The Importance of Natural Selection
Dear Zarrar: Thank you for your kind reply #115

(Re: Interacts 90 and 115 - Zarrar or anybody is welcome to respond)

I can easily acknowledge your understanding that Koran is allegorical. In that case it is probably wise to stay away from theology while discussing hard-science of biology. So, I will not bear down on it anymore :)

Nonetheless, questions that I had asked still remain unanswered:

1. Can you point to some design-flaws in the make of an organism called human being (Homo sapiens)?
2. With your expertise in evolutionary biology, can you tell me when did first sexual differentiation appear in organisms? Please give me sense of paleontological time frame and/or the genra of those organisms.
3. Is there any evidence of micro- or macro- evolution that is going right now?
4. Your description of natural selection makes sense that it is the correct term and that it is the theory that explains the mechanism how does life interacts with environment whereby some organisms are selected to survive and others perish but the way you have defined “Evolution� is confusing for me.

As an expert on this subject, kindly elaborate on above questions. I shall be grateful and I believe chowk-readers would have a better sense of biology.

Kind regards,

The Importance of Natural Selection
Dear Zarrar:

Thank you. Nice essay. Let me ask a few direct questions (Hope you don’t mind):

1. Is there a difference between “Evolution� and “Natural Selection?
2. At what point in time, there is concrete evidence of sexualization of species?
3. If evolution is an ongoing process, is there any evidence of ongoing micro- or macro- evolution?
4. You have briefly commented that some scholars infer evolution from Koran. Do you find any reference of extinction in Koran or Bible, which is a fact anyways?
5. Religions claim God to be the creator and declares in Koran “We have indeed created man in the best of moulds� (Yusufali 95:4). Therefore, any flaw in human design would put the above verse to real test. Do you have any evidence of flaw in human design or could there be any possibility of a better anatomical or physiological human design? By the way, if there is no design flaw we would indirectly know that He did exist at the time of claim because his Koranic assertion proved to be true.


Akcheema #42:

Great to hear Stanley Miller being appropriately recognized. Nice reading list. May I add to your list an excellent, easy and comprehensive link for study of Evolution 101:

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evohome.html

Regards,

Making a Mockery of Democracy
Dear Dr. Gill Sahib:

Thank you for being the voice of reason when emotions are flared up.

Democracy is not only elections but a mind set and a process based on egalitarian principles that needed to be reminded. It was certainly due at this juncture.

Thanks again.

Islam and Hijab-Murder in Canada
freethinker #52: Dr. Gill Sahib: Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated. Like always, its great. Thanks a lot.

dost_mittar #57: Very interesting observation! Long ago when I was going through some of Upanishads, I did not feel that suttee was coming out of scriptures but you do have a point and its about human nature.

Do you think that violence is in human nature that plays upon social and cultural stage? I am wondering if violence is innate, how come there is security in some societies more than others? Is there a role for education to tone down human nature?

zeemax # 56: So you are telling me that you are a proponent of physical violence on the basis of topic of an article … Did I hear you right? I believe you are smarter and you can definitely argue better than threats of violence. Step up to your real potentials – Recognize them and shine them please. You can surely do better!

Regards,

Tahir

Islam and Hijab-Murder in Canada
Issues confronting Muslims are much bigger than stupid Hijab and please don’t limit scope of violence to Muslim women only. The issue is human emancipation!

Specifically though, from bickering at home to torture of loud sermons by mullahs to murder in the name of honor is the spectrum of moral-violence. Explanations are only justifications for controlling women … Get real please.

freethinker #19: Dear Dr. Gill Sahib –Do you think legislation against Hijab etc etc can help raise consciousness about faith/culture based violence? Kindly, weigh in. The bar for interaction/comments is higher for a scholar like yourself (It’s a compliment).

dehiwala #46: Impressive … I am a student of psychology and admire SF. In this instance I found Kant to be more relevant because of social slant in that quote and by the way that’s what came to my mind while writing quickly.

