Saturday, March 7, 2009

For all us Pakis...

who don't get where the big taboo about first cousin marriages comes from (besides the ew factor which really isnt a valid reason to make things illegal..):

Cousin Marriage - What's Science Got to Do With It?

In other news... the news is REALLY REALLY depressing these days. Unemployment, wars, terrorism... Not pleasant... I know it's all great and honorable to expose the truth.. but can't you report cheerful, happy things? Even if they're small, just to take the edge off?

6 comments:

gaycaviar said...

Maybe Pakistanis need some shock factor in their lives. Over the years they have become too inured to too many things.

Urti Patang said...

maybe... i see you have your own blog now! :)

gaycaviar said...

At the rate I was frequenting other people's blogs and exhausting all other news avenues on the internet I figured I may as well. Although I am very ADD so let's see how long this lasts.

This article might be of interest to you given an earlier post of yours.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/187093/page/1

Urti Patang said...

I finally managed to get through the article.. I recently read an article interviewing Imran Khan, post-the cricketer's getting attacked, and when he was asked about women's issues, he dismissed it as a "cultural thing", which got me a little miffed at first.. But then I thought about it and I realized that on some level he's right, when it comes to US (etc) foreign policy, the focus should be on issues of -> *foreign policy* such as preventing terrorism, rather than the more complex social and human rights issues. Although, not to say there should be no international help in dealing with these issues, but it is important to keep these issues separate - methinks.

gaycaviar said...

Interesting. I see where you're coming from, however at the same time our history sort of indicates that the only times we have addressed human rights issues on a legal/political level (re: Women's Protection Bill of 06) is when the government is embarrassed into acknowledging them by the international community.

This is not to say that the international community should consistently intervene, particularly the US (cannot stand paternalism), but there should be some level of policing - albeit minimal, by agencies such as the UN etc.. If anything the last few years have brought mass mobilization in Pak. but there is still a way to go before on ground realities are aptly communicated into efficient, permanent change.

Urti Patang said...

Yeah.. I guess my beef is with how women's issue are brought up as a justification for the war on terror.

Women's issues in islam are not a valid justification for the war when presented under the guise of promoting peace. It is only even ever relevant if you first admit that the war on terror is actually a cultural war and not just about fighting terrorism.

So on some level I wasn't really talking about what should or should not be done.. but more about the justifications not matching the stated intent.