Goodbye Hollywood, Hello Haalivud? A time-frame of 2-3 years does seem absurdly optimistic. With very good planning and execution I`d say more like 10-15 years, and that too for just catching up with the low-to-medium-end of the business. To actually become a big player in the high-end you need much more than artists, you need tool and method innovators, you need detailed technical know-how of CG, and above all, you need experience, which doesn`t come by in 2-3 years. Take the example of Pixar Studios (Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bug`s Life, Nemo, Monsters Inc, The Incredibles), they have their own software called RenderMan which is developed inhouse. They do not use Maya or 3D Studio, not even the high-end offerings from the likes of Silicon Graphics. Same is the case for ILM (Industrial Light and Magic, Steven Spielberg`s special effects house which provides most of the cutting-edge sfx for Hollywood movies), they have an entire internal Studio Tools department which caters to the needs of the company.

Irfan.

PS: Never heard of any major sfx studio in Europe.

Women vs. Men In Science Being an engineer myself, I would like nothing more than to see more women in scientific/technical fields. That said, I think the debate about whether women can become good scientists/mathematicians/engineers is a moot one (at least for me). I have seen more than my fair share of brilliant women engineers and incompetent men. Treating an individual as a person first and a man/woman later would solve a lot of problems, but unfortunately making the venus/phallus distinction is too deeply wired in our heads.

That said, I think physiology is programmed to give men an unfair advantage in most professional endeavors. In response to Sommer`s remarks there was a short article published which gave a very tangible reason why women are not more visible among top research positions; families and children. To become a respected researcher you need to publish as much as possible, this usually takes place during the late 20s and 30s, precisely the time when women have babies. Given the choice, some women choose family over career. I don`t think that`s a bad choice. If not, men`s decreasing sperm count may not be the reason why the human race shrinks. And in any case, raising a family is in no way easier or less consequential than being a frontline researcher (and I think most mothers might say more satisfying and rewarding).

Why We Need Islamization of Science Re: # 132 (ZahraJ),

Even if a fox and cheetah were brother/sister I would still be unable to fathom the leap of imagination it took to confuse the two. Also, you never did answer most of my questions (principally the ones regarding your bringing up my hormonal imbalance and threatening me with dire consequences should I make ``mistakes`` again).

My motives, which you brand as being insincere, are known only to me. So commenting upon them by anyone is simple conjecture. I was not trying to tick anyone off by boosting the ``Cheetah`s`` morale. He is being ganged up on by 4 or 5 people here, all I was doing was expressing my opinion that him not backing down in the face of such odds is valiant (whether his arguments have merit or not is something I don`t care to discuss). Also, when did I not tolerate someone exposing the ``lies`` of that cheetah-cum-loom`ri? You are again attributing to me something I did not say in any way, shape or form. It was you, ma`am, who did not tolerate my point-of-view.

Finally, I really don`t get how I managed to irritate you. My original post was addressed to Romair (hence the ``Romair,`` at the top of it). Yet you percieve it as an irritant that was addressed to you?

Irfan.

Why We Need Islamization of Science Re: # 125 (ZahraJ),

No it`s just plain Urdu (can`t speak Punjabi though I love the language, and wouldn`t write anything in French because most people here wouldn`t understand). ``Cheeta laga hua hai tu`` = ``you are acting like a cheetah`` (vernacular translation). It`s not literary but it`s the way we used to speak when we lived in a hostel (yes my friends are all as uncouth and lacking in the fine skill of elegant communication as I am).

Why oh why are you bringing up my hormonal balance (or lack of it) up for discussion? No I didn`t make a mistake, I didn`t mean to say loom`ri (that`s what you want to say). And is that a not-so-thinly veiled threat in your next line for me expressing my opinion? When in your very next post (#126) you state that killing those who hold and publicize an opposite point-of-view is a vice among muslims and the tolerance of it a virtue of the west. By the way, your concern for my studies is heart-warming, don`t worry they are well under control.

Irfan.

PS: It really is very adorable how you appoint yourself the arbiter of all that is reasonable and all that is not. Keep it up, love reading your posts :)

PPS: Romair, cheeta laga hua hai tu CHEETA.

