Sono solita descrivere nei dettagli i live che mi trovo a seguire e documentare di Psico e Ortiz.
Questo però, è nato, proseguito e concluso con non poche polemiche che si sono riflettute INEVITABILMENTE sullo spettacolo.
Ho pensato molto a come impostare questo articolo e, conoscendomi, preferisco documentarlo con qualche foto che sono stata chiamata a fare senza pronunciarmi oltre.
Una cosa però va detta… Turi è veramente un grande Artista. Onore al merito.

E ora..eccovi il reportage fotografico:

Lo squadrone, come ormai lo chiamo io, è il solito:

Psico e Ortiz
Aly B.
Dj Rex

Il Dj sistema la sua astronave:

Provando se tutto funziona:

Il cantantino controlla il microfono per assicurarsi che non lo lasci “a piedi”

Mentre Psico cazzeggia con il mio obiettivo

E’ tutto pronto, i pezzi da fare sono due:

“COSA GLI INSEGNO” e “IL RE DELLE CAUSE PERSE“.

La voce di Beppe Grillo riempie il locale e, mentre parla, Psico e Ortiz attendono di entrare in scena:

Aly B. fa la sua grandiosa entrata nel pezzo “Il re delle cause perse”, la sua voce fa tremare i muri…

Mentre Dj Rex dirige come un maestro d’orchestra il suo spettacolo alla consolle

Ragazzi e ragazze… Questo è tutto, vi lascio con l’ultima foto, quella che non poteva mancare essendo stato il concerto di presentazione del nuovo cd di Turi….

PS: Io ero in veste di fotografa ufficiale di Psico e Ortiz, il resto delle foto saranno a cura di Marco Carulli e le troverete su EP@LIVE

Witchpanther

This episode first aired: November 10th 1999 and was #7 in season 6. The name refers to the Greek legend of dragon’s teeth where the teeth of a slain dragon were sown into the battlefield. The teeth sprouted up into an army of warriors, who continued to fight. I’m sure that was in ‘Jasom and the Argomouts’ were Jason was fighting the skeletons, very cool thanks to Ray Harryhausen, but back to Voyager this is one of my favorite standalone Voyager episodes it had all the elements that make Star Trek what it is, right from the opening teaser with aa alien city being bombarded from orbit. they used this sequence again in the Enterprise episode “Into the Mirror Darkly”,  there are survivors of course and through most of the episode you are lead to believe that they are the victims of the Turi the guys in orbit threatening everyone but it’s the other way around and the Vaadwaur our survivors want to rule once again. This episode has great visuals from the city being bombed to the ruin 900 years later, the subspace corridors and the best was Voyager in battle being swarmed by small fighters and firing at 3 targets simultaneously a first I believe in Star Trek and something you knew a starship could do but they never showed it at least I had never seen it before. There was no profound insights here but tha idea of a fallen civilization attempting to rise up again even thought they were bad people who terrorized there Neighbors is interresting and as Seven of Nine noted before the conclusion of the episode that 53 Vaadwaur ships were able to avoid the Turei and escape through the subspace corridors. Captain Janeway said that given their aggressive nature, Voyager may not have seen the last of the Vaadwaur, as we know now they never meet again. This episode was originally supposed to be a 2 parts but was shorted to 1 and that is too bad

turiturituriturti

/–/ ja siis sa tead, meil koos on olla hea. meil koos on hea, käime püstipea, sest meil on hea, oo, meil on hea. /–/

Nii kui lähevad head ilmad, läheb ka minu tuju. Pidev suvine rõõm ja hea tuju muutub sügiseseks värvidemänguks. Tänane pole just kõige eredam leheke puul. Lahe väljend no. Aga ma üritan sellele hallile vastu seista. Ja ma loodan, et ma saan Türi inimestes üllatuda. Noorkuu on ka nii inspireeriv.

/–/muremõtted las eilsesse päeva jäävad, inimesed kõik ümberringi näevad, et muredele löön käega /–/  (aga kui tänane päev on alles poole peal)

See muusika ja irnumine käib pinda. I’m sorry, I forgot to put on my pink glasses.

No shit, elu on keeruline, kõigil.

