Let’s stop lining lobbyists’ pockets I see no reason why councils should use taxpayers’ cash to pay PR firms to influence government policy – and I’m going to stop it Eric Pickles guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 August 2010 13.29 BST Article history Many councils and quangos hire public affairs firms using taxpayers’ money to lobby government for even more money: it sounds like something that shouldn’t be allowed, but it is happening with increasing frequency. Residents want to see their council tax spent on improving services, not on lobbyist loud-hailer propaganda to sidestep transparency laws or peddle more regulation or secure … Continue reading Taxpayers, Councils and their Lobbyists

Curse of the mobile phone upgrade Manufacturers have suckered us into an inexorable lurch from phone to phone, instilling a desire that is never wholly satisfied Edward Collier guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 August 2010 14.59 BST Article history A man holds his iPhone 4 after braving swampy humidity and giant queues in Tokyo to be among the first owners. Photograph: Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty ImagesDoes your mobile phone cause you status anxiety? Does your ancient, deprecated handset raise muffled guffaws when you produce it in company? I was neither enthusiastic nor particularly early in my adoption of the mobile phone. In 1994 both … Continue reading Mobile phone upgrade – A Scam?

Saddam Hussein and the judgment of history Former minister Tariq Aziz insists the west has got Saddam all wrong and that he was a great leader of Iraq. What’s your view? Open thread guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 August 2010 15.30 BST Article history As they were: Tariq Aziz with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Photograph: ISFIn an interview from prison with the Guardian, former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz has offered a robust defence of his one-time boss, the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was executed in 2006 following his capture after the US-led invasion of 2003. Aziz insists that, despite making … Continue reading Saddam Hussein – A Great Leader?

DNI Clapper: Career military intelligence officer dawn.com James Clapper as he testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee about his nomination to be Director of National Intelligence, on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 20, 2010. -Reuters Photo Front Page Obama hopeful of ‘enough cooperation’ from Pakistan Obama hopeful of ‘enough cooperation’ from Pakistan WASHINGTON: Retired lieutenant general James Clapper, confirmed Thursday to head the US spy community, is a decorated Vietnam war veteran who champions using people to gather raw intelligence, known as HUMINT. Clapper has served as the Pentagon’s intelligence chief, a job to which he was nominated in 2007 … Continue reading James Clapper

The writer is founder of Pakistan-based Khudi, a platform to counter extremism Rehman Baba’s shrine. Jamia-e-Naeemi. Data Sahib’s shrine. Scores of Muslims killed in places of worship meant to be a sanctuary for believers. And so it seems that dark forces using the name of Islam have started attacking the very people they claim to be fighting for. While it is not my purpose to speculate on which group carried out what attack, it certainly is my purpose to state that there are some among us who are seeking to force their version of Islam upon all others, even going … Continue reading Why blow up a mosque?

The writer works for Individualland, a development organisation ammar.zafarullah@tribune.com.pk In the aftermath of the Airblue plane crash some zealot scribbled “kafir” (non-believer) on the coffin of Prem Chand, one of the six members of the youth parliament who died in the tragic accident. It reminds me of the hospitality we extended towards Dr Abdus Salam, the only Pakistani to have ever won a Nobel prize. The epitaph on his tomb rightly read “First Muslim Nobel Laureate” but, due to his adherence to the Ahmadi sect, the word “Muslim” provoked the religious sentiments of “pious believers” and was erased on the … Continue reading The acceptance of intolerance

Musharraf with then Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Karzai after a summit that the Afghan president described as ‘terrible’. PHOTO: EP KARACHI: With news reports indicating Pervez Musharraf is planning a return to Pakistan and active politics later this year, the WikiLeaks reports referring to the former president come at an opportune time. They reveal some of the president’s biases, the problems he had with his allies and what the US thought of him. The role of Musharraf Most of the reports cover the period from 2006 to 2007 when the sheen was wearing off Musharraf’s presidency and he … Continue reading All the president’s men

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron greets Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari at Chequers. Cameron invited Zardari to dinner at his official country residence. photo: REUTERS LONDON/MANCHESTER: President Asif Ali Zardari made an impassioned plea to the international community on Thursday to extend substantial assistance for the flood victims of his country. The appeal was made during a meeting with the British Home Secretary Theresa May who called on him. The president also expressed his gratitude to the British government for providing five million pounds in financial assistance. However, Zardari bluntly said that much more international assistance was required on an … Continue reading Zardari calls on world for financial assistance

IEW: Sell oil, infuse venom —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad The need here is to understand one simple point that not everyone in this world can be converted to your faith and people too would always like to choose what they want for themselves. Good or bad, that is not your headache Pakistan has been in a state of war for some time now; a war fought in the name of God between people who, ironically, believe in the same God. What is more ironical is when this internal conflict in Pakistan is given directions from abroad by someone who holds the … Continue reading Sell oil, infuse venom

VIEW: Death and taxes —Dr Mahjabeen Islam One’s mouth hangs open watching footage of houses swallowed by the turbulent waters as though they were made of cards. You rewind and play, thinking that it must be a simulation and forget to move because it is not A common Americanism attributed to Benjamin Franklin goes, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” In Pakistan, the only certainty these days is death. You’ll find it everywhere you turn: the crash in Margalla Hills, the worst floods in a generation, endless terrorism and resurgent targeted killings. … Continue reading Death and taxes