Shared by Mirza Iqbal Ashraf!

Is Swearing a Sign of a Limited Vocabulary?

By Piercarlo Valdesolo on April 5, 2016

New research challenges the idea that vulgar words are a sign of failure

Taboo words hold a particular purpose in our lexicon that other words cannot as effectively accomplish: to deliver intense, succinct and directed emotional expression.
Credit: Future Publishing/Getty Images

When words fail us, we curse. At least this is what the “poverty-of-vocabulary” (POV) hypothesis would have us believe. On this account, swearing is the “sign of a weak vocabulary”, a result of a lack of education, laziness or impulsiveness. In line with this idea, we tend to judge vulgarians quite harshly, rating them as lower on socio-intellectual status, less effective at their jobs and less friendly. But this view of the crass does not square with recent research in linguistics. For example, the POV hypothesis would predict that when people struggle to come up with the right words, they are more likely to spew swears left and right. But research shows that people tend to fill the awkward gaps in their language with “ers” and “ums” not “sh*ts” and “godd*mnits.” This research has led to a competing explanation for swearing: fluency with taboo words might be a sign of general verbal fluency. Those who are exceptionally vulgar might also be exceptionally eloquent and intelligent. 　Indeed, taboo words hold a particular purpose in our lexicon that other words cannot as effectively accomplish: to deliver intense, succinct and directed emotional expression. So, those who swear frequently might just be more sophisticated in the linguistic resources they can draw from in order to make their point.

New research by cognitive scientists at Marist College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts attempts to test this possibility, and further debunk the POV hypothesis, by measuring how taboo word fluency relates to general verbal fluency. The POV hypothesis suggests that there should be a negative correlation: the more you swear, the lower your verbal prowess. But the researchers hypothesized just the opposite: the more you swear the more comprehensive your vocabulary would be.

Across three studies, they gave participants a well-known measure of verbal fluency called the Controlled Word Association Test (COWAT). The COWAT asks participants to say as many words as they can that start with a given letter (e.g. F, A or S) during a specified time window. The amount of words that they generate is summed into a fluency score. Then, in what has to be one of the most awkward and hilarious experimental situations in the history of cognitive science, participants had to say, out loud to the experimenter, as many swear words as they could think of in one minute. This was the measure of taboo word fluency.

Results from Study 1 showed that participants generated 400 unique taboo words (see the Results for some of the more colorful entries) and, as the researchers predicted, fluency in generating these words correlated positively with performance on the COWAT. This finding was replicated in Studies 2 and 3, using a written version of the tests as well. The more taboo words participants could generate, the more verbally fluent they were in general.

This finding can serve as a nice empirical middle-finger from vulgarians everywhere, directed at those who had, until now, been unfairly judging them for their linguistic abilities. Swearing, it seems, can be creative, smart, and even downright lyrical. This should also open our eyes to the unique subfield of research that spends its time deconstructing the many and varied ways in which, and reasons why, we swear. For example, did you know that some linguists and philosophers of language draw meaningful distinctions between taboo words that express heightened emotional states (e.g., f*ck), general pejoratives (e.g., f*cker) whose meaning is connotative but person-directed, and slurs (e.g., sl*t), which have both expressive and derogatory descriptive elements? I did not know this.

That said, these results need to be taken with a grain of salt. Knowledge of taboo words and the regular use of those words are two very different things. I might very well have an encyclopedic knowledge of vulgarity, but I might also have the tact necessary to regulate my language in social situations. In other words, just because verbally fluent people have the ability to cuss with the best of them, does not mean that they will do so. This presents a bit of a problem with the current research since the authors do seem to want to make the claim that their results inform what kinds of people actually curse in the real world. This conclusion cannot be drawn from these data. 　The studies tell us nothing about how speakers use taboo words, just what they would be capable of saying if they chose to use them. Swearing regularly and being able to generate a long list of curse words when prompted are very different. Indeed, the POV hypothesis could still survive this criticism. It still might be true that those with greater verbal fluency, even though they also have greater taboo fluency, swear less because they have the lexical database required to actually express themselves in other ways.

