31–40 of 119 posts
I live in Lahore which is one of the three major cities in Pakistan. Trust me, what he says about electricity is absolutely true. Right now I am sitting which out any electricity. My internet modem is on UPS so that I can have uninterrupted internet. As far as computer is concerned, I have to religiously charge my laptop whenever there is electricity so that I can use the laptop during the load shedding times.. Since…
British Pakistani here. Schmidt has not seen Pakistan for what it really is - a cesspool of corruption and poorly educated people. Pakistan has two major problems. Primarily, education of the people ... what good is a democracy if people cannot understand the democratic system - nor see past the public visage and look deeply into what kind of person a political candidate is. This poor education leads Zardari (a corru…
Education is an issue but only in the long term. Assuming Pakistan managed to overcome several of its other problems, uneducated would become Pakistan's most important resource. Uneducated people are what make industrialisation possible. They make low wages possible and so the country becomes interesting as a manufacturing base (as Thailand has become for example).
With more economic activity will come education and then the country will have to find an alternative economic source.
More education will also affect corruption as educated people tend to be less willing to put up with it.
This is of course overly simple but for a big picture, it does hold some truth.
I believe that focusing prematurely on education, is actually counter-productive as the tissue of companies in need of educated workers simply is not there and makes low wages more difficult.
The West is also a good example of other issues with educated people. Countries full of educated people are more difficult to manage. For example France is badly in need of deep reforms but they will simply never happen because French would go on strike as a result of such reforms.
For what it's worth, in France you'd get a 90 Euros fine for speeding on a standard road. I'm not arguing whether it's good or bad, the answer simply isn't black or white. I do know though that 90 Euros is not sustainable for many a family in France while a 250 Bath (in Thailand) is fairly cheap for car-owners.
Julian Assange interviews Imran Assange
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In turkey, you will be thrown in jail simply for dissent - http://www.npr.org/2012/01/26/145844105/for-turkish-journali... In Morocco, a court ordered a teenager to marry her rapist. She killed herself. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/03/moroccan-teenage... The Dubai Sheikh torture clip is infamous now. Amazing how you can torture a guy and not go to jail if you're a Sheikh. We know about this specific incid…
I can't believe you're trying to defend this position. I'm really quite shocked. Human rights abuses against local people for dissent happen all around the world, including the US and the UK. In Germany you can be jailed for denying the holocaust. In France you can be jailed for wearing a headscarf. Exercising common sense is generally a good thing to do anywhere you go, but the things you talk about occur around the…
How can you even compare holocaust denial laws to what muslim countries do? You think denying people the right to disagree with the state or condemning them to a life with their rapist or torturing a man AND taking away the right of people to deny a historical fact are the same thing? I don't see why the holocaust denial law is necessary but I don't see it as being oppressive to rights that should be fundamental!
Religious headscarves should be banned for the same reason slavery is. Just because a slave would never complain to law enforcement agencies and does not see the injustice in his life because he has been brainwashed and accepts his fate does not mean the state should not enforce his rights. Have you even seen the plight of women in an orthodox muslim family? Would you consider a muslim women who only does what she is "allowed" as your equal? Banning the hijab was a good move - it is a symbol of oppression.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure I know enough about Scotland / Wales / England / Ireland to fairly comment here. The key difference as I understand it at least, is that India and Pakistan did not exist as nations - ever - they were both nations created "artificially" out of the greater Indian sub-continent. India walked away with the history of the ancient indian civilization and everything from then on as its own story - Pakistan emer…
Scotland is currently preparing for a referendum on splitting from the UK (which really means, as far as Scots are concerned, splitting from England). In what I'm sure is a complete coincidence, the referendum is going to be in the same year as the 700th anniversary of the climactic battle of the Scottish War of Independence at Bannockburn. The divisions between Scots and English really do go quite deep - at least fr…
OK, but the divisions are unlikely to lead to open warfare like they have 3 times between Pak and India.
