Loud Thinking

Archive for 2013

“Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968);
theologian, author

Must Read for Every Man and of course Woman.

“One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river, his axe fell into the river. When he cried out, an Angel appeared and asked, “Why are you crying?”

The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water, and he needed the axe to make his living.

The Angel went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe. “Is this your axe?” the Angel asked.

The woodcutter replied, “No.”

The Angel again went down and came up with a silver Axe. “Is this your axe?” the Angel asked.

Again, the woodcutter replied, “No.”

The Angel went down again and came up with an iron Axe. “Is this your axe?” the Angel asked.

The woodcutter replied, “Yes.”
The Angel was pleased with the man’s honesty and gave him all three axes to keep, and the woodcutter went home happy.

Some time later the woodcutter was walking with his wife along the riverbank, and his wife fell into the river. When he cried out, the Angel again appeared and asked him, “Why are you crying?”

“Oh Angel, my wife has fallen into the water!”

The Angel went down into the water and came up with ANGELINA JOLIE “Is this your wife?” the Angel asked.

“Yes,” cried the woodcutter.

The Angel was furious. “You lied! That is an untruth!”

The woodcutter replied, “Oh, forgive me, o Angel. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said ‘no’ to ANGELINA JOLIE, You would have come up with CAMERON DIAZ. Then if I said ‘no’ to her, you would have come up with my wife. Had I then said ‘yes,’ you would have given me all three. I am a poor man, and am not able to take care of all three wives, so THAT’S why I said yes to ANGELINA JOLIE.”

The moral of this story is: Whenever a man lies, it is for a good and honorable reason, and for the benefit of others.

That’s our story, and men’re sticking to it! –

“MEN ARE HONOURABLE !!!!!!”

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.

Build a Strong Relationship with Your New Boss

Your boss has more impact than any other person on your success or failure at work. When starting a new job, it pays to invest in this relationship. Here’s how to get off on the right foot:
Don’t stay away. Even if she gives you a lot of freedom, resist the urge to take it. Get on your manager’s calendar regularly to communicate any issues you’re facing and gather her input.
Don’t run down a checklist. Assume she wants to focus on the most important things you’re trying to do and how she can help. Focus on no more than three things in each meeting.
Clarify expectations early and often. Start during the interview process then check in regularly to make sure they haven’t shifted.

Adapted by HBR from The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

— Larry Elder

Can Pakistan take on IMF?

(Sadly, it is doubtful that Pakistan’s current leaders will be able to take the IMF bull by its horns. They lack the competence, integrity and, yes the intelligence, to do so. What a tragedy for the poor people of Pakistan who will continue to pay for their leaders’ larceny).

Nadeem M Qureshi

In 2008 when the PPP government of President Asif Zardari took office Pakistan’s total foreign debt was about $40 billion. Today, at the end of the PPP government’s term, it is $60 billion. Twenty billion dollars of new debt has been added. As the Government of Nawaz Sharif begins negotiations with the IMF to seek more loans, the people of Pakistan need to ask two basic questions. The first is: What happened to this money?

By almost any economic indicator people are worse off today than they were five years ago. Unemployment and inflation are higher. Vital infrastructure – railways, roads, public transport, hospitals, schools, water supply and sewage systems – have deteriorated to unprecedented and unacceptable levels. It is almost as though the $20 billion has vanished into thin air.

Well, some of it has. Consider, for example, the single case of the purchase of Boeing 777 aircraft by Pakistan International Airlines in 2011. Transparency International Pakistan maintains that of the $1.5 billion paid for the aircraft, $500 million were diverted as kickbacks to the government functionaries. Multiply this by dozens of multibillion dollar deals over five years, across different economic sectors, and it is clear that many of the billions taken in the name of the people of Pakistan have disappeared into private bank accounts.

Not all of the $20 billion is unaccounted for. Some of it is on rude display in the fleets of bullet proof luxury vehicles of politicians and bureaucrats. Less visible is the money spent on acquiring and maintaining the fleet of private jets at the disposal of the country’s ‘leaders’ and their acolytes. Also hidden from view but widely reported are the luxurious lifestyles of the people’s ‘servants’. A distasteful example of this was the news that the government planned to spend Rs. 260 million to renovate the President’s kitchen.