/–/ ole vähemalt see, kellest lugu võiks pidada keegi /–/, /–/ ära nuhi, palun lõpeta seegi/–/

Progettazione Bandi Sviluppo Rurale PUGLIA

Idea progettuale ed esecuzione del business plan insieme a partner qualificati (CRISA – Consorzio Ricerca e Innovazione Servizi Agro-alimentare e ambientale – Cittadella della Ricerca di Brindisi) per progetti di investimenti, sviluppo nuovi prodotti e tecnologie, progetti di filiera corta.

Assistenza / Outsourcing

• Responsabile Temporaneo Acquisti / Controllo Fornitori e Gestione;
• Audit dei processi e dei fornitori per la GDO, per le Aziende e prodotti a Marchio;
• Gestione mense, economato dei centri cottura, gestione fornitori e controllo costo pasto;
• Sviluppo di sistemi di rintracciabilità, specifiche dei capitolati di Filiera, Disciplinari e sistemi di Qualità ISO 22000, ISO 9001, ISO 14000, BRC, IFS, HACCP;
• Assistenza legale, etichettatura, autorizzazioni DIA, e rapporto con Enti, analisi e contraddittori.
• Formazione in Rieducazione Alimentare, regimi di alimentazione e piani nutrizionali.

Johar adalah nama sejenis pohon penghasil kayu keras yang termasuk suku Fabaceae (=Leguminosae, polong-polongan). Pohon yang sering ditanam sebagai peneduh tepi jalan ini dikenal pula dengan nama-nama yang mirip, seperti juar atau juwar (Btw., Jw., Sd.), atau johor (Mly.). Di Sumatra, pohon ini dinamai pula bujuk atau dulang. Dalam bahasa Inggris tumbuhan ini disebut dengan beberapa nama seperti black-wood cassia, Bombay blackwood, kassod tree, Siamese senna dan lain-lain. Nama ilmiahnya, siamea, merujuk pada tanah asalnya, yakni Siam atau Thailand.

Pohon, tinggi 2-20 (-30)m; dengan batang lurus dan pendek, gemang jarang melebihi 50cm. Pepagan (kulit batang) berwarna abu-abu kecoklatan pada cabang yang muda; percabangan melebar membentuk tajuk yang padat dan membulat.

Daun menyirip genap, 10—35 cm panjangnya; dengan tangkai bulat torak sepanjang 1,5—3,5 cm yang beralur dangkal di tengahnya; poros daun tanpa kelenjar; daun penumpu meruncing kecil, lk. 1 mm, lekas rontok. Anak daun 4—16 pasang, agak menjangat, jorong hingga jorong-bundar telur, 3—8 cm × 1—2,5 cm, panjang 2—4 × lebarnya, pangkal dan ujungnya membulat atau menumpul, gundul dan mengkilap di sisi atas, dengan rambut halus di sisi bawah.

Dadap atau cangkring adalah sejenis pohon anggota suku Fabaceae (=Leguminosae). Tanaman yang kerap digunakan sebagai pagar hidup dan peneduh ini memiliki banyak sebutan yang lain. Di antaranya dadap ayam, dadap laut (Jw.; dadap blendung (Sd.); theutheuk (Md.); dalungdung (Bal.); deris (Timor); galala itam (Maluku) dan lain-lain.

Juga dapdap, andorogat (Fil.); th’ong banz (Laos (Sino-Tibetan)); thong baan, thong laang laai, thong phueak (Thai); penglay-kathit (Burma); Indian coral tree, variegated coral tree, tiger’s claw (Ingg.); arbre au corail, arbre immortel (Fr.) dan lain-lain.

Pohon yang berukuran sedang, mencapai tinggi 15–20 m dan gemang 50–60 cm. Bagian kulit batang yang masih muda dan halus bergaris-garis vertikal hijau, abu-abu, coklat muda atau keputihan; batang biasanya dengan duri-duri tempel kecil (1–2 mm) yang berwarna hitam. Tajuknya serupa payung atau membulat renggang, menggugurkan daun di musim kemarau.

Turi (Sesbania grandiflora syn. Aeschynomene grandiflora) merupakan pohon kecil (tinggi mencapai 10m). Asal diduga dari Asia Selatan dan Asia Tenggara namun sekarang telah tersebar ke berbagai daerah tropis dunia.

