Sunday, October 02, 2016



CIA Director: Terrorist Groups ‘Are Driven by This Ideology That Is Not Rooted in Islam’

How interesting!  I wonder why the Jihadis keep shouting "Allah Akhbar", then.  Have I missed something?  Is "Allah Akhbar" actually a Presbyterian doxology?  And how come the Jihadis are doing exactly what the Koran and the Hadiths tell them to do?  Even the punishment for homosexuality -- throwing them off a high building -- is prescribed in one of the Hadiths. But I guess ISIS does that purely out of coincidence.  The CIA is certainly in brainless hands these days 


CIA Director John Brennan said Wednesday “words or comments that taint a religion as being the source of the problem” are “detrimental to our interests” in dealing with the Muslim world.

Brennan argued incendiary remarks about Islam do not help “to arrest this cancer that has taken over so many of the communities because of a lot of the underlying conditions that exist within the Middle East and Africa, South Asia areas because of economic deprivation, political disenfranchisement, lack of opportunity.”

He said that “fanatics, extremists and terrorists ... are driven by this ideology that is not rooted in Islam.”

Brennan spoke with the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg Wednesday and was asked about the impact of incendiary remarks about Islam in political discourse.

“Words and comments that taint a religion as being the source of the problem, I think, is tremendously detrimental to our interests and to a better understanding of this phenomenon,” Brennan said.

Brennan said that he has met with “princes, presidents, and prime ministers throughout the Middle East,” that are “outraged that their community, the Muslim community, has been affected by this cancer - individuals who have this distorted and very perverted interpretation of Islam that pursue these psychopathic agendas of horrific violence.”

“They recognize that they have a very important role, the leading role, to help purge their communities of these influences,” he added. “These individuals who are fanatics, extremists and terrorists, they are driven by this ideology that is not rooted in Islam. It’s a psychopathic ideology that is very absolutist that either you’re with us or against us.”

Brennan added that remarks characterizing Islam as the problem do not “help to arrest this cancer that has taken over so many of the communities, because of a lot of the underlying conditions that exist within the Middle East and Africa, South Asia areas because of economic deprivation, political disenfranchisement, lack of opportunity.

“These terrorist organizations and this perverted version of religion preys upon their sense of hopelessness and by making comments that are incendiary and are viewed as attacking a religion or a people or a community only further drive those individuals to grasp onto those extremist views,” he explained.

Goldberg followed up pointing out that some people would respond that “these are Muslims who are citing scripture who are seemingly devout people, who have broad support in parts of the Muslim world, and so it doesn’t add up when you say this has nothing to do with Islam. It looks like a form of Islam.”

“What’s the response to that?” he asked Brennan.

“Well people can take any faith, the Jewish faith, the Christian faith, and distort it and use it for violent agendas,” Brennan replied, “and we’ve seen through the course of history that individuals who think that they are the vanguard of the effort of Christianity or Judaism or even Hinduism or other religions really have distorted interpretation of their faith, and the overwhelming majority, the 99.9 percent of Muslims, do not support that type of violent agenda.”

SOURCE





Multiculturalist, shot his wife and left her body in their bathtub then drove an hour to kill their college student son, 19, before turning gun on himself



You would never guess his religion, would you>


A decorated ex-Army lieutenant colonel and doctor murdered his wife in their family home before driving to their son's university more than an hour away to shoot him and then kill himself.

Nasir Siddique shot his 58-year-old wife Zarqa in the head in their home in Bel Air, Maryland, on Wednesday afternoon. Her body was found in the bathtub hours later.

The 57-year-old, who retired from the military in 2010 after 30 years of service in medical branches, then drove some 60 miles to the University of Maryland where his son, Farhad, was a student.

He killed the 19-year-old, who would have been 20 on Thursday, in his beloved red jeep before turning the gun on himself to take his own life.

Police recovered their bodies in Siddique's car at around 10.30pm in the parking lot of Farhad's student accommodation. Zarqa's body was found around 15 minutes earlier at the family home.

Their daughter Laila was studying at Penn State College of Medicine in Pennsylvania at the time.

'She is doing about as well as can be imagined,' Hartford County Sheriff's Office Major William Davis said on Thursday during a press conference.

It's not yet clear what drove Siddique to murder his wife and son but police have suggested notes found in their home may indicate his motive.

'The contents of those notes are still part of the active investigation.

'While detectives continue to work to determine a motive, the details of those notes will not be released,' a spokesman for Hartford County Sheriff's Office said on Friday.

Officers from the sheriff's office were called to the family's Bel Air home on Wednesday after receiving two calls raising concerns for the family's wellbeing.

Farhad was killed hours before his 20th birthday on Friday. The student was majoring in physiology and neurobiology and was in his junior year of college

One was from the University of Maryland's police which had received a missing report from Farhad's friends when he did not show up for class.

They found Zarqa's body in the bathtub at 10.14pm. The 58-year-old is understood to have worked for the schools system helping students with severe disabilities.

Minutes later officers from Prince George's County Police Department near the university found her son and husband. 