In 1977 Norman Mailer confronted Gore Vidal at a party after Vidal poorly reviewed one of Mailer’s books. Mailer’s anger boiled over and he sent Vidal to the ground with a punch. From the floor, Gore Vidal looked up and famously quipped: “Once again, words have failed Norman Mailer.” No doubt, Vidal could have unleashed a string of profanities at his aggressor. He surely had a mastery of taboo language comparable to his mastery of language in general. But his verbal fluency allowed him to craft an even wittier response. And had words not failed Mailer, perhaps he too would have reacted less crassly.

Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. Gareth, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, is the series editor of Best American Infographics and can be reached at

garethideas@gmail.com or Twitter　@garethideas.

Shared by Dr. Nasik Elahi

The results of this poll, whether one agrees with the methods and results or not,
reveal some facts about the Muslim way of thinking that need to be examined
dispassionately.  The Muslim integration in Britain may be different from US but
some of the basic strains are common and have a direct impact upon assimilation in
the west.
Nasik Elahi

Please click the following hyperlink to read the full article:
https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/world/europe/poll-british-muslims.amp.html?client=safari#

Role of Forensic Sciences in Modern Law Enforcement and Homeland Security
Nasik Elahi, Ph.D.

What is Forensic Science: a systematic multi-disciplinary approach to solving crime, civil and other legal and homeland security issues. The evidence is collected, catalogued, analyzed, preserved and presented to investigative and legal authorities. Forensic science practice is multi-disciplinary and draws upon virtually every scientific discipline arranged alphabetically as follows:
• Anthropology : help to deduce race, sex, age, stature from skeletal remains; facial recognition : methodical reconstruction of facial features has progressed from painstaking physical reconstruction to laser scanning and digital technology.
• Archaeology : help to establish sequence of events and evidence by carefully digging and sifting of evidence particularly in war crimes and scenes of mass murder.
• Audio-Visual: voice pattern analysis; audio and video reconstruction; phone tracking; facial recognition in crowds and match; 3D crime scene visualization.
• Ballistics: analysis of powders and ammunition; test firing and analysis of bullet fragments; toolmarks matching
• Blood spatter analysis: help to recreate violent event sequence
• Botany : study of leaves, seeds, pollen (forensic polynology), algae and fungi to help establish timelines of death and whether the body was moved to different locations
• Chemistry : drugs, chemicals, fire debris analysis, explosive residues, artwork
• Criminalistics : techniques to examine hair, fibers, and other evidence using microscopy; VIN numbers, gun registrations, artwork, tire and skid marks, powder burns.
• DNA and forensic biology: the most profound and far reaching discipline of forensic science; DNA profiling utilizes blood, saliva, semen; PCR – denaturation into specific polynucleotides, hybridization of the PNAs, replication using Taq polymerase and testing for the STRs short tandem repeats loci; FBI runs CODIS 13 loci band system for identification on electrophoresis; the older testing methods such as Rh factor, blood grouping, enzymes.
• Electronics: monitoring, phone tapping and tracking, database analysis and reconstruction of activity, decryption hardware and software, cloud farms.
• Entomology : study of larvae, types of insects and their life cycles help establish timelines and sometimes even the causes of death; Louisiana body farm.
• Fingerprinting: techniques, comparison standards and methodology, local, regional and national databases; footprinting for mass casualty identifications.
• Forensic Accounting: tracking the complex trail of money.
• Forensic and Anatomic Pathology, Histology. Autopsies and related investigations.
• Forensic Toxicology : drugs of use and abuse in post mortem samples.
• Forensic Ornithology : bird feathers and droppings as markers or evidence.
• Forensic Odontology : dental remains, bite marks.
• Marine biology : testing lung fluid to determine modes of drowning.
• Physiology : lie detector test; Dr. Ahsen and his hot and cold physiology testing.
• Photography: audio visual, film and digital formats, holography, 2D and 3D.

How Accurate is Forensic Science
• Objective testing
• Subjective testing
• Complexity issues and Standardizations and how they impact on service

How is Forensic Science practiced in US and Pakistan
• US has 18000 police departments and 400 forensic labs. The departments vary in size from 2 man to NYC with 35,000 man force. The police all have the same uniform recruitment policy; every officer starts as a patrol rookie and works up to command levels while the managerial posts are appointed. The larger departments support their own labs while the smaller ones work through regional or state labs to provide the needed service. Training and results are quite variable.
• Pakistan is based on the colonial British model with 3 types of police –local, provincial and federal — working within the same infrastructure. The patrol force is local, the midlevel officials are a mix of provincial and federal while the top tiers are federal. At the federal level there is FIA and the paramilitary Rangers. In addition there are the investigative intelligence arms of the army, MI, ISI and the civilian IB. It is a mix filled with tension and inefficiency. The forensic science services are a direct victim of such interplay and little organized headway gets made even after immense financial expenditures. US has spent nearly $400 million while the ADB provided $450 million to improve police and judicial services over the decade with little to show for it.