Why We Need Islamization of Science Romair,

Cheeta laga hua hai tu. Mat janay dayna in ko, itnee statistics dikhana kay ankhain bahir ajayen aur bukhar charh jaye sub ko :)

Thora sa busy hoon aaj, warna mein bhee chadda charha kar akharay mein utar ata. Laikin masla hee koi nahin, you are enough for all of them put together. Dick em down with facts man.

Long live Pakistan.

Irfan.

Why We Need Islamization of Science Dude what the F__K have you been smoking? I want some of it, must be the best thing after sliced bread if it gives such clarity of vision. Here we have a perfect example of wrapping up an infinitesimal piece of faeces in arcane language and trying to pass it off as critical thinking. Please oh please explain to me what are the horizontal and vertical outgrowths of science. How does the study of the soul become a science (even a traditional one). If ``exact science`` suffers from a scarcity of perspective (you state we can only observe something from our own point-of-view) then how does ``Islamic science`` liberate us and take us to a higher plane?

For the love of God (yes God), stop dragging Islam into spheres it has no hope of enriching. Science is science, it is exact. Islam (or any religion) has no place dictating how science should be practiced. What you speak of is metaphysics or at most philosophy (by the way, it`s raison d`être not raison de aitre).

It`s people like you who are handing others much unneeded ammunition to make a mockery of us when we are already a laughingstock the world over. Grab a lota and go to Raiwind, there you will find many, many people who will hang onto your every word like it was a string of pearls.

Irfan.

PS: The day you find me an integer other than 1 and 7 that divides 7 perfectly I will give up reading IEEE journals and start looking to the Quran for guidance in all matters technical, in fact I will give up my career in the ``exact sciences`` and strive to find my ``raison de aitre``. Find me a perspective dude.

The Ultimate Violation Beena,

Thanks for a great article, the account by the sister-in-law was heartrending. I believe we as a nation need to take decisive steps to stop this vicious perpetration of violence against women. Steps need to be taken at the governmental as well as social levels to stop this beast in its tracks.

1) Much stricter laws for violence against women. But only promulgation of laws is not sufficient, they need to be implemented with an iron fist as well. The government is the main agent for this.

2) Watchdog organizations that pursue these cases effectively. I once volunteered for an NGO that helped women suffering from domestic violence. After about a month of attending meetings I realized that all they were interested in was talking and flirting.

3) A basic change at societal level where it is drilled into children (at school and at home) that women must be respected. That they are equals and should be treated as such. No more should a brother be given the better piece of chicken at dinnertime than his sister by the grandmother, no more should brothers be sent to better schools/universities because they have a penis while their sisters are denied a good education, as this instills in the child that he is somehow superior just because he is male.

4) The financial empowerment of women from all strata of society so that they gain independance from abusive spouses/fathers.

Cover-Up of a Gang Rape by the Military? Re: # 155 (ZahraJ),

My post is long winded? :)

Let me clarify one thing, for me this is absolutely not a men vs women issue, obviously you`re a feminist and I think that`s cute. But, rather than taking a peremptory and dismissive attitude, try and argue a point rationally. If you think my long winded posts are a waste of your time, don`t read or reply to them. Also, why shouldn`t anyone be allowed to be sarcastic towards you? Are you not on a public discussion board? Have you not claimed that you were being sarcastic to other people? Why the double standards? And since I`m the one writing my posts, I`m the only one who can judge whether they are relevant or otherwise before posting them up for your judgment :)

I have no objection to human rights organizations pressuring the government for swift and firm action. They have been doing it and will keep on doing it. Fine by me. But when you talk about a kind of internation council that `oversees` it has connotations of ceding national authority to an outside agency. No sovereign nation (even one under a dictatorship) would or should do that. You say people are looking to foreign bodies for justice, I can make another sweeping statement saying there are many people in Pakistan who would find such foreign intervention unacceptable.

If the international community needs to pressure a nation, it should pressure the USA to submit its troops to the jurisdiction of the ICC. Or the international community should have intervened far quicker in Darfour, sorry for the shock tactic but read http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3426273.stm and then decide where effort should be focused.