What determines values and how do values change in a culture is an important but GENERATIONAL issue. There is some good research on this subject - Value Survey of the World. The data was collected from 81 countries for more than 20 years. If you can spare few minutes, please have a look at the following; particularly Question #3:

http://familyofheart.com/07/Dec01/Comments_TQ.htm

hurricane #28: I am glad that you are angry. Any reasonable person would be and should be angry. There is no other normal reaction on senseless crimes.

zeemax #30: Don’t you feel your remarks “guillotine park [for] these munafiques like this writer� are over the top. Sir, you could be who’s who of this planet but you owe me an apology … plain and simple.

Regards,

Tahir

The Future of Iraq
Dear Bhaskar:

Interesting article indeed.

I did not look at the divide in Iraq with as much emphasis on sectarianism as you did. May be your vantage point is valid. My reservation is based on the idea that the conflict in Iraq (if one places primary emphasis on ‘sectarianism’), does not predict the misgivings of Kurds even though they are mainly Sunnis. Along this line of reasoning, they should have allied with Sunnis if sectarianism were the root-cause of conflict. One has to change the yardstick from sectarianism to regionalism to explain Kurd issue.

Anyways, I had written about Iraq issue some months ago that the CHOWK staff decided not to publish for whatever reason. It was published as featured article on "Axis of Logic" and some other places. I am taking liberty to copy and paste it below for sharing with you. Like always, thanks.

Tahir Qazi
____________________________________________________


Iraq
Fight for "Black-Blood" of Global Economy in Iraq
By Tahir M. Qazi, MD
Jan 13, 2007, 17:22

Hidden behind the smoke of firing guns and chaotic scenes in Iraq is the greedy face of Multinational Corporations and their political patrons, who have been waiting to make a killing in the oil fields of Iraq. Oil exploration and extraction used to be a state enterprise of Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule. With Saddam Hussein through the gallows, one obstruction is cleared.

Oil, the "Black-Blood" of Global Economy, is an Iraqi natural resource. But the draft legislation is on the table to be presented to the Iraqi parliament to sign it into a law. It is currently being termed as "Hydrocarbon Law". This law will allow oil-hawks to take a bigger bite out of the energy resource in the war ridden and collapsed state of Iraq. It is going to be called Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). Common practice for investments is to offers rights for extraction for 10-15 year whereas in case of Iraq it may be up to 30 years. Until the costs of a project have been recovered oil companies would be allowed to keep 70% of the profit. Elsewhere 40% would be a standard. Once the costs are recouped the companies' share falls to 20%, which is still double other comparable agreement.

There were prophetic voices in the world alarming about greed for oil when WMD-danger was being moved as an argument for invasion of Iraq. British and the US high officials, at that time, had vehemently denied any intentions of controlling Iraqi oil. Tony Blair went to the extent of saying that Iraqi oil should be put into a trust fund to be run by UN for Iraqis. Obviously, it seems that the promises made before the war have been conveniently forgotten.

There are vast oil reserves in many parts of the world. Iraq has about 115 billion barrels, the second largest in the world. Despite the present violence there, it appears to be most promising for future profits. Elsewhere there are hindrances like tight controls of states, limitations on extraction of oil as in Venezuela by Hugo Chavez, and high cost of drilling out of North America etc. These are few factors for looking at huge oil fields in Iraq where the oil geological stratum is not too far deep under the surface. It will translate into the lowest cost of extraction in the whole world.

In a scenario where cost of extraction remains the same as the selling price is not a viable business strategy, to state the obvious; projections in case of Iraq are that there will be high yield with good profit margins. Oil corporations have always been aware of this fact. This fact alone makes the core of US Middle East foreign policy that was turning progressively hawkish against Iraq over the decades, partly due to the absence of polarity in the world that former Soviet Union provided and partly due to Saddam Hussein's nationalism-based opposition to opening oil fields to private corporations for extraction of oil.

