COMMENT: A bridge to cross —Shahzad Chaudhry In General Zia’s time it was ordered to replace secular slogans with Islamic inscriptions as emblems of identity and motivation in the army units; once in place, no amount of ‘enlightened moderation’ has been able to change that one single factor of committing the soldier to his task in the name of religion Both Faisal Shahzad and the Facebook episode have brought to the fore the centrality of how the Muslims, of Pakistan at least, contend with the issue of religion. There is no doubt that the state and religion have, over time, … Continue reading Pakistans sacred cows!

Why You Should Care About the Psychology of Disgust by: Joe Brewer, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed Are you someone who struggles to understand why people behave the way they do in politics? Perhaps you’ve been confused by all the fervor against gay marriage. Or maybe you’re taken aback by the strong emotions waged against government-sponsored health care. To understand political behaviors like these, you’ll need to become familiar with the psychology of disgust. Researchers have learned a lot about it in recent years, such as: Disgust – like all emotions – is biological and … Continue reading Psychology of Disgust

The 8 world’s most prominent hyper-realist sculptors Ron Mueck Evan Penny Patricia Piccinini Marc Sijan Jamie Salmon Maurizio Cattelan Carole Feuerman Adam Beane AUTHOR’S WEBSITE http://blogof.francescomugnai.com/2010/04/the-8-worlds-most-prominent-hyper-realist-sculptors/ Continue reading Hyper-realist sculptors

Inciting Intolerance dawn.com “I’ll tell you this — if you do build a mosque, I hope somebody blows it up. I hope the mosque isn’t built, and if it is, I hope it’s blown up.” Those comments aired live on the radio, less than 36-hours before half-a-dozen terrorists armed with automatic weapons, grenades and suicide jackets stormed into two Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore, killing at least 95 people and injuring over a hundred worshipers. But that message of hate wasn’t aired in Lahore or even in Pakistan. It was aired live across Houston, Texas. The man behind the … Continue reading How Americans are being radicalised to fight Muslims

Friend or foe? Dawn Editorial The questions here are endless. If there is an attack on American soil and it is traced back to Pakistan, would it not also indicate a failure of American security and intelligence circles? – Photo on file Editorial Peace in Swat Peace in Swat It’s enough to make one’s heart sink. “The US military is reviewing options for a unilateral strike in Pakistan in the event that a successful attack on American soil is traced to the country’s tribal areas, according to senior military officials,” says a report in The Washington Post. The writer is … Continue reading America Friend or Foe of Pakistan?

Pakistan court orders Facebook access restored dawn.com Protesters shout slogans during a protest in Karachi on May 21, 2010, against the published caricatures of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) on Facebook. –AFP Photo/Asif Hassan Sci-Tech Pakistanis create rival Muslim Facebook SPIN-OFF Pakistanis create rival Muslim Facebook LAHORE: Pakistan lifted a ban on Facebook on Monday after officials from the social networking site apologized for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents, a top information technology official said. The move came almost two weeks after Pakistan imposed the ban amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images … Continue reading Facebook back online in Pakistan

Seven more iPad alternatives We ran through the seven mainstream iPad alternatives a few weeks ago. They include the usual suspects: the ModBook, Notion Ink Adam, HP Slate and Dell Streak along with a few others. But there are more portables either currently available or coming out real soon that could also have made that list. Consider the following seven computers alternatives to the standard iPad alternatives. Spring Design Alex Ebook Reader While the Alex is really an ereader first, it’s still capable of a lot more with Android running on a 3.5-inch color LCD under the 6-inch e-ink display. Since … Continue reading iPad alternatives

VIEW: The Second Amendment —Yasser Latif Hamdani The Second Amendment laid the foundations of intolerance and religious tyranny in Pakistan, which has manifested itself in other ways. Since then our state has been in a downward spiral The violence against the Ahmediyya community underscores the bigotry that has become the hallmark of our beloved homeland. A community — already sacrificed at the altar of political expediency — has now been made to pay the ultimate price. Amongst the dead, which included retired army officers and other contributors to Pakistani society, was reportedly the youngest brother of Chaudhry Zafarullah Khan. For … Continue reading The Second Amendment

COMMENT: We are in it together —Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain The Ahmedis have never done anything to harm Pakistan, and yet those that opposed the creation of Pakistan are at the forefront of accusing them of being anti-Pakistan After the Friday massacre in Lahore, I kept asking myself, how and why we have come to this point. I grew up in the Lahore of the late 50s and 60s. My family was not very religious but neither were they very liberal. I went through a typical upper middle class education for that time, English medium schools, followed by a couple … Continue reading We are in it together