Behind the Chairman’s Door

They Flew In Jet Planes and Asked For a Handout

November 20, 2008 – 2:05 pm

“There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they’re going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses,” Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

“It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious.” He added, “couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it.”

I don’t know how many of my fellow bloggers are following the bailout debate for US automakers. Many may know that the Big 3 (Ford, Chrysler, and GM) have asked the US government for a US$ 25 billion bailout package otherwise they could be forced to liquidate assets and close operations. The Democrats had been on-board with a bailout for the automakers because of the effect the loss of employment and revenue to the national economy, but yesterday that picture changed with one question that is very relevant to our national financial situation.

Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, asked the 3 CEOs to “raise their hand if they flew here commercial?” “Let the record show, no hands went up,” Sherman continued. “Second, I’m going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up.”

And there died a US$ 25 billion bailout package.

The Detroit Free Press yesterday published that 1 roundtrip flight on the jet cost US$ 20,000, while a First Class commercial ticket would have only cost US$ 1000.

Now turning to our President and his recent state visit to Saudi Arabia to request financial assistance for Pakistan. President Zardari felt that 240 of his closest friends needed to perform Umra with him. While President Zardari says he paid for all the people to travel, it doesn’t change the image that the Saudi’s must have gotten with the planes and numerous guests that arrived from Pakistan.

Symbolically, this government has not shown that it understands the plight of the people, and principally have offended the sensibilities of most foreign donors by the lavish spending on airfare, entourages, and other luxuries that a government that is begging for international financial assistance can not afford.

Maybe that is why IMF has been appointed as the Gatekeeper of Pakistan’s finances or none of the “Friends of Pakistan” were ready to help Pakistan?

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By Khalid | Posted in Pakistan, Thoughts | Tagged auto industry, bailout, detroit, financial crisis, jets, Pakistan, United States | Comments (3)

So What If I am a Muslim?

November 14, 2008 – 1:24 pm

Ever since President-Elect Barack Obama became a serious candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency, the right and the ultraright, the Fox News, and the ill-informed segment of the population which follows Fox’s “fair and balanced” news and analysis used Mr. Obama’s middle name and the fact that his grandfather was a Muslim against him. In such propaganda, being a Muslim is tantamount to being evil, having ill will towards the United States, and someone who could not be trusted, especially with the highest office of the land.

As a supporter of Mr. Obama, I was often disappointed that he did not confront such bigotry. His standard reaction to the accusation of being a Muslim - one also enforced by his camp - was always, “I am a Christian; I have never been a Muslim.” It really bothered me and people like me when, for example, last June Mr. Obama’s aids removed from the front row of a rally in Detroit a few Muslim women with their Islamic hejab - cover for their hair - because they did want them to be seen in photos with Mr. Obama.

Although people like me never liked the way our President-Elect handled the “issue” of his Islamic “heritage,” and even though my like-minded friends and I have been apprehensive about what he may do in the Middle East and the Islamic world, we wanted, more than anything else and above all, Mr. Obama to be elected the 44th President of the United States. The thought of living in a Bush-3 regime under John McCain was just too painful and frightening, and the dream of breaking the racial barrier with all of its consequences was too enticing. Pragmatism and the realities of America in the post-9/11 era also dictated our silence. We put our worries and unease in the backburner.

Now, however, our candidate has won by a landslide. Now, he does not have to worry about the accusation of being a closet Muslim as a campaign issue. Now, the elections have shown that the people have moved, to a large extent, beyond race as a barrier to the highest office of the land. Now, our President-Elect has won a mandate for fundamental changes, part of which should be cultural.

Mr. Obama is not, of course, a Muslim. He believes in the Christian faith. As a practicing Muslim, I have the highest respect for his faith. In my mind, Jesus Christ is the all-time symbol of kindness, forgiveness, and sacrifice for the sake of others. Thus, as a follower of Christ, Mr. Obama should set the record straight about the injustice that has been done to true Islam in this country.

Mr. Obama should now use the same eloquence; the same type of powerful speeches, and the same cool, intelligent, deliberate manner with which he mesmerized us all, to lead the people beyond the bigotry of hating Muslims, simply because they are Muslim. He should simply declare:

So what if I am a Muslim? Read More »

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By Khalid | Posted in Islam, Thoughts | Tagged armstrong, Extremism, huffington post, Islam, muslim, obama, voltaire, von goethe | Comments (0)

Christian Science Monitor’s Take on UN Interfaith Dialogue

November 13, 2008 – 9:50 pm

I never understand why the Christian right can’t accept that other religions have the right to live in peace without being discriminated or harassed. Yet, again the Christian Right expresses its concern over Muslims having rights in the world. The Christian Science Monitor has condemned the event as an attempt by King Abdullah and Saudi Arabia to get a global blasphemy law.

What I don’t understand is that if Christian missionaries should be allowed to preach in Muslim countries without condemnation and no one should be allowed to take the Jewish name of Israel in vain, what would be the problem with Muslims and other religions enjoying the same protection?

Obviously, the Christian Science Monitor feels that Islam does not deserve the same protections as other religions that are more “acceptable” to specific groups of people.

Interesting how bias can be so clear in an article…. I guess the Christians don’t want to be treated like Muslims in the United States.

