Obama’s monologue

In his first annual State of the Union Address after the Democratic Party lost its majority in Congress, President Obama pledged that his nation would invest in green energy, stop subsidising obsolete energy sources, break the dependence on oil and biofuels, would lay more emphasis on innovation. The basic thrust of his speech was on jobs and the economy. He proposed a five-year freeze in non-security discretionary spending, which he said will reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade. Furthermore, briefing Americans on foreign policy; he reaffirmed the decision to start bringing home US troops from Afghanistan in July, praised the Tunisian people on their achievement, and discussed developments related to Iraq and Iran.
From what he said in his speech, Obama seem to realise the fact that although the US remains the most powerful country on earth, it is underperforming as a nation, and that China and India have shown great resurgence, on the other hand. Indeed, the two countries have successfully developed the quality of their intellectual capital. Therefore, one of the key words in Obama’s speech was “reinvent.” The important points missing in his speech were that no single policy proposal was cited. His remarks on US foreign policy appeared to have been made without conviction. He failed to comment on the current situation in Cairo, for example. It was almost as if what he was saying was all part of his re-election campaign, even though the elections are nearly two years away. Thus, the public reaction to what he said was mixed. In other words, his speech lacked what can be described as actual content.

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The News: http://old.thenews.com.pk/28-01-2011/ethenews/e-28060.htm

Stop bulldozing public interests/ Lavish lodges

Today, when the social, economic, political and religious sufferings of the people can be heard from every crevice of the state and when public frustration is mounting, our leaders, instead of realising their duties, are regrettably adding fuel to the fire. The announcement of the construction of new parliamentary lodges in Islamabad, costing Rs 3 billion, and statements from the finance minister proclaiming the limitedness of resources that is forcing policy makers to slash the development budget, allocated for the greater good of the public, seem to oppose each other.
The masses are confused. If our economy can afford 50 protocol cars for politicians, if it can afford to construct a lavish underground tunnel for parliamentarians and if it can afford high cost foreign tours then why is it unable to afford development projects in sectors that pertain to the common man like health, education, railways and energy resources? Why can the money not be used to control poverty, unemployment, target killings, enhanced ransom and extortion cases? Why does the government fail to save the flood victims from dying in the freezing cold? Why can the economy not be utilised properly to impart righteous knowledge of Islam to our populace, in order to curb the menace of extremism? Why can we as a nation not use our resources to find our own feet instead of begging for foreign aid?
The time has passed when people used to be oblivious to ground realities. Now the nation possesses a critical eye on every decision that our leaders make. Our leaders should learn from what happened in Tunisia and what is going on in Egypt and why all this has happened. They should stop enhancing personal assets and bulldozing the public interest before they are forced to face the same destiny as the leaders of Tunisia.

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The News: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-11-27460-Lavish-lodges

Daily Times: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C01%5C28%5Cstory_28-1-2011_pg3_7

Pak Tribune: http://www.paktribune.com/news/print.php?id=235776

Tides of Change

Massive demonstrations in the Egyptian capital have been calling for an end to Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule. The protests are perceived as an upshot of unrest prevailing in Tunisia. In Egypt, Algeria, Jordan and several other Arab countries, protesters are asking for autocratic governments to be held accountable for high unemployment, soaring prices and political repression.
The recent protests have led many to question the double standards of the western world, especially the US, which despite their claims to be the champions of democracy, supported many of these governments.

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The News: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-11-28319-Tides-of-change