Bentuk berupa pohon dengan percabangan jarang, cabang mendatar, batang utama tegak, tajuk cenderung meninggi, daun menyirip ganda. Bunganya tersusun majemuk, mahkota berwarna putih, tipe kupu-kupu khas Faboideae. Buah polong, menggantung.

Turi dimanfaatkan sebagai pohon peneduh jalan atau pekarangan. Daun dan bunganya dapat disayur. Bunganya biasanya digunakan dalam pecel. Kulit batang turi berkhasiat sebagai obat radang usus, obat sariawan dan obat kudis.

Nama-nama lokal di Indonesia mencakup turi (Jawa Tengah), turi (Pasundan), toroi (Madura), tuwi, suri (Mongondow), uliango (Gorontalo), gorgogua (Buol), kayu jawa (Baree, Makasar), ajutaluma (Bugis), palawu (Bima), tanunu (Sumba), gala-gala (Timor), tun (Ternate, Tidore).

MORE

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/world/asia/12pstan.html?hp

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —
At the same time, a separate and equally deadly battle played out just 60 miles to the south. Gangs of Sunnis and Shiites fought each other, rampaging through the villages of the Hangu district over the weekend, destroying dozens of homes and leaving at least 40 people dead between the rival groups, according to reports from authorities carried by Pakistani news media and accounts from local residents. Hundreds of Taliban fighters rushed in to support Sunni gangs, as government attack helicopters hovered overhead, trying to intimidate gunmen into withdrawing.
“Both sides are trying to overrun each other’s villages,” said Abdul Rehman, a Sunni and resident of Hangu. He estimated that 60 people had died and said the incoming Taliban fighters appeared eager to drive Shiites out of the region. “They seem to be bent on settling this Shia question for good.”
Taken together, the battles underscored the persistent lawlessness in Pakistan’s border region with Afghanistan, where Taliban militants and other warlords have tightened their grip despite the Pakistani military’s attempts to make inroads in the past year.
The assault in Mohmand was particularly troubling. In the past, militants have often pulled away from high concentrations of Pakistani troops, only to return later. But this time, an estimated 600 Taliban fighters directly assaulted a paramilitary base at Mamad Gatt, according to Frontier Corps officials.
The western tribal areas have been a haven for Pakistani Taliban forces who stage attacks in Afghanistan, and they have been a focus for American diplomats, who have pressed the Pakistani government to do more to disrupt the flow.
But this attack involved mostly Taliban from the Afghan side of the border, who flooded into the mountainous area and joined with Pakistani fighters in the assault.
Armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machine guns, the militants swarmed the Mamad Gatt fort on Saturday night and fought heavily through the morning, according to one Frontier Corps officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information. By Sunday afternoon, he said, most militants had left, though there were still scattered skirmishes.
The battle took place in a district formally known as the Mohmand Agency, one of seven semiautonomous agencies along the border. Mohmand is northwest of Peshawar, the frontier hub city of three million that has come under increasing pressure from Taliban encroachment.
The Frontier Corps’ estimate of 40 dead militants could not be independently confirmed. According to some local reports, a number of Pakistani soldiers were captured, in addition to the six killed and seven wounded.
According to a Pashto-language television channel, one Taliban fighter who was killed was a midlevel commander in his 20s, Muslim Khan, also known as Garang, who was responsible for detaining a reporter and photographer for The New York Times in Mohmand in July.
The fighting over the weekend also followed the Pakistani military’s decision in late December to move about 5,000 troops abruptly from deployments in western Pakistan eastward to locations that would allow the military to defend the border with India more quickly if armed conflict broke out. Pakistani officials say more than 100,000 troops remain in the west.
The separate violence, in the Hangu district, involved a flaring of sectarian tensions after Shiites protested that a curfew forbade them from turning out for an important religious procession.
According to local residents, a large number of Shiites who live on the road from Hangu to Kohat marched toward Hangu to confront authorities about the curfew. Fighting then erupted with Sunnis who live in the area.
Hundreds of Taliban fighters — some in pickups with truck-bed-mounted machine guns — flooded into Hangu from the neighboring Orakzai district prepared to fight on the side of the Sunnis, despite reports that an assembly of local tribal elders had agreed to a cease-fire on Sunday. Sunni guerrillas fired on Shiite enclaves with mortars and reportedly seized a Shiite mosque and madrasa.
The Taliban from Orakzai Agency are under the command of Hakimullah Mehsud, a lieutenant of the warlord Baitullah Mehsud. Most of the Sunnis in Hangu belong to the same tribe as the Orakzai fighters.
The Shiites got help from members of the Turi tribe from another adjoining district, Kurram Agency, some residents said.
“Our force consists of young and inexperienced boys who are educated and as such don’t know the art of fighting heavily armed Taliban,” said one Shiite resident, Muzaffar Khan