Forensic Science Practice in Criminal and Homeland Security

In criminalistic terms forensic investigations are reactive. The investigative process takes place after the act or crime has taken place. There are additional safeguards built in by law to prevent abuse of authority and ensure the rights of the accused.
Homeland security shifts the focus into a proactive mode. The objective is to prevent the criminal or terrorist act. The safeguards built in by law are far more elastic and often defined by executive action, e.g., Awlaki case, surveillance by NYC PD of Muslim communities .
The investigative techniques are similar in both cases although homeland security are often more advanced and secretive. The FBI has launched a billion dollar Next Generation project that combine Voice Recognition, Retinal Scan, DNA to build individual identification provided by fingerprint analysis.
Historically in the US the criminal and national security agencies worked under entirely different mandates. Since 9/11 the lines have become blurred. At the federal level, the FBI has added security surveillance and interplay with CIA and NSA to its core mission of law enforcement. Several large police departments such as NYPD have greatly expanded their security related surveillance activities even in other jurisdictions. The melding of the two starkly different mandates is sparking both debate and concerns. It remains a pivotal issue that has forever transformed the traditional mission and nature of police agencies. One can only imagine how far the transformation can go in the face of future terrorist attacks.

Pakistan Law Enforcement and Security
The national security agencies like ISI, MI, IB play a paramount role in defining and conducting investigations and the police become a subservient agency to Rangers as in Karachi. Punjab in particular has taken the lead in reforming its law enforcement but it has managed to create pockets of highly expensive excellence that cannot be sustained over the long run. The creation of the Pakistan Security Act after the massacre of 140+ school children in Peshawar even empowers military courts beyond review by the civilian high courts. Add to that is the parallel religious courts and bodies like the Council on Islamic Ideology. The conflicting directions of military and religious authorities and poor governance by successive regimes that undermine any effective law enforcement and judicial structure to emerge.
Role of Forensic Sciences in Modern Law Enforcement and Homeland Security
Nasik Elahi, Ph.D.

What is Forensic Science: a systematic multi-disciplinary approach to solving crime, civil and other legal and homeland security issues. The evidence is collected, catalogued, analyzed, preserved and presented to investigative and legal authorities. Forensic science practice is multi-disciplinary and draws upon virtually every scientific discipline arranged alphabetically as follows:
• Anthropology : help to deduce race, sex, age, stature from skeletal remains; facial recognition : methodical reconstruction of facial features has progressed from painstaking physical reconstruction to laser scanning and digital technology.
• Archaeology : help to establish sequence of events and evidence by carefully digging and sifting of evidence particularly in war crimes and scenes of mass murder.
• Audio-Visual: voice pattern analysis; audio and video reconstruction; phone tracking; facial recognition in crowds and match; 3D crime scene visualization.
• Ballistics: analysis of powders and ammunition; test firing and analysis of bullet fragments; toolmarks matching
• Blood spatter analysis: help to recreate violent event sequence
• Botany : study of leaves, seeds, pollen (forensic polynology), algae and fungi to help establish timelines of death and whether the body was moved to different locations
• Chemistry : drugs, chemicals, fire debris analysis, explosive residues, artwork
• Criminalistics : techniques to examine hair, fibers, and other evidence using microscopy; VIN numbers, gun registrations, artwork, tire and skid marks, powder burns.
• DNA and forensic biology: the most profound and far reaching discipline of forensic science; DNA profiling utilizes blood, saliva, semen; PCR – denaturation into specific polynucleotides, hybridization of the PNAs, replication using Taq polymerase and testing for the STRs short tandem repeats loci; FBI runs CODIS 13 loci band system for identification on electrophoresis; the older testing methods such as Rh factor, blood grouping, enzymes.
• Electronics: monitoring, phone tapping and tracking, database analysis and reconstruction of activity, decryption hardware and software, cloud farms.
• Entomology : study of larvae, types of insects and their life cycles help establish timelines and sometimes even the causes of death; Louisiana body farm.
• Fingerprinting: techniques, comparison standards and methodology, local, regional and national databases; footprinting for mass casualty identifications.
• Forensic Accounting: tracking the complex trail of money.
• Forensic and Anatomic Pathology, Histology. Autopsies and related investigations.
• Forensic Toxicology : drugs of use and abuse in post mortem samples.
• Forensic Ornithology : bird feathers and droppings as markers or evidence.
• Forensic Odontology : dental remains, bite marks.
• Marine biology : testing lung fluid to determine modes of drowning.
• Physiology : lie detector test; Dr. Ahsen and his hot and cold physiology testing.
• Photography: audio visual, film and digital formats, holography, 2D and 3D.