Fast forward to the present; the US did not anticipate such a stiff resistance in Iraq against the most powerful military in the world. It has made the US rethink the course by which private oil companies could be offered security in the future Iraq. While Saddam's fate from tribunal to gallows was fast moving towards its destiny, counseling and consultancy for draft of legislation that is soon to be presented to the legislative body, was being provided by the US to Iraqi administration to ensure opening oil fields well before such recommendations appeared in the Baker-Hamilton Commission Report on Iraq (Recommendations 62 & 63).

The importance of this fact alone can be understood by the fact that the Baker-Hamilton Report frequently talks about the US interests and specifically refers to oil on second page of its opening, "It has the world's second-largest known oil reserves".

Nonetheless, the draft bill that has been obtained by Dow Jones Newswire Service and also widely published by The Independent newspaper details some interesting key elements that can help foresee the future of Iraq.

There was one bill passed by the Kurdistan Regional Government in December claiming rights to oil of the region. What is interesting is that the Hydrocarbon Law currently under consideration by Iraqi administration precludes any regional control of oil and stipulates control from Baghdad.

It sows the seed of future conflicts because the Kurdish authority has already signed agreements with several small oil and gas companies, including U.S.-based Calibre Energy Inc., Norway's Det Norske Olje Selskap, and Turkey's Petoil and has signed memoranda of understanding with Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Canada's Heritage Oil Corp., and the U.K.'s Sterling Energy PLC.

The part of Iraqi hydrocarbon law, the way it has come open to the media that describes Baghdad's control of oil has important implications for the future: It means Iraq will not be divided into three regions as has advocated by many including presidential candidate for 2008 Joseph Biden, Senator from the State of Delaware. Since Baghdad wishes to maintain control on oil, there is a good possibility of friction between center and Kurdistan and a civil war that has engulfed Baghdad may spread towards northern areas of Iraq.

If a favorable deal is reached between Baghdad and Kurdistan, it will serve as precedence for southern Shiites who will find it hard to stay alienated from control unless special guarantees are offered to them, which in turn would not fare well with Sunnis, located in central Iraq.

In short, according to an old adage, "There are no friends in oil politics, only enemies and competitors" rings true in the case of Iraq also. Such fears validate predictions that the US would fight viciously to stay in Iraq and that the black-blood of industrial civilization is firmly in the grips of capitalism for the foreseeable future. It also measures willingness of the US to trade human blood for its greed for oil.

[This article is dedicated to my niece Sarah Choudhry, with love.]
Authors e-mail: tahir.qazi@yahoo.com

© Copyright 2007 by AxisofLogic.com

An Empowering Verdict! Re: Post 24

Dear tahmed32:

I agree that change is not a sudden event it is a process that take time. Lets hope things will change and wait to see what survives the test of time. Good talking to you. Thanks a lot.

Regards.

An Empowering Verdict!
Post 16 – tahmaed32:

Dear tahmed32:

Yes. You make fair points in your post. Thank you.

But the real focus of my post that you might have overlooked was the last line:

I am not sure how CJ’s protests have fundamentally altered any of the socioeconomic dynamics of the country that forms the bedrock for tradition, law and institutions.

Would you kindly elaborate how current events impact or are indicators of socio-economic dynamics of the country? I think (and studies support it) that it is the socioeconomic underpinning that drives cultural and attitudinal changes in a society.

If such indicators of sustainable change are there that I am not much aware of, it will be a pleasant surprise and a much desired reason for optimism.

Kind regards.

An Empowering Verdict!
What a misguided optimism in the article!

The way people of Pakistan, from ordinary citizen to judiciary, had flocked around current military chief when he grabbed civilian power is reminiscent of the times of previous military dictator and as a matter of fact, of those who were before him too. Chief Justice who has come to face General Musharraf as an adversary had once conferred legitimacy upon military rule.

Judiciary is the arcane pillar of democracy. Neither should it involve in sloganeering nor sociopolitical activism for it better suits administration and other political institutions. Pakistani judiciary has shown interest in both, unfortunately.

CJ victory is symbolically important but anybody who thinks of CJ reinstatement is a sign of fundamental change for democracy in Pakistan lives in fools paradise. Administration and opposition in Pakistan almost always wore same stripes and have always been involved in politics for gaining power at the expense of political philosophy.