Click to join parachinar616

Click to join parachinar616

CLIK JOIN PARACHINAR GROUP TO GET LATEST NEWS ABOUT PARACHINAR

Friday, December 19, 2008

Wajih Abbasi

The United Nations Security Council’s ban on Jamaatud Dawah (JuD) and four other personalities associated with it, including its Amir, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is a new twist to the events which started after terrorist attacks on Mumbai last month. Even before the UN decision, Pakistan government had started operation against the camps maintained by JuD) and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) in Azad Kashmir during which several people, including operational head of LeT was arrested. The operation was intensified after the UN resolution and was extended to the Punjab and other provinces where bulk of assets of at least JuD are situated.

This is not for the first time that such actions against militant outfits have been taken in response to the international pressure after major terrorist acts in different parts of the world. Similar actions were taken after 9/11 attacks in New York in September 2001 and attacks on the Indian Parliament later in December that year as well as attacks in London and Madrid. Irrespective to the veracity of accusation being pointed towards Pakistan from time to time and after every major terrorist incident in the world, it is unfortunate that the name of Pakistan has been made synonymous with terrorism and militancy turning the country into nearly an international pariah. The accusations have put the security and integrity of the country and well being of its people under constant threat. Every terrorist incident allows the enemies of the country to point their guns towards Pakistan and try to array an international coalition to punish Pakistan.

The danger posed by these accusations needs soul-searching and making strategic decisions about the whole issue of militancy and jihad and its utility to our national security objectives. We have to ask ourselves whether the policies started after the Sour Revolution in Afghanistan in 1978 which were continued to be tolerated after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from that country in 1989 and collapse of the PDPA government in 1992 have anyway helped Pakistan in the attainment of its strategic and security interests or these policies tarnished Pakistan’s image, made it less secure and increasingly isolated it in the comity of nations.

A lot has been written in Pakistan as well as internationally on how the US planned and executed its proxy war against former Soviet Union in Afghanistan and how militants and weapons from across the world were collected in the name of jihad to bleed the Russians in order to avenge the US defeat in Vietnam. Pakistan’s territory and its institutions were used for this purpose. Pakistan, then ruled by short sighted military junta, groping for its own survival needlessly pushed the country into a quagmire which is constantly pulling Pakistan into an abyss despite best efforts of the country to extricate itself.

The chaos that the US financed jihad created in Afghanistan has engulfed the length and breadth of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and NWFP. The menace is threatening the whole country seven years after the US decision to invade Afghanistan under the UN banner to fight the same forces it had created during the heydays of the Cold War. We should look back and ponder whether a modern, liberal and forward looking Afghanistan which the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan wanted to establish would have served Pakistan better than the lawless swath of territory we have today.

The Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan and subsequent dismemberment of the Soviet Union coupled with collapse of communism in the whole Eastern Europe and North and Central Asia gave a sense of false victory to the Muslim radicals and extremists and their supporters in the country. They soon started to propagate similar type of operations in other parts of the world, including the Central Asia, China and Eastern Europe as well as Kashmir. Their activities estranged Pakistan’s relations with the newly independent states in the Central Asia and deprived the country of the vast potential which the collapse of Soviet empire had created in terms of trade and commerce and as a conduit of petroleum exports from the region. They also created wedge between Pakistan and its times tested friend China besides raising concerns in certain Muslim countries as Egypt and Jordon. The genuine desire of the people of Kashmir for independence or merger with Pakistan has also given a bad name by these organisations allowing India to use unprecedented repression against the Kashmiris in which over 0.1 million people were killed. Last but not the least it tarnished the image of the ISI, an inseparable arm of Pakistan’s defence apparatus, to the point where these organisations are being used by the enemies of Pakistan to pressurise the country.

