September 2018
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Ancient Indian Genetics At ASHG
Previewing Niraj Rai’s ASHG poster on ancient genomes from the Indian subcontinent, the author says he is most interested in the South Indian samples, and shares a comment exchange on…
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Various Thoughts on Iran & Islam
A string of thoughts on Iran and Islam: the author sees Dubai as a despotic trading hub for Asians, argues geography shapes Iranian ethno-linguistic fault lines, stresses Khorasan’s importance to…
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“Islamic Chains”
Prompted by Atif Mian’s removal from an advisory council, the author argues Pakistani Muslim liberals tolerate injustice yet bristle at any criticism of Islam, citing izzat and weak outrage over…
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Perhaps India is not special in resisting Islamicization
Reading on imperial China, the author reconsiders why India, unlike Iran, resisted total Islamicisation, arguing that Han resilience makes India less exceptional, and that conversion of some elites and oppressed…
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What the f*ck is Pakistan/PTI doing
Reacting angrily to a Facebook post about the PTI government’s agenda for Pakistani television drama, the poster calls it self-destructive and says a culture that defames martyrs to freedom such…
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Thoughts on Section 377
Reacting to India’s decriminalisation of homosexuality, the poster sees India and Pakistan diverging, applauds the Indian model, asks whether wealth requires being Western, and calls Western identity wars tiresome, a…
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They make Nazis look good
A comment on the New Yorker’s withdrawal of Steve Bannon’s debate invitation, noting that most objectors opposed debating white ethno-nationalism itself rather than the platform.
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Culture can be more powerful than biology
Sharing an interview with the author of a memoir on honour in Pakistan, the geneticist author argues honour killing shows that culture and kinship incentives can override biology, since fathers…
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Turan seeks peace..
An extract from a news report that Pakistan’s army, under Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, quietly reached out to India about resuming peace talks and trade, and that the response was…