Democracy is never a product of one issue like CJ. It is an attitude, a mind-set and social frame work that develops alongside socioeconomic fabric of the society. I am not sure how CJ’s protests have fundamentally altered any of the socioeconomic dynamics of the country that forms the bedrock of tradition, law and institutions?

The Horse and The Zebra
Dear Rafi:

Great read. Fairly long story but it sure keeps the reader interested to the end, which happens to be the climax also and ties the opening with the end.

Writing in first person narrative is one of the trusted but difficult techniques for in story-telling, if somebody knows how to weave the fabric of story in a non-linear fashion like life (Who said life was linear, anyways!). Of course, you have managed this style well without allowing `self-centeredness` of first person that can plague story-tellers. .... Congratulations.

Preventing More Lal Masjids
Dear Dr. Hoodbhoy:

Your article was a nice read and your insights are appreciated.

But, a walk from ivory towers of your university to streets of Pakistan for reality check is not too long and is packed with factual data that begs for interpretation. Let me crystallize the question.

Why is the textbook curriculum taught at schools really ineffective in training a mindset for civil society and why religious-madrassa curriculum so effective in producing violent Jihdadist method of living, whatever it may mean?

I guess one could arguably look at your remarks about victimization and suffering of Vietnamese as trivialization (which I believe you did not mean). But looking at Vietnam now and phrasing Vietnamese as without wearing explosive vests neither proves them as non-violent nor does it solve the main question: Why violence? Vietnamese did fight tooth and nail and claws to unjust-aggression perpetrated against them.

Humans have a strange potential of living with contradictions - Thinking within intellectual comfort and behaving with practical convenience. All of Mullah’s contradictions that you have listed in the last paragraph are true, but are you not just restating the human nature? Have you ever thought that bureaucracy to military to democracy to religionists have all behaved the same way in Pakistan as far the factual data goes?

Relationships based on interests and convenience among individuals, groups and nations are generally very fickle. Courting between religious sentiment and power structure in Pakistan is not new and could not have been any different in a political economy that shaped the system there. Individual is a pawn in the violent dynamics of securing interests in systems. This applies with equal validity to societies in general.

The systems and their laws are designed for structured violence to curb violence that is in the fabric of individual mind-set. It generally lays dormant but is triggered on any aggression and sense of real or perceived injustice. May be Vietnamese resistance is one good example here!

Religions do offer a worldview both at individual and system level but do not change human psyche. That is why you see the strongest clamor of moral-view springing from religions and that is precisely where you witness them failing (Hence so many religions without much success).

Violence at Red Mosque is just another wrinkle only to be forgotten by plummeting of political alliances sometimes in the future. Nonetheless, I would argue that individual and systemic religious violence that is already inbred is hard to contain but by physical comfort, security and justice while living here and now; otherwise hereafter is the only way to look forward to with all of its deterministic outlook.

Thanks again for your article and kind regards.

Nietzsche – the Overman and the Three Metamorphoses
Re: #1 Khuram

While it is true that Darwin’s Origin of Species had already appeared when Nietzsche came up with his Superman but I am not sure as if Darwin was the philosophical inspiration for Nietzsche.

As for might is right, Nietzsche’s idea of Superman has been blamed for German militarism that the world witnessed later on but I suppose Nietzsche was only as much responsible for it as Darwin was for social Darwinism.

Theory of Natural Selection paraphrased as Survival of the Fittest to explain and to provide justification for capitalist mode of social organization, obviously, has nothing to do with Darwin’s biological theory.

The reality is that Nietzsche’s leap of human consciousness potentials is philosophical and cannot be Darwinian evolutionary potential, which is gradual, random and marred with missteps. Nietzsche conceived of human good as an ideal - the Superman where man is left behind and is laughed at the same way as man does at primitive apes (Thus Spoke Zarathustra).

You may be right but I find your views somewhat at variance with my understanding of Nietzsche. Nonetheless, I enjoyed your thoughts.