The militant organisations, militancy, terrorism and extremist generated by these groups have created doubts among the international community about stability of the country. It allows different organisations to dub Pakistan as failing state. The voices become even stronger because of the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear armed country with big arsenal of short and medium range missiles. Recently a report to the US Congress has described Pakistan as a place where weapons of mass destruction and terrorism intersect. The enemies of Pakistan would like to use these voices against Pakistan to deprive the country of its strategic weapons and take other punitive measures to destroy whatever has been built during last 60 years.

Internally, the forces unleashed by Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghan war have unleashed the forces of sectarian extremism, intolerance, narrow-mindedness, militancy and lawlessness. Leaders of militant organisations are behaving like warlords, who have established their own zones and consider themselves as above the law of the land and norms of society. During last three decades the country has witnessed the growing menace of not only Shia-Sunni but even intra-Sunni terrorism. Each pronouncing the other infidel and calling for jihad against the same. The weaponry used in Kurram Agency in Shia-Sunni feud recently was not even witnessed in the African civil wars.

In this situation, it is important for us as a nation to rethink our priorities and policies and put our house in order. The action taken against the JuD and LeT should be expanded to other militant organisations and individuals. Nobody should be allowed to keep and raise private armies in the name of ‘lashkars’, Jaish, sipha or whatever. The religious schools throughout the country should be brought under the law. The government should get their accounts audited every year and should have complete data of staff and students as well as the curriculum being taught in these institutions. The madrassas not complying with the government orders should be taken over and converted into schools where students should be imparted the religious education along with the normal education.

Financing of madrassas and religious organisations by some oil rich nations of the Middle East has worsened the situation. In most of the cases such aid has sectarian connotations and helps promote that sect in Pakistan which is dominant in the donor country. On the one hand, it provides undue influence to the donor government in the internal affairs in Pakistan. On the other hand, the aid promotes sectarian strife in the country. It is high time that the Pakistan government take bold stance on the issue to stop direct foreign donations to religious and sectarian organisations.

The writer is a former APP staffer and a freelance columnist based in Islamabad

SOURCE: http://thepost.com.pk/OpinionNews.aspx?dtlid=196894&catid=11

Click to join parachinar616

CLIK JOIN PARACHINAR GROUP TO GET LATEST NEWS ABOUT PARACHINAR

Editorial: Bajaur: attacking the jirgas

The Salarzai tribe that had begun to oppose the Taliban in Bajaur has been attacked near the town of Khar, the headquarters of Bajaur tribal agency. Their jirga was attacked by a suicide bomber who rushed into the gathering of elders and exploded himself on Wednesday. In all 22 elders were killed, including the leaders and commanders of the lashkar (militia) that they had put together to fight and expel the Taliban and their affiliated “foreigners” from the area. Forty-five members of the 300-strong council of elders were wounded.

An organisation of obscure origin has claimed the deed. This is a pattern and tells us how the Taliban and their patron Al Qaeda have come under pressure lately from the jirgas and reacted. In March, they had to massacre a jirga in Darra Adam Khel and last month they repeated the deed on a jirga in Orakzai agency, killing over a hundred elders. This is stage two of the strategy employed by the terrorists. They began by killing the maliks and single individuals of influence in the Tribal Areas to replace the traditional system of self-governance. Stage two is now upon us and is more problematic.

The jirga remains the apex of the system of authority among the tribes. When the maliks were being killed, the jirgas remained silent, linking the killings to “injustice” in Afghanistan. But as the Taliban began to impose their rule over them with punishments serving as instruments of fear, public reaction to them began to change. The problem was that the state at that time was not around to reassure them that they would be supported if they defied the terrorist regime. But now in Bajaur, for the first time, the Taliban and their “foreigners” are getting hurt in their confrontation with the Pakistan army, as is apparent from the suing for peace by Baitullah Mehsud, their “caliph” in South Waziristan. So now the tribes and jirgas are beginning to reassert themselves.