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By Khalid | Posted in Extremism, United States | Tagged blasphemy, christian science monitor, Extremism - Christian, Islam, saudi arabia, United Nations | Comments (2)

New York Times Spoofed!

November 13, 2008 – 9:34 pm

When New York City woke up this morning, The New York Times didn’t look the same to them. One reason might have been the date: July 4, 2009. The other would be the headlines: Iraq War is Over and Bush is Indicted for Treason.

To further their spoof, the crew put together a website that carried the content of the stories from the front page. Editor & Publisher, a media industry trade, confirmed that the spoofed copies were distributed nationwide. Gawker followed the trail of the spoof and found the work of “The Yes Men, a group of high-concept, anti-consumerist pranksters whose work is documented in their 2003 self-titled movie.”

Check out the online spoof here.

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By Khalid | Posted in Funnies, United States | Tagged bush indicted for treason, humor, iraq war over, new york times, spoof | Comments (0)

VIP Treatment for Criminals - Again

November 13, 2008 – 1:20 pm

I think that we really need to understand the graveness of this story. Munaf Kalia and Javed Khanani, two people accused of engineering the largest forex scam in recent history, are being given VIP treatment in FIA detention. This story ran this morning in The Nation and literally shocked me to the core. On one side, the Advisor to the Prime Minister on the Interior, Rehman Malik, says that they will be dealt with harshly and further arrest will be made in the forex scandal, while the FIA moves luxury beds to the detention center and the Assistant Director Legal (Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry) office has been cleared out for these “guests” of the State. It is also reported that these two individuals are getting splendid meals for the service they have done for this nation.

What is great is this line:

On the other hand the accused, involved in petty offenses, have been kept in the FIA cells with handcuffs and had to face the standard humiliation that our investigative and police forces are famous for. One of the accused commented “only God knows what treatment I am going through during interrogation on the false charges of my business partner, but on the other hand, people involved in harming the economy of the country are being kept as guests.

There is no better indictment of the kangaroo courts and justice system that plagues Pakistan.

The hallmark of any legal system is that everyone that is under arrest is treated the same, no preference to who they are, where they come from, or whose family they belong to. In Pakistan, the more damage that is done to the nation, the better the criminal’s stay in the jails. These people are accused of robbing the nation of Rs. 39 billion in foreign exchange, using a long outlawed financial system to transfer money in and out of Pakistan and doing their absolute best to cover their tracks. These are all crimes under the Pakistan Penal Code, but only for those of us who are not billionaires or related to the “powers that be (at the moment).”

I would hope that the “Friends of Pakistan” and the IMF take notice of this case and demand that the money be found, proven that is was not used to fund terrorism and returned to Pakistan PRIOR to any foreign assistance. If Pakistan gets IMF or other foreign assistance, it will meet the same fate as the Rs. 39 billion of Khanani and Kalia.

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By Khalid | Posted in Pakistan | Tagged forex scandal, kalia, khanani, malik, Pakistan, vip treatment | Comments (9)

Optimism Proves Unwarranted

November 12, 2008 – 1:45 pm

The mood in Pakistan is cheerful - Barack Obama has just been elected president of the world’s most powerful country. Although many Pakistanis have voiced misgivings about some of his comments on terrorism, the general belief seems to be that he will pursue a more enlightened American foreign policy than his predecessor.

Then again, Pakistanis’ optimism has been dashed before.

Three months ago, after all, the mood in Pakistan was also cheerful. Pakistanis were hopeful - this time in regards to their own leadership rather than America’s. The pressures on Pervez Musharraf to step down were intensifying, and it was believed that his resignation was imminent. So, on Aug. 18, when the embattled leader resigned, jubilant crowds took to the streets of Islamabad, thinking that they had paved the way for Pakistan’s transition to democracy. Where most Pakistanis have greeted Obama’s win with cautious hope, they reacted to the initial coalition between Asif Ali Zardari’s party and Nawaz Sharif’s party with great joy.

One week later, that coalition collapsed - understandably. Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) shared little but opportunistic opposition to Musharraf - opportunistic because they only began to criticize him in earnest when they sensed that he would soon be driven from power.

Almost any substantial charge against Musharraf - that his disrespect for human rights undermined democracy in Pakistan, that his policies allowed Islamic fundamentalism to flourish, and so forth - can be leveled as powerfully, if not more, against his predecessors. Sharif is a former prime minister, and Zardari is the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. It should have been clear that Musharraf’s removal would empower the very individuals who did little to improve Pakistan when they had the chance. Read More »

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By Khalid | Posted in Pakistan | Tagged government, hope, Musharraf, Sharif, zardari | Comments (0)

The Real Sarah Palin

November 6, 2008 – 1:02 pm

With the election over, the protective bubble around Sarah Palin is quickly disappearing. From the harsh media reports during the campaign to debate debacles, both the Mainstream Media and the Conservative Right are loading up to unveil the secret Sarah Palin to the world, so there is no hope of a Palin 2012 ticket.

Fox News, the bastion of Conservative, Far Right Media, starts this journey in motion, with these two clips:

and

Newsweek follows with a Special Report into what really went on during the campaign, which kindof shows that John McCain was not the one in control of his Presidential campaign, as many “things in discussion” were made public before time. Some highlights from Part I of the series: Read More »

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