How Accurate is Forensic Science
• Objective testing
• Subjective testing
• Complexity issues and Standardizations and how they impact on service

How is Forensic Science practiced in US and Pakistan
• US has 18000 police departments and 400 forensic labs. The departments vary in size from 2 man to NYC with 35,000 man force. The police all have the same uniform recruitment policy; every officer starts as a patrol rookie and works up to command levels while the managerial posts are appointed. The larger departments support their own labs while the smaller ones work through regional or state labs to provide the needed service. Training and results are quite variable.
• Pakistan is based on the colonial British model with 3 types of police –local, provincial and federal — working within the same infrastructure. The patrol force is local, the midlevel officials are a mix of provincial and federal while the top tiers are federal. At the federal level there is FIA and the paramilitary Rangers. In addition there are the investigative intelligence arms of the army, MI, ISI and the civilian IB. It is a mix filled with tension and inefficiency. The forensic science services are a direct victim of such interplay and little organized headway gets made even after immense financial expenditures. US has spent nearly $400 million while the ADB provided $450 million to improve police and judicial services over the decade with little to show for it.

Forensic Science Practice in Criminal and Homeland Security

In criminalistic terms forensic investigations are reactive. The investigative process takes place after the act or crime has taken place. There are additional safeguards built in by law to prevent abuse of authority and ensure the rights of the accused.
Homeland security shifts the focus into a proactive mode. The objective is to prevent the criminal or terrorist act. The safeguards built in by law are far more elastic and often defined by executive action, e.g., Awlaki case, surveillance by NYC PD of Muslim communities .
The investigative techniques are similar in both cases although homeland security are often more advanced and secretive. The FBI has launched a billion dollar Next Generation project that combine Voice Recognition, Retinal Scan, DNA to build individual identification provided by fingerprint analysis.
Historically in the US the criminal and national security agencies worked under entirely different mandates. Since 9/11 the lines have become blurred. At the federal level, the FBI has added security surveillance and interplay with CIA and NSA to its core mission of law enforcement. Several large police departments such as NYPD have greatly expanded their security related surveillance activities even in other jurisdictions. The melding of the two starkly different mandates is sparking both debate and concerns. It remains a pivotal issue that has forever transformed the traditional mission and nature of police agencies. One can only imagine how far the transformation can go in the face of future terrorist attacks.

Pakistan Law Enforcement and Security
The national security agencies like ISI, MI, IB play a paramount role in defining and conducting investigations and the police become a subservient agency to Rangers as in Karachi. Punjab in particular has taken the lead in reforming its law enforcement but it has managed to create pockets of highly expensive excellence that cannot be sustained over the long run. The creation of the Pakistan Security Act after the massacre of 140+ school children in Peshawar even empowers military courts beyond review by the civilian high courts. Add to that is the parallel religious courts and bodies like the Council on Islamic Ideology. The conflicting directions of military and religious authorities and poor governance by successive regimes that undermine any effective law enforcement and judicial structure to emerge.
Role of Forensic Sciences in Modern Law Enforcement and Homeland Security
Nasik Elahi, Ph.D.

