Meeting the Pakistani-Swiss #61

you know what, I deal with enough arrogant brits at work to put up with another one on the net.

why dont you just look around to see what UT-Austin is all about. A ranking by your own Times Educational Supplement of the top universities of the world places it at 26, outranked by only 2 UK universities: LSE and Imperial College.

Meeting the Pakistani-Swiss #67
The best measure of comprehensive human development is the UN-HDI(Human Development Index)

From the 2005 report UN-HDI ranks:

Country HDI (2003)
1 Norway 0.963
2 Iceland 0.956
3 Australia 0.955
4 Luxembourg 0.949
5 Canada 0.949
6 Sweden 0.949
7 Switzerland 0.947
8 Ireland 0.946
9 Belgium 0.945
10 United States 0.944
11 Japan 0.943
12 Netherlands 0.943
13 Finland 0.941
14 Denmark 0.941
15 United Kingdom 0.939
16 France 0.938
17 Austria 0.936
18 Italy 0.934
19 New Zealand 0.933
20 Germany 0.930

Though I would think that a difference of scores between 0.944 an 0.939 would not be statistically significant (i.e. may not pass a hypothesis test at 90% confidence)

Meeting the Pakistani-Swiss sorry
``but nowhere as comprehensive as the US.`` should be ``but nowhere as comprehensive as the UK``

Meeting the Pakistani-Swiss #49

Yes, healthcare is a big problem in the US, but there are programs like medicare link but nowhere as comprehensive as the US.

about education, there are a whole lot of inexpensive educational options for those not bright enough to get scholarships, like Community Colleges. Typically 90+% students at community colleges are working. The low cost of living in most of the US makes working and studying part-time a lot more feasible than in Europe.

Of course if you are bright its a different matter altogether, for instance in Texas if you graduate in the top 10% of your high school class you are gaurenteed a position at any public university in Texas. You can see this program is oriented more towards schools with lower educational levels.

Ever check out what in-state tuition is at University of Texas? (which btw blows the socks of 90% of UK universities)

Meeting the Pakistani-Swiss #41

agreed, america is better for the educated and the well off but a system should be judged by how it treats its weakest and poorest members.

thats bull, there is a lot more of small business opportunities in any major US cities compared to european cities. These are the kind of businesses that are the lifeblood of poorly educated new immigrants.

For instance do you think the Pakistani`s and Nigerian`s selling replicas of the Eiffel tower outside the Gallerie Laffeyette on Blvd Haussman have any chance of moving to a small store inside a mall and selling their wares?

In the US that`s exactly what happens.

Meeting the Pakistani-Swiss #40

Oh there more stuff I forget:

- the whole fake Fendi purse, fake perfume business is Pakistani dominated with lots of small stores in the malls.
- Pakistani`s dominate the the small jewellerly, trinket carts in the malls.

all typical small entrepreneurial stuff.

Meeting the Pakistani-Swiss lets see in Houston:

- all 3 bollywood movie theatre`s are Pakistani owned
- you would be hard pressed to find a non-Pakistani owned cellphone store, dish-network agency, convinience store in certain parts of town (although there are lots of Indian`s also in these businesses)
- there are more Pakistani and Indo/Pakistani restaurants in town than you can wave a stick at (btw the Indo/Pakistani is a dead giveaway)
- some of the most prominent travel agencies are Pakistani owned
- a major Mitsubishi dealership is Pakistani owned (he sponsors lots of Pakistani events)
- A major furniture chain is Pakistani owned and employes a whole lot of his brethern. Lots of other small furniture stores are Pakistani owned, competing with the vietnamese, koreans mexicans etc.
- A local councillor is of Pakistani origin
- The Pakistani new years day festivities are the largest in town (I would think much bigger than the Indian one)

The only criticism may be that most Pakistani owned businesses are focussed on the desi community, but this will change with time.

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #223

you have given words to Hamidm`s greatest fears here. This means his cousins in Jalalabad will be able to visit his house in Islamabad Defence at a moments notice. They will squat on the lawn and chew niswar in full view of his neighbours.

ya allah, the horror.

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #211

ek jara sa jhoka, aur utar gaya rukh se nakab

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #212

Nadir Shah Afghan?

The afghans are coming for sure, ever think what lies between the Afghans and Delhi?

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #190

actually HP is quite right there, specially since he is referring to the pre-98 and pre-9-11 relationship. US authors like Steve Coll like to blame it on US indifference towards Afghanistan, but I suspect HP is closer to the truth here.

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #185

That is what Musharraf and the foreign ministry spokesmen were saying in their interviews to western media.

How are you so sure that the same was being advised by the ISI in Afghanistan?

note your statement:

However, the Taliban by this time were not completely under the ISI control and refused to follow its well-mening advice

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy DM #155

However, the Taliban by this time were not completely under the ISI control and refused to follow its well-mening advice.

could you expand more on the ``well-meaning`` advice that the ISI was providing that the Taliban chose to ignore.

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #63

the Pakistani`s have no choice, the Taliban are an expression of the nationalistic sentiment of the Durrani Pastuns and they will rule on both sides of the border.

The Pakistani and the Afghan state`s are both artificial anyway, both be dammed!

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #52

and that is precisely the problem.

Pakistan\'s Afghan Policy #48

In general Pakistan`s great failure in Afghanistan comes from its overarching ambition of total control of Afghanistan. The arrogance of its military-intelligence apparatus (which is reflected in the arrogance of the Pakistani elite here) which has alienated minority groups in Afghanistan and many of the Pastun tribes as well.

Pakistan has repeatedly sabotaged the formation of a broad based government in Afghanistan in its desire to create a servile state. If readers here are interested read about the Peter Thomsen mission in 1990-91 and how it was sabotaged by the ISI and the CIA.