Charlie's Angels Strike Again

Charlie's Angels of the "land of pure" are back in action. Good luck with their "noble" mission!! Let's see how His Enlightened Moderation restores "writ of the state" right under his nose.


The women who led Tuesday night's raid near the city centre included teachers and students incensed, the school says, by reports the house was being used for immoral purposes.

They were later joined by male colleagues from the men's section of the madrassa.
When the alleged brothel's owner refused to shut the building, the raiding party forcibly shut it themselves and took the woman, her daughter and daughter-in-law back to the madrassa where they are still being held.
Initially the police were reluctant to step in to rescue the woman, but later registered a case and arrested two female teachers of the school.
But students then kidnapped two policemen from a nearby patrol. They too are being held in the madrassa and were allowed to speak to reporters.


Meanwhile, cities in further north have started bearing the fruits of so-called "peace deals" with Taliban, as this report seems to suggest:
Hundreds of heavily-armed militants have attacked security forces in north-west Pakistan, officials say. Up to 25 militants died, police said, along with a soldier and a civilian in the town of Tank near South Waziristan in the troubled Afghan border area. Security posts and property were said to have been attacked by militants with rockets in a seven-hour onslaught. Armed men also seized the headmaster of a school, where two people died when police and militants clashed on Monday.

Not to be tossed aside lightly .......

Can't say about the novel under review here but couldn't resist enjoying Dorothy Parker's wit. :)



It reminds me of Dorothy Parker’s comment on Mussolini’s The Cardinal’s Mistress: “This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

Witty Wishy

Diverse personalities - all joined by their share of wit. Some witty quotations from this aritcle:

The best often came from Winston Churchill. He had a style of saying things none of us can improve on. Consider this as a way of putting someone down: “He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” Or, better still: “A modest little person with much to be modest about.”

Equally pithy and apposite was Oscar Wilde. Of an acquaintance he did not regard highly, he said: “He has no enemies but is intensely disliked by his friends.” Of himself, he’s alleged to have commented: “Falling in love with oneself is the start of a life long romance.” Of those he disliked: “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”

By and large, it’s the British who have this wonderful knack for tongue-in-cheek humour. George Bernard Shaw once sent Churchill two tickets for the opening night of a new play with a note which read: “For you and a friend — if you have one.” Churchill replied: “I can’t make the first night but I’ll be there for the second — if there is one.”

It may surprise you to discover that Americans can be equally clever with their wit. Amongst the best is Mark Twain. Consider this: “I didn’t attend the funeral but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” Or, “Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without an address on it?” But my favourite is this description of a friend by Forrest Tucker: “He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.”

Now here are a few you could bandy about at a party or cast in the direction of those you want to snub. Believe it or not, they were dreamt up by politicians. Talleyrand, Napoleon’s foreign minister, once said of a woman: “In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yields easily.” Paul Keating, who was Prime Minister of Australia in the 1990s, said of an opponent: “He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.”

With Friends Like These ...

With "friends" like these, who needs enemies. Fits rightly on the "advisors" of His Enlightened Moderation. Ayesha Siddiqa rightly points out the perils of throwing one's lot with sychophants.

Unfortunately, the problem with sycophancy is that it completely blurs the vision and does not allow a person to visualise the emerging threats. Past dictators were equally intelligent. But they also missed out on numerous warning signs once they gathered sycophants around themselves. The private admiration club takes away the ability of a leader to see which direction the wind is blowing.

Mush's survival tips

Hoodbhoy describs it accurately here :

Musharraf is not taking chances. He knows that the real threat to his power comes from within his constituency, the military. As a result, he has become obsessed with micromanaging everything from troop movements and special events to postings and promotions.

However, the looming crisis in the wake of Chief Justice's suspension will be a real test for Mush's survival skills.

Commando's latest shot

His Enlightened Moderation has never been averse to test his commando skills where they are least needed (i.e. outside the battefield). That seems to be his way of establishing "writ of the state". This time the target happens to be the Chief justice of Supreme Court of "the land of the pure". Pakistani polity is in hot waters - but nothing unusual or unexpected in a country where institutions have ceased to be functional except "A Few Good Men" of the "gallant and the glorious" Pakistan Army. However, I seriously doubt if this incident turns out to be the last nail in Mush's coffin - inspite of what the doomsayers say. To me, it does not seem to be "the beginning of the end"; just "business as usual". Consider. Benazir and Nawaz Sharif persona non grata on one hand, and mullahs alive and kicking across the country, on the other. 27 years jail for Javed Hashmi, and "temporary house arrests" for likes of Hafiz Saeed and Masud Azhar. "Peace deals" with Taliban, while " hitting from where you won't even know" for Bugti. And that's just tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for more wonders ahead!

Post-Mortem Paternity

Death will not stop us ! Now humans will be able to reproduce even after death. Lovely!

In a precedent-setting decision, an Israeli court has ruled that a dead soldier's family can have his sperm impregnated into the body of a woman he never met.

Clash of Titans

Richard Branson and Rupert Mudroch at loggerheards! A constructive side of big business corporatism.

Science vs. Faith

A picture is worth a thousand words!