What is Forensic Science: a systematic multi-disciplinary approach to solving crime, civil and other legal and homeland security issues. The evidence is collected, catalogued, analyzed, preserved and presented to investigative and legal authorities. Forensic science practice is multi-disciplinary and draws upon virtually every scientific discipline arranged alphabetically as follows:
• Anthropology : help to deduce race, sex, age, stature from skeletal remains; facial recognition : methodical reconstruction of facial features has progressed from painstaking physical reconstruction to laser scanning and digital technology.
• Archaeology : help to establish sequence of events and evidence by carefully digging and sifting of evidence particularly in war crimes and scenes of mass murder.
• Audio-Visual: voice pattern analysis; audio and video reconstruction; phone tracking; facial recognition in crowds and match; 3D crime scene visualization.
• Ballistics: analysis of powders and ammunition; test firing and analysis of bullet fragments; toolmarks matching
• Blood spatter analysis: help to recreate violent event sequence
• Botany : study of leaves, seeds, pollen (forensic polynology), algae and fungi to help establish timelines of death and whether the body was moved to different locations
• Chemistry : drugs, chemicals, fire debris analysis, explosive residues, artwork
• Criminalistics : techniques to examine hair, fibers, and other evidence using microscopy; VIN numbers, gun registrations, artwork, tire and skid marks, powder burns.
• DNA and forensic biology: the most profound and far reaching discipline of forensic science; DNA profiling utilizes blood, saliva, semen; PCR – denaturation into specific polynucleotides, hybridization of the PNAs, replication using Taq polymerase and testing for the STRs short tandem repeats loci; FBI runs CODIS 13 loci band system for identification on electrophoresis; the older testing methods such as Rh factor, blood grouping, enzymes.
• Electronics: monitoring, phone tapping and tracking, database analysis and reconstruction of activity, decryption hardware and software, cloud farms.
• Entomology : study of larvae, types of insects and their life cycles help establish timelines and sometimes even the causes of death; Louisiana body farm.
• Fingerprinting: techniques, comparison standards and methodology, local, regional and national databases; footprinting for mass casualty identifications.
• Forensic Accounting: tracking the complex trail of money.
• Forensic and Anatomic Pathology, Histology. Autopsies and related investigations.
• Forensic Toxicology : drugs of use and abuse in post mortem samples.
• Forensic Ornithology : bird feathers and droppings as markers or evidence.
• Forensic Odontology : dental remains, bite marks.
• Marine biology : testing lung fluid to determine modes of drowning.
• Physiology : lie detector test; Dr. Ahsen and his hot and cold physiology testing.
• Photography: audio visual, film and digital formats, holography, 2D and 3D.

How Accurate is Forensic Science
• Objective testing
• Subjective testing
• Complexity issues and Standardizations and how they impact on service

How is Forensic Science practiced in US and Pakistan
• US has 18000 police departments and 400 forensic labs. The departments vary in size from 2 man to NYC with 35,000 man force. The police all have the same uniform recruitment policy; every officer starts as a patrol rookie and works up to command levels while the managerial posts are appointed. The larger departments support their own labs while the smaller ones work through regional or state labs to provide the needed service. Training and results are quite variable.
• Pakistan is based on the colonial British model with 3 types of police –local, provincial and federal — working within the same infrastructure. The patrol force is local, the midlevel officials are a mix of provincial and federal while the top tiers are federal. At the federal level there is FIA and the paramilitary Rangers. In addition there are the investigative intelligence arms of the army, MI, ISI and the civilian IB. It is a mix filled with tension and inefficiency. The forensic science services are a direct victim of such interplay and little organized headway gets made even after immense financial expenditures. US has spent nearly $400 million while the ADB provided $450 million to improve police and judicial services over the decade with little to show for it.

Forensic Science Practice in Criminal and Homeland Security

In criminalistic terms forensic investigations are reactive. The investigative process takes place after the act or crime has taken place. There are additional safeguards built in by law to prevent abuse of authority and ensure the rights of the accused.
Homeland security shifts the focus into a proactive mode. The objective is to prevent the criminal or terrorist act. The safeguards built in by law are far more elastic and often defined by executive action, e.g., Awlaki case, surveillance by NYC PD of Muslim communities .
The investigative techniques are similar in both cases although homeland security are often more advanced and secretive. The FBI has launched a billion dollar Next Generation project that combine Voice Recognition, Retinal Scan, DNA to build individual identification provided by fingerprint analysis.
Historically in the US the criminal and national security agencies worked under entirely different mandates. Since 9/11 the lines have become blurred. At the federal level, the FBI has added security surveillance and interplay with CIA and NSA to its core mission of law enforcement. Several large police departments such as NYPD have greatly expanded their security related surveillance activities even in other jurisdictions. The melding of the two starkly different mandates is sparking both debate and concerns. It remains a pivotal issue that has forever transformed the traditional mission and nature of police agencies. One can only imagine how far the transformation can go in the face of future terrorist attacks.