The Dispatches On War: Part X
>>>``I am really thankful to the editors of Chowk for allowing a forum for these articles especially when the topics covered are of trival interest to most Chowk readers``.

Dear Mr. Khan:

Thank you Chowk; but more so I am thankful to you for providing such a rich and vivid picture of history that has made the world the way we have come to witness it.

Since I have no formal education in history, your articles are of great interest to me. I most certainly learn from them. However, as a lay person, my feeling is that you narrate history as if events unfold like moves of chess where people in power plan to make things happen, which is true for sure. In your articles, in general, I do not see much reference to political economy of the periods when history was moving its pawns to make events to take shape. I suppose it may add to the perspective of lay-readers of Chowk like me.

By the way, where do you teach? I wish its somewhere in my backyard, I’ll sure show up in your lectures. Thanks again.

Rethinking Disability in the Third World
Re: #14 by sr56 on February 16, 2007 2:25pm PT

>>>``Tahirqazi, obviously you`re knowledge is limited, if you had bothered to research to the matter, disability or any other such subject that causes anguish is actually a test from Allah``.

Your comments about my limited knowledge are correct. I am not up on research on this subject for past 3 years or so because I am no longer involved in teaching disability and handicp. I used to teach ``Hollistic Approach`` for treating patients. I hope my old residents and fellows must be carrying the torch.

Do you think, my knowledge is limited about you assertion that anguish is a test from Allah? By the way, this assertion is 180 degree opposite to your previous interact #8? I would be grateful if you could elaborate it a little more and please point out where else I need updates?

I would readily admit that I am really unaware of current situation in Pakistan or India and of course, my perespective is limited to US and Canada only.

Regards

Tahir

Rethinking Disability in the Third World
I wish I could add a few more words to the discussion on disability-handicap. Religious and societal attitudes are certainly important holdups to integration of persons with disability into mainstream but the real story is more complex that that. Allow me to touch on it very briefly. There are several theoretical models that can be broadly categorized as:

Mentalistic Theories emphasize cognitive aspect of internalization of disability. Internalization of disability serves as a mental block to learning as to how to overcome limitations imposed by disability. Social and/or Behavioral Theories bring into focus events external to the individuals with disabilities.

People tend to assume “Sick Role” or an “Illness Behavior”, which could be an additional reason for maladjustment.

Salubrious outcome of disability is a long and protracted struggle punctuated by countless snags. Neither medical model nor social-political model alone has the capacity to change the outcome, which is integration of individual into the society in a productive fashion and helping that individual enjoy life in a meaningful way, perceptually.

Coping with a disability is a multi-prong approach with lots of road block. Nonetheless, religions have no role in creating a meaningful environment. As a matter of fact, religions have been providing simplistic condescending reason only to accept disability and assume more of a sick role as predicted by behavioral model.

Even though disability has not been described in Koran (According to my limited knowledge) as a punishment but it is also a reality that God has only wrath and punishment principle to make up for the wrong deeds of individual. Therefore, the religionists who creatively surmise that any disability is a punishment from God for presumed sins are not far off the mark.

Keeping in mind that there are lots of obstacles in the way of disabled people, I think it is important that general public be primed to accept meaningfulness of life of disabled person, at least. The perceptive attitude of general public is hard to legislate. This is the job of education where everybody has a responsibility to share ideas and ideals.

I want to make this discussion on disability neither political nor purely religious but its not a bad idea to compare monetary resources ear-marked for war-machinery in almost all 3rd world countries with the money for education and welfare. Is there any alternative way of thinking a better utility of the same resources?

(I am wondering if our friends who have been talking about political economies in previous discussions would come up with good ideas how to find resources for managing disabilities).

Regards,

Tahir

Rethinking Disability in the Third World
Interact #3:

Ooooops .... Somebody has pointed out a typo:

It led to American With Disabilities Act 1990 has helped a great deal removing bearers and has mandated societal and environmental facilitation.

Please read as: It led to The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. It has helped a great deal removing barriers and ......