karachi and Hyderabad, the PPP/ANP want the 1979 system for the opposite reason -- so that the MQM cannot have complete control. Public service is virtually of no consequence.
Dr Kaiser Bengali, sound economist and former adviser/minister to the Sindh government, has recently proposed an LG system combining elements of the previous two laws in order for it to be acceptable to all major parties, to create a balance between province and the districts, and promote improved service delivery to the citizens.
He floated the initiative through the Human Rights Commission of Pakistain, and later debated it during a workshop hosted by Shehri.
Dr Bengali, using census data, clarified why the MQM is severely distressed about the changing linguistic demographics of Bloody Karachi, and its perception that votes/seats are slipping out of its hand. From a low of about six per cent of the city inhabitants in 1941, the Urdu-speaking population skyrocketed to 50 per cent in 1951 and 54 per cent in 1981, and is now reducing (48 per cent in 1998) to a projected 29 per cent in 2045.
The Pakhtuns, on the other hand, who were only three per cent in 1941, rose to 11 per cent in 1998, and, if the earthquake and war-on-terror migration trends of the past five years continue, will exceed 31 per cent in 2045. The Sindhis (61 per cent in 1941) reached a low of six per cent by 1981, but are likely to rise to 13 per cent by 2045.
Sindh`s coalition parties are allegedly trying to find a middle ground, critical for the future of the province and its cities. But all of this presupposes that every participant wishes to `play the game`, not merely `win at all costs`, and realises that its team will lose, win or draw various matches.
In a cricket match, if a side cannot tolerate defeat and uses all means, fair or foul, to emerge victorious, it scarcely matters if an over has eight (instead of six) balls, or whether the pitch is 30 yards (instead of 22). Compromise formulas only work for sane parties of goodwill, for sportsmen.
The spoils and benefits of the Bloody Karachi government are manifold. The building control authority sponsors lucrative unauthorised construction (now all over the province), the master-plan department unlawfully converts land-use to commercial use, illegal water connections are in great demand, construction of roads, over/under-passes and government buildings involves graft, and even the health, education and social welfare departments generate pelf. Time will tell who will become the chief hunter- gatherer.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2011 00:00 ||
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Time to pull the plug, right? Not according to Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The new "business plan is solid and lays the foundation for a 21st-century transportation system," he said. Equally upbeat, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood offered Mr. Brown his congratulations on "a sound, step-by-step strategy for building a world-class high-speed rail network."
Alas, there is only one place where the state could finish the necessary environmental impact statements and other bureaucratic requirements before the use-it-or-lose-it date: a thinly populated 130-mile stretch of flatland that starts just north of Fresno and ends just north of Bakersfield. At least Migrant Workers, Illegal Aliens, Undocumented Democrats can travel between farm jobs quickly.
#2
Every time I think we can't get any dumber or more corrupt here, I'm confounded to learn we can. Does anybody honestly think a 90+billion dollar rail system that reduced the travel time between SF and LA from 8 hours to 4, and costs as much as airfare (or more depending on the estimates you read) at current rates without subsidy, is economically viable? Even the truly naive laugh at this boondoggle.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/14/2011 11:55 Comments ||
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#4
Visalia would have been a nice stop (very nice area plus over 100,000 residents), but it won't be goin
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/14/2011 12:09 Comments ||
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#5
Does anybody honestly think a 90+billion dollar rail system that reduced the travel time between SF and LA from 8 hours to 4, and costs as much as airfare (or more depending on the estimates you read) at current rates without subsidy, is economically viable?
Actually it might well do so. Both LA and SF have airport capacity problems and airport access problems (and of course there is the TSA issue).
The Acela (which averages only 75 mph or so) carries a lot of passengers (about half the total bus+car+train+air market between DC and NY). There are many ways to define 'economic viability'. By any reasonable GAAP method the Acela loses money (about $100M/month not counting depreciation of the track) but that is, depending on your assumptions, offset by the decrease in congestion on the highways and airports.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/14/2011 15:02 Comments ||
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#7
Rode the Amtrak regional from DC to Richmond VA recently. Did an upgraded business class ticket at about $45. Nice enough but I'm sure Amtrak still lost money on me.