Cover-Up of a Gang Rape by the Military? ZahraJ,

Going out on a limb here that you`ll deign to interact with me on a topic or two. In this case there is no legal cause for international institutions to jump in and impose themselves on those of a sovereign nation; those mechanisms (which themselves are often ineffectual) are in place to react and respond to war crimes such as genocide. Or are you supporting an illegal action to punish another? Another way international institutions can intervene is if another country declares war on Pakistan because the rapists are not being punished (the lack of justice and basic human rights was one of the ostensible reasons for the current Iraq war). A final way would be for the international community to impose economic/trade sanctions on Pakistan, although these will not affect the upper and middle class fatally, but the economic deprivation will trickle down enough to the lower classes to indirectly cause death and undue suffering (Iraq during the interregnum between the two Gulf wars is again the example, we`ve all heard of Iraqi children dying due to lack of medicines).

Taking a page out of the alleged retard`s (Romair`s) logic, I`m sure that Americans are not really perfect (inspite of popular perception). I`m willing to bet quite a few vital organs that there are many cases where innocent people are languishing in jails, and many criminals are getting off (proverbially) scot free. Yet amazingly, I`ve never heard of Americans clamoring for their cases to be referred to Swedish courts, or demanding that German institutions come in and set theirs` right.

Cover-Up of a Gang Rape by the Military? HP,

Didn`t realize when I read your original remark that it was a teaser, seemed to be smack dab in the middle of a serious conversation.

If I want to taste a good scotch I`ll just cross the channel and get some in the UK :)

There`s not too many desis where I`m at but I go to the UK often enough and I was growing tired of a A level dropout, cell-phone salesmen British-born desis patronizingly explaning to me how Pakistan should be improved (when their entire exposure to Pakistani society is that summer they spent at Khala jee`s house). Obviously there are more perceptive people with much more substantive contributions to make.

The ghairat issue is an example of yet another *ism. We have nationalism being factored out and parcelled to smaller and smaller groups. At one time it was Punjabi vs Pathan, Sindhi vs Balochi (and all permutations of that). But now we have Potohari vs Seraiki, Bugti vs Marri and so on. Once you descend one level there`s always another low, always another racial/tribal/linguistic distinction to be made. It sucks but that`s the way it is.

Irfan.

PS: I`m pretty relaxed, just don`t like being told I`m condoning rape and defending a rapist.

Cover-Up of a Gang Rape by the Military? tahmed32,

Help me out here. Where did I defend the rapist? It goes without saying that if he is guilty of rape then he should be awarded the punishment due. Nowhere have I said that rape is not a crime or should not be punished.

The author says ``The International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute, commonly referred as the Rome Statute, unequivocally declares rape as a crime against humanity under its Article 7, paragraph 2(f)``. But he is quoting it out of context (and quoting wrong paragraphs also by the way). The URL I gave in my last post (http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/icc/statute/part-a.htm#2) states (it is the text of the ICC Rome Statute):

``For the purpose of this Statute, ``crime against humanity`` means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:`` and the list below it includes rape. But this only becomes a crime against humanity if it meets the criteria set out in the preamble (widespread, systematic etc.)

#12 (Urstruly) states that the family should be provided sanctuary in a neutral foreign country, all evidence should be exported and a criminal investigation be carried out by experts of that country. #78 (Teshah) repeats that ``rape is a crime against humanity``. It was to these people that my post was addressed.

As for the ghairat issue, I didn`t claim that Pakistani men did or did not have it, nor that there exists or does not exist such a thing. All I said is that I found the discussion of ghairatmand vs honorable and the nuances drawn between the meanings pointless and didn`t want to comment on it. I only referred to it because it pertained to what HP said about honorable people leaving Pakistan. I didn`t allude to you in my post anywhere.

Finally about expatriates, what did I really say? I said it amazes me a lot to listen to what they have to say. I never said they don`t have a right to say what they want, who am I to impose restrictions on what can and can`t be said? EVERYBODY has a right to say what they want, even me by the way.