The second question that the people of Pakistan are entitled to ask is this: Should they be liable to pay back money taken in their name but used almost exclusively to enrich the ruling coterie? It is clear that the highly paid international bureaucrats who work for the IMF are not stupid. It cannot have escaped them that the money they are doling out is misused, or worse, stolen. Why then should the people of Pakistan pay for their willful negligence? This raises issues of legality and precedent. Is it lawful for a country to refute debt taken on by corrupt politicians? And, are there any precedents for this? The answer to both questions is yes.

The concept of odious debt was established in international law by Alexander Nahum Sack, a Russian born jurisprudence expert, in a paper published in Paris in 1927. Odious debt “is a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state.”

The doctrine further suggests that since odious debt is deemed the personal debt of the rulers in power at the time the debt was secured, recovery should be from their personal assets. There are also several precedents in which countries have repudiated national debt. The United States set the first precedent of odious debt when it seized control of Cuba from Spain. Spain insisted that Cuba repay the loans made to them by Spain. The U.S. repudiated that debt, arguing that the debt was imposed on Cuba by force of arms and served Spain’s interest rather than Cuba’s, and that the debt therefore ought not be repaid.

The debt was annulled. In recent times, there is the example of Haiti. When the dictator Jean Claude Duvalier was overthrown in 1986, 66 US senators supported a resolution calling for cancellation of Haiti’s debt on the grounds that the money was misused. In the end, half of Haiti’s debt was written off.

By far the most effective use of the ‘odious debt’ doctrine in recent times is by President Rafael Correa of Ecuador. In 2008 he repudiated Ecuador’s national debt of $ 3 billion and announced the country would default and fight creditors in international courts. He succeeded eventually in getting a 60% write off on Ecuador’s debt.

Sadly, it is doubtful that Pakistan’s current leaders will be able to take the IMF bull by its horns. They lack the competence, integrity and, yes the intelligence, to do so. What a tragedy for the poor people of Pakistan who will continue to pay for their leaders’ larceny.
(The writer is Chairman of Mustaqbil Pakistan)

“Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is
taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and
express what we really are.”

— Don Miguel Ruiz

Altaf Hussain quits as MQM chief after raid on his London house

June 30, 2013 – Updated 440 PKT
From Web Edition

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LONDON: Deeming a recent police raid on his apartment as a disgrace to his reputation, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader, Altaf Hussain, has announced to voluntarily relinquish the party leadership henceforth, Geo News reported.

“Metropolitan Police raided my house and took away many things. When the home of a person, who also happens to be the political leader of millions, is subjected to such an investigatory action, then it becomes imperative for him to step down on moral grounds”, said he talking exclusively to Geo News.

Altaf Hussain’s statement comes at a time when British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is vising Pakistan. Cameron called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday and will hold a meeting with Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif today (Sunday.

He said he was renouncing the leadership of his party since New Scotland Yard ransacked his house in North West London and seized many items/documents in connection with Dr Imran Farooq murder case investigation. He said whatever happened called into question the name of the leader of his stature.

“I am abdicating my responsibility as the Quaid-e-Tehreek. I am transferring my powers to MQM Coordination Committee”, said he.

He said that if a court of law took up Dr Imran Farooq murder case then he would not engage any lawyer, solicitor, or barrister, rather he would fight his case himself.

“I would plead my case personally and embrace the ruling of the honourable court openheartedly regardless of which way it goes”, he added.

Vowing to continue his Haqparastana (righteous) struggle Altaf advised his followers to stay convinced no matter what happened.

“Hold your heads high and repose your full trust in the party leadership”, said Altaf Hussain.

More than a week ago, Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command Unit searched two North West London “residential addresses” for 55 hours with one of them belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief, Altaf Hussain.

The New Scotland Yard, which raided the houses, rooted both the apartments during the painstaking search and confiscated many important documents.

According to sources, Altaf Hussain is the proprietor of one of the two houses, however the details of the ownership of the other apartment are yet unknown.

Dr Farooq, the former convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was stabbed to death outside his home on 16th September 2010 as he was returning home.

The UK police is investing the murder of Dr Farooq case on several lines, including one strong line of investigation that Dr Farooq was in discussions with his colleagues and members of the public to start his own independent political career.

These searches were carried out under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE).

Subsequently London police arrested a British man of Pakistani origin questioned him for 34 hours before he was released on bail.

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire.

“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”

Vaclav Havel (born 1936);
poet, playwright, 1st president of Czech Republic