I don't see the economics of 'high speed rail' working without massive government subsidies. If the problem is airport capacity, raise the ticket tax and add to the capacity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2011 15:50 Comments ||
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#8
Both LA and SF have airport capacity problems...
..and for that matter the NY-DC corridor. Anyone think that maybe that when you have such a situation, the solution may not be building more transportation pipelines. Choosing to be in those locations should have consequences whose solutions are not everyone else subsidizing them. If you let the hassles get big enough, people will finally move to places reducing the problem in and of itself. Relocate.
#9
This is what happens when stupid people are allowed to vote and hucksters are allowed to put propositions on the ballot without disclosure. A high speed rail between SF and LA sounds great, really it does. But it will never make money, will cost probably 10 times the original estimate, and so far has employed more lawyers than builders. Jerry Brown could stop this with a stoke of a pen but he wont.
#10
I don't see the economics of 'high speed rail' working without massive government subsidies.
There is no mass transit anywhere in the world that pays for itself if one includes the building costs. And with very few if any exceptions they don't ever cover their operating costs, either.
#11
There is no mass transit anywhere in the world that pays for itself if one includes the building costs. Do you consider airlines as 'mass transit'? I read somewhere that, over time, airlines are not profitable for their stockholders. Industries that service airlines may make money, airlines not nearly as much, if any, overall.
#13
If the problem is airport capacity, raise the ticket tax and add to the capacity.
Ever see the crap that airport's have to go if they even drop a hint about expanding? The "community", the "activists", the "environmentalists", the "noise abattors", the local government...everybody comes out of the woodwork either with their hand out or the big hammer for an even bigger shakedown.
Good luck with that. Might as well try to build a nuclear plant.
#14
Both LA and SF have airport capacity problems and airport access problems (and of course there is the TSA issue).
So is the choice between adding a few extra runways or hundreds of miles of track? Seems to me they could find a place to put a few extra runways between SF and LA.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
11/14/2011 21:15 Comments ||
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#16
Where they screwed this up was the direction. Should have run a Highspeed Rail from Ontario to Vegas. Get just outside of LA and land costs drop. You can get to Ontario, park your car ride the train to Vegas - take a cab to the hotel. The route is good and cheap land. Another run that would make sense is Ontario to San Diego. Same issues the State already owns the I-15 corridor. Both those routes are way over crowded on the freeways. I-5 to the Bay Area not so much. Also Ontario has a decent airport for connections along the west coast. Thsy should have started by making it just So Cal and Vegas. Taking on half the State to big a bite. Hell I would consider a high speed rail from San Diego to Las Vegas that is a brutal drive. The time to get thru TSA, Airport delays and cost might make it worth it. The problem I see is that a rail line has no competion, airlines offer specials to get passengers.
Posted by: retired LEO ||
11/14/2011 21:37 Comments ||
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#17
Also Ontario has a decent airport for connections along the west coast.
Ontario's issue is that it's 'managed' by the same people that run LAX. It's underutilized, under-maintained, under-staffed, and overcharged.
#2
The release of 1027 terrorist prisoners by Israel in exchange for one Israeli is evidence of the Jewish states racism (or feeling of supremacy), a racism embedded in Judaism itself.
...
Last week, I upset a lot of people by suggesting Zionists saw themselves as chosen. My words were badly chosen and poorly used.
Ok, how about you rewrite that for us so we can see what you "really" meant.
Another "I was misunderstood!" tactic. Where have we seen this before?
#3
Last week, I upset a lot of people by suggesting Zionists saw themselves as chosen. My words were badly chosen and poorly used.
Given that words are the sole tools of Ms Orr's trade, a trade for which she is being paid extraordinarily well on the assumption that she is a master of her craft, the apology must either be a lie or she is not the master she was assumed to be. Either way, the thing which should happen but won't is that she should either be demoted to the reporting pool or be summarily fired. But the editors of the Guardian are also anti-Zionist antisemites, so the apology is a mere pro forma, fooling absolutely nobody.
#1
Key quote relevant to WOT: Deterrence worked with a nuclear-armed Russia. It wont work with the apocalyptic Shiite leadership of Iran. As a practical matter, we must stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, no matter how great the cost.
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] THERE must be some method to the `aggressive` tone that 