Irfan.

Cover-Up of a Gang Rape by the Military? Everyone seems to be in an emotional upheaval about this issue, which is understandable. But people, please, get your facts straight. The rape of a woman is NOT a crime against humanity. Merriam-Webster`s Dictionary of Law 1996:

``crime against hu·man·i·ty: An inhumane act (as enslavement) committed against civilians before or during a war for which criminal liability is imposed by a domestic or international tribunal see also war crime``

http://www.answers.com/topic/crime-against-humanity

The International Criminal Court established in 2003 defines it in a similar vein:

http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/icc/statute/part-a.htm#2

I won`t get into the honorable vs ghairatmand discussion because it seems pointless. But someone in the middle said that all self-respecting, honorable people have left Pakistan for the west. I would just like to ask you a few questions:

1. Have all, or even a majority of people, who immigrated done so for abstract notions of freedom, liberty etc. or for more palpable reasons such as financial opportunities, educational opportunities or a better quality of life?

2. If all good people have immigrated, does it mean that everyone left in Pakistan is a scumbag? If so, when did all the good people leave? Another angle of the problem: what if someone leaves Pakistan now? Is (s)he an immigrating scumbag or does he immediately become expiated of all that is bad while passing through customs at JFK/Heathrow etc.?

3. Seeing the fact that almost all who leave Pakistan are either the educated/monied elite (going to the US, to some extent to the UK), or labor-class people going to the ME, does it mean that the rest of the people in Pakistan, specially the poor who cannot afford to immigrate, are by definition dishonorable scum?

It amazes me a lot how people who manage to escape to the west suddenly become experts in Pakistani internal affairs and societal ills (and ways to fix them) and begin offering deep, knowledgable insights to those who still live there.

Irfan

Black Longings Re: # 22 (Farzana),

Slow down there prima donna, I was giving you a compliment. Admittedly, I added my opinion/observation/whatever with it and for that I`m sorry. But it WAS a compliment because I found the article (I repeat) excellently put together, sorry for having read you wrong. Won`t happen again :)

Irfan.

More on the Price of Love While I am happy for the couple and the fact that the justice system for once did what it was supposed to do. I must say that as a societal trend I don`t care much for what transpired. What are we imbibing in our upcoming generation? It is ok to disobey your parents? Screw them over once you`re an adult because the legal machinery`s got your back?

What her parents did was wrong, plain wrong. But she`s lucky her Romeo didn`t do what some Romeos do and take her to Lahore, you all know what I mean. When one is young it is very easy to feel that you are being railroaded by your parents. No matter what someone tells me, 19 or 20 may be `legal age` in the eyes of the law but it is not an age when one is mature enough to make decisions that impact the rest of one`s life.

Irfan.

My Mother, Myself Samina,
This is the second article from you on chowk that I am reading. Both your articles left me amazed at your expressive power in matters of the heart. Being an airforce baby myself, I can relate to your pain, though I can`t claim to understand its extent.

Re: # 3
That`s as insensitive a rant as I`ve ever seen. First off, the author is not one of ``us girls``, she`s a woman who probably has children older than you. Secondly, don`t go around claiming that you could write stuff that would be unexpected coming from a Pakistani girl; either do it and shock people, or stay quiet. There`s nothing worse than a backseat driver.

Irfan.

Black Longings Farzana,
Excellently put together. I must admit it is a subject I have never given any thought to. I would like to offer up another opinion though; rather than focusing on the sexual or romantic needs of disabled people, we as a society should first and foremost try and focus on their other needs. We need to integrate them into society as productive, capable participants, of which I am sure that most, if not all, have the potential. We need to be able to provide them with education, opportunities and above all, we need to treat them as equals, not pity them. I remember once I stood up from my seat in a train to give it to a young girl who was blind, her response was ``I am blind, but my legs are as good as yours``.

Re: # 3 (teshah)
Yours is one of those situations where no one is guilty of any wrongdoing yet suffering continues. I must say I can`t wrap my mind around what you mean by ``this compassionless society of the Pakland where even Dr Shazia has not been spared``.

Irfan.