Author Archives: Editors

Secret memos reveal explicit nature of U.S., Pakistan agreement on drones

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 By Greg Miller

 Despite repeatedly denouncing the CIA’s drone campaign, top officials in Pakistan’s
government have for years secretly endorsed the program and routinely received
classified briefings on strikes and casualty counts, according to top-secret CIA
documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos obtained by The Washington Post.

 To view the entire article, go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/top-pakistani-leaders-secretly-backed-cia-drone-campaign-secret-documents-show/2013/10/23/15e6b0d8-3beb-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend

Overcoming Historical Amnesia: Muslim Contributions to Civilization submitted by Tahir Mahmood

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In his recent article, Sam Harris, a popular critic of Islam, referred to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist, as “the best thing to come out of the Muslim world in 1,000 years.” Hidden in this comment is the idea that Malala’s fellow Muslims are backward and that her religion, Islam, is not conducive to change or progress.

Conversely to the beliefs of Harris and others like him, Muslims have actually made enormous contributions to civilization, perhaps due to the heavy emphasis that Islam places on knowledge. People who forget or blatantly ignore major trends or events in world history can be said to suffer from “historical amnesia.” Though this mindset cannot be cured in one short blog post, I hope to dispel some of the stereotypes and misperceptions exacerbated by Harris and other anti-Islam activists by highlighting the contributions that Muslims have made to civilization over the years.

For the rest of the article click the link below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-considine/overcoming-historical-amnesia_b_4135868.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Biology’s Brave New World submitted by Tahir Mahmood

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In May 2010, the richest, most powerful man in biotechnology made a new creature. J. Craig Venter and his private-company team started with DNA and constructed a novel genetic sequence of more than one million coded bits of information known as nucleotides. Seven years earlier, Venter had been the first person in history to make a functioning creature from information. Looking at the strings of letters representing the DNA sequence for a virus called phi X174, which infects bacteria, he thought to himself, “I can assemble real DNA based on that computer information.” And so he did, creating a virus based on the phi X174 genomic code. He followed the same recipe later on to generate the DNA for his larger and more sophisticated creature. Venter and his team figured out how to make an artificial bacterial cell, inserted their man-made DNA genome inside, and watched as the organic life form they had synthesized moved, ate, breathed, and replicated itself.

For the rest of the article click on the link below.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140156/laurie-garrett/biologys-brave-new-world#

 

As the Hajj begins, the destruction of Mecca’s heritage continues: submitted by Tahir Mahmood

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THIS SHOULD MAKE MOST OF US MAD. I UNDERSTAND THE NEED TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE DON’T REVERE PERSONS AND OBJECTS BUT TO BUILD LATRINES ON A SITE THAT MAY EVEN REMOTELY BE A HISTORIC – IF NOT HOLY – PLACE IS REALLY BARBARIC. Shoeb as Editor

Pilgrims follow in the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad, but there is little of his legacy left in Islam’s holiest city

Two million Muslims have flooded into Saudi Arabia’s Mina Valley from Mecca for the start of the Hajj pilgrimage this week. Dressed in simple white garments and freed from their worldly possessions, they are following in the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad. But in Islam’s holiest city, there is increasingly little sign of the prophet’s legacy – or the frugal life he espoused.

“The authorities are trying to destroy anything in Mecca that is associated with the prophet’s life,” says Irfan al-Alawi, director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who recently returned from a trip to the city. “They have already bulldozed the house of his wife, his grandson and his companion – and now they are coming for his birthplace. And for what? Yet more seven-star hotels.”

For more of this article click the following link.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/14/as-the-hajj-begins-the-destruction-of-meccas-heritage-continues