The Salarzai showed patience when their economy was being demolished and their schools were being pulled down by the Taliban. But after the army began operations in Bajaur, the Salarzai began to express their true response to the Taliban, something that has not happened elsewhere in the Tribal Areas, either because the military operations there have been fitful or have not succeeded. Therefore the attack on the Salarzai jirga clearly shows a new trend in the adventure story of the Taliban-Al Qaeda combine: they are becoming unpopular among the tribesmen and trying to cow them down by attacking their jirgas.

But the jirga killings are simply going to damage the Taliban’s cause further. Nowhere was the popular reaction against the “foreign” terrorists more intense than in the Malakand division (Swat, Dir, etc). But the people there were “softened” in favour of the Taliban by the MMA government in Peshawar which ruled in the area, just as it did not encourage the people of FATA to rise against the terrorists. Thus when the elections rolled around, the Swatis clearly indicted the MMA government for not looking after them. They also began to condemn the government when the military operations inflicted a lot of damage on them without eliminating the terrorists. So the fear factor came in and their message was: leave us to the mercies of the Taliban.

Fortunately, things changed after the exit of President Pervez Musharraf from the scene and his policy of mollifying the MMA because it helped him stay in power through the 17th Amendment. With the PPP in power in Islamabad and an apolitical army chief in the person of General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani heading the army, the scene has changed for the better and the pressure on the Taliban has started to build up. This must be kept up and, more importantly, other tribal agencies should be brought under military operations.

South Waziristan, where the last military operation in May this year discovered the “suicide academy” where suicide-bombers were trained for the whole of Pakistan, is back in the hands of Baitullah Mehsud whose second marriage was celebrated by subservient tribesmen on the occasion of last Eid to show that he was still the “caliph”. Kurram Agency is also a place gradually going out of the territorial jurisdiction of Pakistan. Since Peshawar failed to re-establish the traffic on the road going to Parachinar, the agency’s economy has become connected to Afghanistan. If you want to send food and medicines to Parachinar, you have to first smuggle them to Afghanistan. Since the Pakistani state could not come to the help of the besieged tribes there, their co-tribals from Afghanistan are coming in to defend them. This is not a situation which Islamabad can take for very long.

Attacking the jirgas is a sign of weakness in the Taliban “movement”. More and more tribesmen are going to turn against them as their elders are exterminated. More citizens’ militias will be formed against the Taliban; but the terrorists will be rolled back only if the Pakistan army goes in and helps its own people to defend themselves. This is the war that Pakistan has to fight, and from it hangs the prospect of what will happen in the region in the coming weeks and months. *

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Click to join parachinar616

CLIK JOIN PARACHINAR GROUP TO GET LATEST NEWS ABOUT PARACHINAR

Almost one million people of Parachinar remain stranded for more than a year by the criminals of Taliban, Sipah-e-Sahaba & Al-Qaeda

Click to join parachinar616

CLIK JOIN PARACHINAR GROUP TO GET LATEST NEWS ABOUT PARACHINAR

ANALYSIS: Blind to the threat —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

If the Taliban agenda was nothing more than the expulsion of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan their efforts to expand their domain to some of the settled districts of the NWFP makes no sense. And what is the justification of the sectarian violence in Kurram Agency?

The government and major opposition parties are euphoric over the unanimous passage of the resolution on militancy in the tribal areas during the joint session of parliament. They think that they have evolved a credible approach to dealing with the insurgency and its violent fallout in mainland Pakistan.

The government is pleased with the resolution because it can easily project this development as an indication of growing political harmony among Pakistan’s diverse political actors. Opposition parties had initially used the joint session to build pressure on the government. The PMLN leadership, for instance, criticised the government for its refusal to honour the commitment to restore all superior court judges through an executive order. The government also faced criticism for its inability to halt the current economic downslide. The unanimous resolution eases some pressure on the government for the time being.

The PMLN, the Jama’at-e Islami and the JUIF are happy that the resolution neutralises, if not negates, the official argument that the war on terror is Pakistan’s war. The resolution accommodates the major positions of these parties on militancy and the operations in the tribal areas by calling for the withdrawal of regular troops from the region.

The resolution serves the interests of the Pakistani Taliban, who must be pleased that the resolution endorses their major demands without asking for any reciprocal commitment. It suggests the end of the army operation and consequent withdrawal, something the Taliban have been demanding since the beginning of the operation. It also calls for negotiations with the Taliban on the contentious issues.

