In the following article published in Daily Times, Farhat Taj highlights a case of selective morality and hypocrisy recently demonstrated by Pakistan army and its right-wing as well as “liberal” affiliates in Pakistani media by remaining silent on the massacre of at least 15 soldiers kidnapped by the Taliban. According to details, Taliban militants attacked a Frontier Constabulary (FC) fort at Mulazai, Tank on December 22, and took 15 FC men hostage after killing two soldiers. Reportedly, the Taliban had shifted the hostages to North Waziristan where their dead bodies were found three days ago. However, compared to Pakistan army and pro-army media, urban chatterers and politicians’ outrage on the killing of 24 soldiers in a NATO attack in November, the news of the cold blooded kidnapping and subsequent slaying of 15 soldiers was much suppressed in both Urdu and English press and the reaction by army and pro-army political class and liberal activists was almost absent. As Taj notes, it appears that what matters is who killed the soldiers. If the killer is the US, they will condemn with all they have. If the killer is the Taliban, they will forgive and forget. Many such as Imran Khan, Munawar Hasan, General Hamid Gul and Judge Iftikhar Chaudhry will even blame the US for the acts of terror committed and publicly owned by the Taliban.
It is okay if Taliban kill our soldiers? A comment on the slaughter of 15 FC personnel in Waziristan
Posted in War
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Archbishop hits out at unscrupulous bankers
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams raised eyebrows during his Christmas Day sermon.
He suggested the rioters who tore Britain’s cities apart during the summer were no worse than bankers and that the “bonds of trust” had been broken throughout society.
He told the congregation at Canterbury Cathedral: “Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today’s financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark.”
Posted in Banking
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File-Sharing Recognized as Official Religion in Sweden
Since 2010 a group of self-confessed pirates have tried to get their beliefs recognized as an official religion in Sweden. After their request was denied several times, the Church of Kopimism – which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols – is now approved by the authorities as an official religion. The Church hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing.
All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates, there is a large group of people who actually consider copying to be a sacred act.
Posted in Bittorrent
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