Nigel Farage’s rampage of rudeness The Ukip MEP is desperately trying to get noticed, and some have risen to his bait Martin Kettle guardian.co.uk Ukip MEP Nigel Farage attacks Herman Van Rompuy in the European parliament Nigel Farage is a character in search of an audience. Desperately, even manically so. There’s almost nothing the ex-Ukip leader (and still the party’s most prominent figurehead) wouldn’t do at the moment to get himself noticed and talked about. This week alone he made a well (and in my opinion, rather softly) reported attack on the European council president Herman Van Rompuy, then managed … Continue reading UKIP Fanatic desperately trying to be obnoxious

Farhat Taj The public perceive the police as as much an innocent casualty as the innocent civilians in the state’s pursuit of strategic goals in Afghanistan. They see an ethnic discrimination behind the lack of equipment, and training of the police A considerable public perception in the NWFP puts an alarming ethnic perspective on the rising police casualties in the province. They note that the police disproportionally suffer more casualties than the army in the province. They observe that public entry into the cantonments is restricted, thus enhancing the security of the army in there, whereas the policemen are left … Continue reading The dauntless heroes of NWFP Police

Mohammad Jamil How can one put highly professional military personnel, dealing with sensitive information, under non-professionals who are not competent enough to do the job? Politics is said to be the art of the possible and some say it is the art of compromise, but in Pakistan it is the art of deceit and deception, as the nation has witnessed how the partisans conducted themselves during the late 1980s to the 1990s. The Charter of Democracy (CoD) was signed by (late) Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif in London on May 14, 2006, which was reflective of unity in ‘adversity’. … Continue reading Has the The Charter of Democracy become irrelevant? —

Salman Tarik Kureshi It is a truism that a state, if it is to remain a state, must establish an uncompromising monopoly over weaponry and the power of the gun. But, in Pakistan, there are at least four kinds of actors (other than the ‘legitimate’ state actors) who bear arms…and, all too frequently, use them Those of my readers who have been huntsmen will know the feeling. You raise your shotgun, sighting along the steel barrel, and press the trigger. The goose, or bustard, or pheasant seems momentarily to shudder. And then it drops, stilled forever by the awesome power … Continue reading Gun power! Thug power!

On Tuesday in London, a revered Muslim scholar will announce a fatwa against suicide bombing in the name of Islam. Here, Allegra Mostyn-Owen talks exclusively to Dr Tahir ul-Qadri as he outlines his historic vision… I meet Dr Tahir ul-Qadri in a neat, terraced house in Barking where he emerges from his studies resplendent in an elegant silk striped grey and white juba and a black woollen hat. I am honoured to be in his presence because he is considered a living saint by his followers. All Sunni and mainly Pakistani, they celebrate his birthday and his photograph adorns all the … Continue reading Is this a triumph for the Islamic peacemakers?

This Week’s BidenismsCollecting the vice president’s gaffes and head-slappers. By Jeremy Stahl Vice president Joe Biden produced three fresh Bidenisms this week. Please continue to send your nominations (with a link, please) to slatebidenisms@gmail.com. For more, and our stab at a definition, see “The Complete Bidenisms.” Biden: “It’s easy being vice president—you don’t have to do anything.” Interlocutor: “It’s like being the grandpa and not the parent.” Biden: “Yeah, that’s it!”—Explaining his job during a casual, off-camera conversation, caught by a C-SPAN mic, at the Blair House health care summit, Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2010 Click here to listen to audio of Biden’s … Continue reading JOE BIDEN ZINDABAD!