What does the government get in return? Nothing. The Taliban have not made any commitment so far on suspending their violent activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan in response to the resolution, not to speak of agreeing to function within the framework of the Pakistani constitution.

The optimism surrounding the passage of this resolution is misplaced. It is well known that a parliamentary resolution, even when adopted unanimously, is not binding on the government. It has moral and political implications, but they are usually not acted upon. Even if they are, it is selective. It would be interesting to know how many members were present in the session with the resolution was approved ‘unanimously’.

The resolution is a good declaration of intent, with emphasis on the peaceful and negotiated settlement of differences. However, it does not outline ways and means to operationalised its basic ideas into concrete policy measures. Some suggestions are not likely to be implemented at all, which will start a new polemical debate between the government and the opposition.

Representatives of the military provided detailed briefing to the parliamentarians to underline the major threat to internal security and stability posed by the Taliban, and to highlight that the Taliban were trying to establish an alternate authority by paralysing the Pakistani state. The current political government shares this perspective. The president and the prime minister have issued several statements over the last two months supporting military action. It is clear from their policy statements that they would like these operations to continue till state authority is firmly established.

The army wanted the political parties to support it in its venture in the tribal areas. Such support is needed because the army and paramilitary forces have lost over three thousand personnel in these operations over the last five years.

Yet the resolution does not have a word of sympathy for the armed forces, which is likely to disappoint them. Parliamentarians should have appreciated their efforts and then asked for limited or no use of force in the tribal areas. It seems that the parliamentarians hardly paid any attention to the briefings and drafted the resolution based on their pre-briefing perspectives.

The Islamist perspective, which does not view the Taliban as a threat to Pakistan, seems to dominate the resolution. The Taliban are portrayed as one of the ‘stakeholders’ in the political equation. There is no condemnation of suicide attacks or the blowing up of girls’ schools or public executions.

The PMLN, the PMLQ, the Jama’at-e Islami, the JUIF, the Tehreek-e Insaf and a host of Islamist groups take a naïve view of violence in the tribal areas and beyond. Instead of viewing the Taliban as Pakistan’s adversary, they sympathise with them as they are fighting US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. They hold the view that the Taliban will have no reason to use violence if American troops quit Afghanistan, since Pakistan’s support for the war on terror is the main cause of insurgency east of the Durand Line. In other words, changes have to be made in Pakistan’s policies, not in the Taliban’s.

American presence in Afghanistan can be viewed as one of the factors responsible for the Taliban resurgence. However, by now, the Taliban have expanded their agenda to include the establishment of a political and administrative domain in and around the tribal areas by neutralising the writ of the Pakistani state.

If the Taliban agenda was nothing more than the expulsion of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan their efforts to expand their domain to some of the settled districts of the NWFP makes no sense: no American troops are present in these areas. And what is the justification of the sectarian violence in Kurram Agency?

It is not clear if US troops in Afghanistan can be put under pressure by the Taliban policy of threatening Pakistani businesspeople and warning them against involvement in any ventures that are unacceptable to the Taliban. The main target of the Taliban is the Pakistani state, yet the resolution fails to take this into account.

Given the expanded Taliban agenda, the government of Pakistan will find it difficult to completely withdraw forces from the tribal areas and leave the security of the region to the insufficiently trained and equipped paramilitary forces. The resolution gives some leverage to the government by suggesting that the army be replaced “where possible with civilian law enforcement agencies with enhanced capacity”. However, the opposition expects a total cessation of military operations, which the government cannot initiate in the absence of a commitment by the Taliban to respect Pakistani state authority and end all violence.

If the opposition parties, the JUIF and parliamentarians from the tribal areas are interesting in evolving an amicable settlement of the trouble in the tribal areas, they should set up a committee for initiating non-official dialogue with the Taliban leadership to formulate proposals for a possible solution. Both sides will be expected to interact within the framework of the constitution. If some credible proposals can be evolved, the opposition would have a better case for implementing the parliamentary resolution.