Pakistan Law Enforcement and Security
The national security agencies like ISI, MI, IB play a paramount role in defining and conducting investigations and the police become a subservient agency to Rangers as in Karachi. Punjab in particular has taken the lead in reforming its law enforcement but it has managed to create pockets of highly expensive excellence that cannot be sustained over the long run. The creation of the Pakistan Security Act after the massacre of 140+ school children in Peshawar even empowers military courts beyond review by the civilian high courts. Add to that is the parallel religious courts and bodies like the Council on Islamic Ideology. The conflicting directions of military and religious authorities and poor governance by successive regimes that undermine any effective law enforcement and judicial structure to emerge.
Role of Forensic Sciences in Modern Law Enforcement and Homeland Security
Nasik Elahi, Ph.D.

What is Forensic Science: a systematic multi-disciplinary approach to solving crime, civil and other legal and homeland security issues. The evidence is collected, catalogued, analyzed, preserved and presented to investigative and legal authorities. Forensic science practice is multi-disciplinary and draws upon virtually every scientific discipline arranged alphabetically as follows:
• Anthropology : help to deduce race, sex, age, stature from skeletal remains; facial recognition : methodical reconstruction of facial features has progressed from painstaking physical reconstruction to laser scanning and digital technology.
• Archaeology : help to establish sequence of events and evidence by carefully digging and sifting of evidence particularly in war crimes and scenes of mass murder.
• Audio-Visual: voice pattern analysis; audio and video reconstruction; phone tracking; facial recognition in crowds and match; 3D crime scene visualization.
• Ballistics: analysis of powders and ammunition; test firing and analysis of bullet fragments; toolmarks matching
• Blood spatter analysis: help to recreate violent event sequence
• Botany : study of leaves, seeds, pollen (forensic polynology), algae and fungi to help establish timelines of death and whether the body was moved to different locations
• Chemistry : drugs, chemicals, fire debris analysis, explosive residues, artwork
• Criminalistics : techniques to examine hair, fibers, and other evidence using microscopy; VIN numbers, gun registrations, artwork, tire and skid marks, powder burns.
• DNA and forensic biology: the most profound and far reaching discipline of forensic science; DNA profiling utilizes blood, saliva, semen; PCR – denaturation into specific polynucleotides, hybridization of the PNAs, replication using Taq polymerase and testing for the STRs short tandem repeats loci; FBI runs CODIS 13 loci band system for identification on electrophoresis; the older testing methods such as Rh factor, blood grouping, enzymes.
• Electronics: monitoring, phone tapping and tracking, database analysis and reconstruction of activity, decryption hardware and software, cloud farms.
• Entomology : study of larvae, types of insects and their life cycles help establish timelines and sometimes even the causes of death; Louisiana body farm.
• Fingerprinting: techniques, comparison standards and methodology, local, regional and national databases; footprinting for mass casualty identifications.
• Forensic Accounting: tracking the complex trail of money.
• Forensic and Anatomic Pathology, Histology. Autopsies and related investigations.
• Forensic Toxicology : drugs of use and abuse in post mortem samples.
• Forensic Ornithology : bird feathers and droppings as markers or evidence.
• Forensic Odontology : dental remains, bite marks.
• Marine biology : testing lung fluid to determine modes of drowning.
• Physiology : lie detector test; Dr. Ahsen and his hot and cold physiology testing.
• Photography: audio visual, film and digital formats, holography, 2D and 3D.

How Accurate is Forensic Science
• Objective testing
• Subjective testing
• Complexity issues and Standardizations and how they impact on service

How is Forensic Science practiced in US and Pakistan
• US has 18000 police departments and 400 forensic labs. The departments vary in size from 2 man to NYC with 35,000 man force. The police all have the same uniform recruitment policy; every officer starts as a patrol rookie and works up to command levels while the managerial posts are appointed. The larger departments support their own labs while the smaller ones work through regional or state labs to provide the needed service. Training and results are quite variable.
• Pakistan is based on the colonial British model with 3 types of police –local, provincial and federal — working within the same infrastructure. The patrol force is local, the midlevel officials are a mix of provincial and federal while the top tiers are federal. At the federal level there is FIA and the paramilitary Rangers. In addition there are the investigative intelligence arms of the army, MI, ISI and the civilian IB. It is a mix filled with tension and inefficiency. The forensic science services are a direct victim of such interplay and little organized headway gets made even after immense financial expenditures. US has spent nearly $400 million while the ADB provided $450 million to improve police and judicial services over the decade with little to show for it.

