Goodbye Pinky

Re: # 109

bubba mian,

it is a big range - somewhere between 5 and 50% ..... it can be as low as a 5% fee charged by the meter reader reduce your electriciy bill by fifty percent and as high as 50% of the duty on an imported luxury car ....... even when you die you might have to pay a fee to find a spot in an overcrowded graveyard ......

Hamid mian,

what is the going rate in Pakistan to sell away your party principles, policies and expectations to others?

You can answer in percentages, e.g. as you suggested Zardari would sell anything for a flat rate of 10%.

What percentage is needed to buy off the military? or the bureaucrats?

All those defense housing societies that were sold by the military, should also be put into the equation.

What percentage is needed to buy off the mafiaso dada of Karachi? What percentage is needed to buy off Nawaz Shariff? What percentage is needed to buy off any of those 50 or so political parties? Mullah diesel? etc, etc.

And who are the pay masters? In my estimate the biggest ones are the industrialists and the goons of NS or the PML-Q. I bet if extensive research is done and is validated the asking percentage by others would come out to be higher than what Zardari wanted as a flat rate.

Did you ever not wonder how the Pakistani rich elite get their financing through this bourgeois style robbing the national exchequer?

Pakistani military is getting $1B a year from the US, just to get it directed back to Boston.

Re: # 106

nasah,

..... i still refuse to open that ... that rag .... it goes straight from the mailbox into the recycling box ...... the day i open and read it i will join tahmed and start taking naps in the middle of the day ! ...... but they do say that the aarp is the most powerful lobby in this country - maybe they had someting to do with bb's murder ...... you just cannot trust those senile old fools :)

Speaking of Mr 10% and selling support to highest bidder - that's a time honored paki tradition - from high level generals in islamabad to smelly tribal leaders in NWFP... in the immortal words of some CIA dude - "pakis can sell their mothers form a few bucks"...

Pakis have been renting themselves out for all sorts of mercenary work for a long time... so why blame Mr 10% Zardari?... he is just doing what come natural to pakis...

Even BB's return to pakiland was part of US plan... her latest "brave" fight against jihad was only because that's what US wants - not because BB was really personally against that... after all, she whole-heartedly sponsored kashmir jihad...

rentier mentality - it's a fine paki tradition...

Re: # 100

"i ask myself: is this what i will be like in a couple of years ?! (i started getting the aarp magazine last year)"(hamidm)

only last year? -- man you are in trouble -- I am getting that crap for the last ten years -- and just looking at it aged me 20 years -- and I didn't even ask for it.

Now you don't think that the AARP did it -- do you? -- if it did -- I will cancel that unsolicited American rag -- right now.

Re: # 104

tahmed,

correction : "fortunately, unlike you (and the cat) i don't doze off in the middle of the day" :)

Re: # 103

tahmed,

sigh ! ........ all i can do is sigh ...... if it was up to me i would appoint aitizaz as the chairman of ppp and the cat would get scraps from the butcher everyday ..... unfortunately, unlike you, i don't doze off in the middle of the day .......

..... but keep on dreaming ........

#100 hamidm: no one asked "everyone in pakistan" if a bhutto has to lead ppp, so you are merely making an assertion, not describing reality.

the reality, best as i can tell, is as i described it below: for the very reasonable price of 10%, zardari will no doubt sell his support to the highest bidder. that is the reality my friend behind the assertion you made.

and you can be like me in a few years if you really put your mind to it!! here is how: get gym membership. while exercising your body on the eliptical, refresh your spirits by observing the serene view outside and inside, and exercise your mind by thinking profound, long-term thoughts. reflect, e.g., on the foolishness that causes Pakistani leaders (BB or Musharraf or anyone else, it doesnt matter) who all act as if they will live forever. BB names herself life chairman, when she could have stepped back and built up the party and let someone like Aitezaz come forward - she would still be alive, PPP would not be reduced to a 10% party, and she would actually leave a legacy rather than mere sentiments.

Farewell to light in the dark
A sad day for Pakistan, let us hope the forces of intolerance, repression and ignorance not win because f her demise, many a twisted mind will be celebrating in the caves of tora bora.

I’m no fan of dynastic politicians, simply because I think it’s another form of corruption, it tends to crowd out more talented individuals but, in emerging democracies it’s to be expected because people tend to identify with personalities rather than policies.

hamid writes "....... for a person who failed to get tenure at a community college in mississippi"

I have never been to mississippi, neither have I ever worked at a community college

Hamid: "........ don't push your luck, otherwise we will get you kicked off ....... "

Just as my original post stated the we is shaken to the core by my writings and will do anything and everything to try to rid these streets of me.

Re: # 99


tahmed,

..... almost everyone in pakistan knows that a 'bhutto' has to lead the ppp just as a 'wali khan' has to lead the anp ......makhdoom amin fahim will be the candidate for pm and zardari will try to act out sonia gandhi's role until rahul is ready to take charge (i do agree that he is a bad choice, but the ppp has no other options unless they want turmoil in the family and rank and file of the party) ....... wake up and smell the kava, but first crawl out from under the rock ! .

....... sometimes you drive me nuts with your naivity and scare the crap out of me .... i ask myself: is this what i will be like in a couple of years ?! (i started getting the aarp magazine last year)

Re: # 98

tahmed,

.... it seems that you are totally out of touch with the reality of pakistan - when was the last time you were there ?

#96 hamidm: actually, it is more like musharraf needs a zardari to cling to power. and no doubt, for the extremely reasonable rate of 10%, zardari will oblige.

and please restrain from passing your negative comments on the people of Pakistan. That merely adds insult to their injury caused by the characterless babu class.

SO sad,while India is busy in celebrations of New Year, thinking ideas, creative constructions, working for new projects in pipelines,for establishing new industries and improving existing Industrial GIANTS(as far as south east Asia is concerned) like Bollywood showbiz and IT, we r whirling in viscious circle of choosing bad leadership, creating more political jokers, incessant political debates religious manzras, and cheap political soap operas.
T.S.Elliot wrote:
I can see more and more clearly
the many many mistakes I made
The mistaken attempts
to correct mistakes
By methods which proved to be
regularly mistaken

Nikhat Riaz

Re: # 90

nikhat bibi,

...... i agree with you in principle, but unfortunately ppp needs a 'bhutto' to maintain its vote bank .... that's just the way it is

delusional masadi

" I know I am a very influential writer and my writing has affected you and shaken the core of your previous (uninformed) belief, " ........

....... for a person who failed to get tenure at a community college in mississippi, masadi mian sure has delusions of grandeur ! ....... look mian, 'publishing' on chowk and lulu.com does not qualify as 'writing' ...... and even on chowk, i think that the distinguished readership would rank you at the bottom and most wish that you would simply go away ...... i myself have called upon chowk management to ban you, but for some perverse reason they keep you around ........ don't push your luck, otherwise we will get you kicked off .......