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\10\26\story_26-10-2008_pg3_2

october, 26, 2008

Click to join parachinar616

CLIK JOIN PARACHINAR GROUP TO GET LATEST NEWS ABOUT PARACHINAR

Gizli kamerayi farketmediler! GISELEiN MAHZEN FANTEZiSi BASINA NELER ACTI? Brezilyali Top model Gisele Bundchen ve Amerikan futbol yildizi erkek arkadasi Tom Brady, gittikleri restoranin sarap mahzeninde gizli kameralardan habersiz sevisince olanlar oldu… Yolunuz New-yorkun dogusundaki 60. caddeye duser ve de unlu restoran Philippede yemek yerseniz sakin sarap mahzeninde sevismeyin. cunku sizde bunu yapan Gisele Bundchen ve Tom Brady gibi daha sonra cinli mutfak personeli tarafindan izlenebilirsiniz… New-York Postun haberine gore, unlu model Giselle Bundchen ve Tom Bradynin gittikleri restoranin sarap mahzeninde yasadiklari cinsel fantazi baslarina buyuk is acti. Mahzendeki kameradan . habersiz ciftin kayitlari daha sonra butun restoran calisani tarafindan izlenmis. Philippe Restoran sahipleri tarafindan dogrulanan habere gore yoneticilerden fark edilen kaset derhal imha edilmis.

Hello to all our readers. This is the last report from the Turi Club for 2008.
25th August. Tonight was the closing night of the South Association. A good gathering of bowlers turned up to play bowls for the last time on a Monday night for this season. Visitors from other Taranaki Associations were invited as was the President of the Taranaki Centre, Trevor Bourne and his wife Sue, also the Centre Secretary Marlene Clement. Every one enjoyed a friendly night of bowls and afterwards a lovely supper provided by the south players. The winners for the night were presented with their prizes of Instant Scratchy tickets: 1st went to Trevor Bourn’s team and 2nd went to Bill Schrader’s team. We did not hear any cheers from any of the ticket winners!
26th August. Last month we left you after the first night of the Handicap singles after four games. Marg Newlove had four wins, Wayne Scown and Jenni Newland had 3 and a half wins. Tonight we had another 4 games and at the end of the evening there were two players had 7 wins, 14 points from 8 games:  Marg and Julian. The next closest players were Wayne Scown with13 points, Noeline Finlay with 12 points and Ray Finlay with 10 points. Marg and Julian had to play off to get the winner. Most of the bowlers stayed to watch and were shown a great game of bowls. Marg had a good game and was ahead of Julian when disaster struck and she dropped 4 points on the 9th end and let Julian edge ahead to win.
2nd September. Tonight was the Turi Club’s prize giving and AGM. All the winners from the season were presented with their badges, certificates and gifts. The most improved player went to Marg Newlove. The President called the bowlers together for the AGM. Ray Finlay was once again voted in as President, and Jim Newlove as Vice President. Jenni Newland – Secretary / Treasurer. Doris Brunton – Press reporter. Rocky Adams – Selector to Hawera. Match committee: W Scown, C Reynish, D Brunton and R Adams. Bowling committee: all members.
9th September. Tonight all but one of our players, family and two past bowlers, Margaret and Wattie, gathered together at the Red rock for our end of season dinner where our hosts Michelle and Todd provided us with a lovely meal in a warm and comfortable room. Thank you from all the Turi bowlers.
13th September. Nineteen teams turned up to play 9 bowl triples in the Hawera Community Centre. We found Martin Harding had been left off the list and was not included in the draw. Jenni Newland withdrew her team and told Martin to take over her number; a real sporting gesture. After four games Martin’s team, as well as Jim Nickle’s team, had four wins each and had to play off to decide the winners. Three ends were played and Martin’s team was 1st and Jim’s 2nd. Colleen Reynish won the raffle.
17th September. Tonight was the Umpire’s Pairs in Stratford. Seven players from Turi went up to play; they were Wayne and Colleen, Jenni and Jim, Ray and Winnie. Doris teamed up with Ella Smaile from the Naumai Club in Hawera. Our teams played well and had some very good games but not good enough for a prize. Oh yes! Colleen did win one of the raffles.
All I can say now is: from our club to all our loyal readers near and far (yes, that means you Lorna), all the best for the rest of the year. Best wishes for the festive season and new year.

(from the October 2008 issue)