Forensic Science Practice in Criminal and Homeland Security

In criminalistic terms forensic investigations are reactive. The investigative process takes place after the act or crime has taken place. There are additional safeguards built in by law to prevent abuse of authority and ensure the rights of the accused.
Homeland security shifts the focus into a proactive mode. The objective is to prevent the criminal or terrorist act. The safeguards built in by law are far more elastic and often defined by executive action, e.g., Awlaki case, surveillance by NYC PD of Muslim communities .
The investigative techniques are similar in both cases although homeland security are often more advanced and secretive. The FBI has launched a billion dollar Next Generation project that combine Voice Recognition, Retinal Scan, DNA to build individual identification provided by fingerprint analysis.
Historically in the US the criminal and national security agencies worked under entirely different mandates. Since 9/11 the lines have become blurred. At the federal level, the FBI has added security surveillance and interplay with CIA and NSA to its core mission of law enforcement. Several large police departments such as NYPD have greatly expanded their security related surveillance activities even in other jurisdictions. The melding of the two starkly different mandates is sparking both debate and concerns. It remains a pivotal issue that has forever transformed the traditional mission and nature of police agencies. One can only imagine how far the transformation can go in the face of future terrorist attacks.

Pakistan Law Enforcement and Security
The national security agencies like ISI, MI, IB play a paramount role in defining and conducting investigations and the police become a subservient agency to Rangers as in Karachi. Punjab in particular has taken the lead in reforming its law enforcement but it has managed to create pockets of highly expensive excellence that cannot be sustained over the long run. The creation of the Pakistan Security Act after the massacre of 140+ school children in Peshawar even empowers military courts beyond review by the civilian high courts. Add to that is the parallel religious courts and bodies like the Council on Islamic Ideology. The conflicting directions of military and religious authorities and poor governance by successive regimes that undermine any effective law enforcement and judicial structure to emerge.

Is there a possibility of an Islamic Renaissance similar to European Renaissance?

Until today, after the irreversible decline of scientific knowledge in the Muslim world, they still remain focused to base their polity on the original Islamic rules of community. But there also exists a trend for modernity, as Oliver Leaman, in A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy argues: “During the ‘Nahda’ or the ‘Arab Renaissance’ movement of the nineteenth century, the challenge to Islamic thought was clear. How can the Muslims develop a view of society which incorporates the principles of modernity, yet at the same time remain Islamic?… [According to the modernists], ‘Islamic Renaissance’ should follow the Western Renaissance, and put religion in its place; only in this way can Islamic world participate in the material and political successes of the West.^“

When the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals lost their glories, the European nations went from strength to strength, acquiring more and more territories and trade centers, and succeeded in defeating the Muslims on land and sea. Today, Muslims are divided in nations, lacking an understanding of the Western challenges and its imperialistic threats. Instead of looking back to their past glory, they need to comprehend that the past cannot be revived. Unfortunately there still exists in all Muslim societies an “Islamist-Utopia,” which stands as an impediment to scientific and political modernity. It is time to move forward. New IT technology and modern scientific exploration can help them catch up fast the time they have lost. Muslims need to understand that during the golden era of their knowledge of philosophy and science, religion of Islam has never been an obstacle in their pursuit of scientific exploration and rational thinking. Today, the pace of technology is so fast, its impact so deep, that our lives will be irreversibly transformed. The coming era will neither be utopian nor dystopian, it will drastically transform the concept human beings relying on to give meaning to their lives. Today, a global revolution of “Scientific Enlightenment” is knocking at the door of the whole mankind; an enlightenment where human intelligence is going to give way to artificial intelligence of super computers. Time is gone for a seventeenth century type of renaissance, not only in Muslim countries but also in the whole world. — MIRZA IQBAL ASHRAF