Nothing seems to go well in Pakistan!

There are a few countries in the world that are in need of an extreme makeover.  Zimbabwe, North Korea are in the top rung. Not far behind them is Pakistan.  And, lately, everything seems to be going in the wrong direction for this country.

I mean, look at the recent issues alone, even without going too much back in time.  The catastrophic floods even failed to generate significant global interest in this human tragedy.  Even as the government was ineffectively managing that crisis (their version of "heckuva job, Brownie," right?) the cricket team decided that they needed to shine the Commonwealth's attention on the Pakistan--not because they played well, but with a few players engaging in match-fixing schemes. One can imagine the magnitude of this scandal when even the Los Angeles Times reports on this. In America.  On the game of cricket!

The Times notes:

At the core of the scandal are allegations that two cricketers colluded with a middleman to manipulate the course of a match against England last week in London.

Since then, Pakistani television channels daily have been airing video of the middleman, identified as London-based businessman Mazhar Majeed, flipping through wads of cash as he meets with British tabloid reporters posing as members of an Asian gambling cartel.

The tabloid, News of the World, said Majeed accepted $232,000 from the undercover reporters to ensure that Pakistani cricketers bowled "no balls," the equivalent of an illegal pitch in baseball, at specified times during the match. The manipulation, known as spot-fixing, occurs because gamblers sometimes bet not only on the outcome of a match but on individual occurrences or actions during the contest.

Say it ain't so, Joe Asif!

Meanwhile, the terrorists--of which many flavors operate in Pakistan--decide that this is no time to pause. So what if 20 million are messed up thanks to the floods is their thinking, I suppose.  Further, with the weak government's attention being forced on the crisis, and with people unhappy with the government's performance, perhaps the terrorist elements are all the more pumped up. Thus, Pakistan continues to rock with explosions; the latest was in Lahore, whose soil has been bloodied quite a bit with such tragedies in recent months.  The latest one:

At least 25 people have been killed and 170 injured after three bombs exploded during a procession by Shia Muslims in the Pakistani city of Lahore. ...

Officials say the first explosion came shortly before nightfall on Wednesday, at the end of a procession by some 35,000 Shia to mark the death in the Seventh Century of the first Shia imam, Ali bin Abi Talib.

Footage of the moment shown on Geo television showed a small explosion amid a crowd of people near the Karbala Gamay Shah imambargah, followed by a large plume of smoke.
Minutes later, as hundreds of people fled, a suicide bomber blew himself up near an area where food was being prepared for the marchers to break the Ramadan fast, a senior police officer, Zulfiqar Hameed, told the Associated Press news agency.
A second suicide bomber then detonated his explosive belt at an intersection near the end of the procession, Mr Hameed added.

That's right--in the middle of the month-long Ramadan fasting ... how awful!

Imam Glenn Beck :)

Michael Kinsley yet again proving that he has not lost his touch despite that awful Parkinson's he has been dealing with humor:

My first thought, when I heard that Glenn Beck was planning a huge rally at the Washington Mall on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s "I Have A Dream" speech at the same site 48 years ago was, "How obnoxious. How offensive. What a jerk!" My second thought was, "Well, he’s got a right to speak in that place on that date, as at almost any other place on any other date. Even jerks are protected by the First Amendment." My third thought was, "Sure, he has the right to have his rally there and then, but shouldn't he have more sensitivity to those for whom this date and this place have special meaning and importance? Couldn't he find some other place or pick some other date for his rally?" My fourth thought was, "Uh oh. This line of reasoning is starting to get uncomfortable."

This President, too, bullshits about the Iraq War

Joe Conason has a thoughtful essay on the "The truths about Iraq that Obama couldn't utter"
Glenn Greenwald is sick and tired of the "The "nobody-could-have-known" excuse"--though this particular essay is not directed at Obama's speech, but fits into the overall dominant narrative. And reminds us about Dick Cheney's explanations (which are right on the mark!) on why the US did not go all the way in Iraq--the first time.


Meanwhile, Tony "the poodle" Blair is publishing his memoirs, which is nothing but a crass route to making money from all the pain and suffering his decision inflicted.  And cries over the metaphorical spilt milk blood:

Iraq is his most divisive legacy, but Blair says he is not sorry for his decision to enter the U.S.-led war — although he wept for its victims. He is donating all proceeds from the book to a charity for wounded troops.

"I ... regret with every fiber of my being the loss of those who died," Blair writes. "Tears, though there have been many, do not encompass it."

But, he adds, "on the basis of what we do know now, I still believe that leaving Saddam in power was a bigger risk to our security than removing him."

"I can't regret the decision to go to war," he says, although he admits that "never did I guess the nightmare that unfolded" once Saddam was gone.

He knows his position is unpopular: "Friends opposed to the war think I'm being obstinate; others, less friendly, think I'm delusional."

Yes, obstinate and delusional. Thanks for saying that!

Speaking of delusional, the biggest of 'em all, George Bush, has his own book coming out soon.
Can't wait to hold it upside down and read it to the kids in the park as a great halloween prank.

Finally, why ignore Paul Wolfowitz's airbrushing!

Oh, how much I miss George Carlin!