British Pakistani here. Schmidt has not seen Pakistan for what it really is - a cesspool of corruption and poorly educated people. Pakistan has two major problems. Primarily, education of the people ... what good is a democracy if people cannot understand the democratic system - nor see past the public visage and look deeply into what kind of person a political candidate is. This poor education leads Zardari (a corru…
Anyway, I'll be interested to see if technology and communications are the panacea to education problems that Schmidt says they are. If so that's good for South Africa, the Internet is growing tremendously here.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In turkey, you will be thrown in jail simply for dissent - http://www.npr.org/2012/01/26/145844105/for-turkish-journali... In Morocco, a court ordered a teenager to marry her rapist. She killed herself. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/03/moroccan-teenage... The Dubai Sheikh torture clip is infamous now. Amazing how you can torture a guy and not go to jail if you're a Sheikh. We know about this specific incid…
I can't believe you're trying to defend this position. I'm really quite shocked. Human rights abuses against local people for dissent happen all around the world, including the US and the UK. In Germany you can be jailed for denying the holocaust. In France you can be jailed for wearing a headscarf. Exercising common sense is generally a good thing to do anywhere you go, but the things you talk about occur around the…
There's something in his position worth defending. And I guess that the difference is in the age. Islam is younger than Christianity, they're a few hundred years behind. Remember what Christians were doing 600 years ago? Inquisition, Crusades, etc. But this is just my theory.
http://www.vice.com/the-vice-guide-to-travel/the-vice-guide-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't believe you're trying to defend this position. I'm really quite shocked. Human rights abuses against local people for dissent happen all around the world, including the US and the UK. In Germany you can be jailed for denying the holocaust. In France you can be jailed for wearing a headscarf. Exercising common sense is generally a good thing to do anywhere you go, but the things you talk about occur around the…
You are right about the shift in Turkey's trade to the middle east. Turkey still exports something like 25% - 40% of its total exports to EU countries (not sure about exact % right now). If the EU imposed trade sanctions on Turkey, it would be hard to argue that there would be no effect. How can you even compare holocaust denial laws to what muslim countries do? You think denying people the right to disagree with the…
"How can you even compare holocaust denial laws to what muslim countries do?" - Very easily. The holocaust was over 65 years ago. The perpetrators of this egregious act are mostly dead. The victims of this egregious act are mostly dead. The modern German of today had nothing to do with the holocaust. Their mother and father had nothing to do with the holocaust. What does making holocaust denial do other than prohibit a form of dissent? Does it bring people back to life? No, it does not. Does it stop it from happening again? Just because a crime is unmentionable does not mean that it would not happen (and the holocaust is not the only genocide, nor the most efficient one, there have been many more before and since).
When you remove the right to say fuck, you remove the right to say fuck the government. In Germany any debate on the extent of the holocaust is stifled due to the law, the same (but opposite case) as it is in Turkey with respect to the atrocities referred to by some as the Armenian Genocide. In both cases the law is wrong and stifles free speech and people go to jail[1][2] for dissent against it.
> Religious headscarves should be banned for the same reason slavery is.
You really have no understanding of the purpose, origin or practice of the headscarf in countries around the middle-east and mediterranean whatsoever. Would it come as some surprise to you to know that in the early 20th century Irish women would wear headscarves to protect their modesty? Oh those poor oppressed Irish women, whatever became of them?
[1] - http://www.rense.com/general78/dsdde.htm
[2] - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4205708.stm (although in this case one of Turkey's most celebrated authors' trials was cancelled at the last minute)
Eric Shmidt's opinion on this topic has no value. People like him are treated way better than ordinary people in Muslim countries. People like me can be arrested/executed for the silliest of reasons [1][2][3] I wouldn't ever go to a Muslim country because some rich dude said it's quite alright. What works for them needn't work for me. [1] http://articles.cnn.com/2012-03-13/asia/world_asia_pakistan-... [2] http://en.w…
Trying to make a story with three links pointing at different countries.. Try the same with Hungary, Spain and the USA. You will hardly say anything interesting.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, make sure that you don't consider the Tribal Areas the same way you would consider the country itself. They are independent in many regards.
Knowing is understanding. I suggest you say no to your condition and discover other cultures and people. You will certainly become a much more interesting person in the process.