Friends of Farhad, who has been described as 'gentle' and 'kind' in tributes since his death, said he often visited home but never spoke of his family.

Brent McGuire, who shared a room with the victim in his freshman year, told the university's student newspaper, The Diamondback: 'I thought it was a good relationship.'

The university shared its grief in a statement which read: 'This is a tragedy that will be felt by our entire community.

'During this time of loss, we extend our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the victims.'

A prayer will be held for Farhad by the Muslim Student Association of which he was a member.

'Our hearts are saddened by the loss of Farhad Siddique, a dear friend and brother to many in the University of Maryland community.

'He is remembered as a hardworking, compassionate individual who helped others in any way he could,' the association said in a statement on Thursday.

Farhad was majoring in physiology and neurobiology and was in his junior year. During his time at the university he helped other students study before exams.

The student's parents had been married for 26 years. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in 2014 in gushing social media posts and appeared to have a happy relationship.  

Between 2005 and 2010, Siddique was assigned to work in Washington DC. During these years he rubbed shoulders with Vice President Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. 

He even attended President Obama's with his wife. 

A proud father, regularly commented on his son and daughter's social media accounts. 

He served in the Preventative Medicine and Medical Service Corps branches.

His military record reveals he was a decorated member of the US Army with 16 awards.

SOURCE






ABC Keeps 'Modernizing' the Family Leftward

ABC debuted the sitcom "Modern Family" in 2009 in part to push a broader acceptance of same-sex couples. But the cultural deconstructionists cannot rest until the mission is complete, so then they pushed it even further, agitating for a broader acceptance of same-sex marriage as just as sacred as traditional marriage. Now, the deconstructionists are doing it again, this time pushing transgender acceptance ... with a transgender child actor.

This new initiative came just a few weeks after transgender actors became the latest social justice cause pushed at the Emmy Awards. When he accepted a highly politicized Emmy award for the second year in a row, Jeffrey Tambor of "Transparent" pleaded that he should be the last "cisgender" actor — an actor who "identifies" with his or her biological sex — to play a transgender on television. He said: "Please give transgender talent a chance. Give them auditions. Give them their story."

This trend was already underway. One CNN writer gushed that "'Modern Family' is truly living up to its name." It hired Jackson Millarker, an 8 year old from Atlanta, Georgia, to play a transgender boy who pressures the gay characters, Cam and Mitchell, to explore whether they are tolerant enough. Cam and Mitchell are upset when their adopted daughter, Lily, calls her new playmate Tom (formerly Tina) a "weirdo."

You read that correctly. The child is 8 years old.

When the episode aired on Sept. 28, Millarker was on screen for just seconds, and the transgender plot was a mere fraction of the half-hour. Cam and Mitchell first imagine themselves winning parenting awards for their daughter's commitment to tolerance. When the "weirdo" moment arrives, they're upset, of course. One says to the other, "One little spat, and her instinct is to go all baby bigot on him?"

Then, Mitchell's father asks how they would react if their Lily decided to become "Lou." They want to approve but struggle with the thought. In horror, Cam says, "Are we not being as tolerant as we think?" Mitchell replies, "But that's our thing, lording our tolerance over others."

That's a fitting slogan for "Modern Family" and the Emmy-awarding elite.

Gay actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Mitchell, tweeted that he was "super proud of this weeks episode." The director of the episode, Ryan Case, took to Instagram to post a photo of herself with Millarker with the caption: "This is Jackson Millarker. He's 8 years old, from Atlanta, and just happens to be transgender. He plays Lily's friend Tom in this week's Modern Family and he's wonderful. One of the many reasons I love being a part of this show."

People magazine touted Stacey and Jen, the two lesbian parents of Jackson, who say that he "transitioned at 6 years old." They boasted: "We followed Jackson's lead from a very early age and supported him in every aspect of his transition. ... He was always a very gender-neutral child, but at the age of 4 he started experiencing intense anxiety in his daily life." They insisted that they gave the child "the freedom to express himself however he felt comfortable."

You read that correctly, as well. Four years old.

In today's oh-so-tolerant culture, it seems no one ever opposed this child's denial of actual biology. Millarker insisted on being referred to with male pronouns at age 6, and his parents said: "He entered second grade as his true self, a boy. His family, friends, and school have been very supportive from the beginning. He is now a confident, happy, healthy young man."

They loved ABC's invitation, saying, "Jackson has been a young activist in our community and he knew that 'Modern Family' would portray the role of a transgender child in a positive light."

Apparently, America's culture is unanimous. If millions of you disagree, then you're prehistoric, stuck in the dark days of ... 2009.

Question: Have you ever known a 6 year old who questioned (without any prompting) his or her own gender? We pose that question to the entire national readership of this column.

Disney-owned ABC runs a Mickey Mouse "news" operation

SOURCE





Identity politics no substitute for scholarly truth

American novelist Lionel Shriver stirred an international controversy during her recent visit to Australia.

Speaking at the Brisbane writer’s festival, Shriver had the temerity to suggest that novelists should not be constrained by the new rules of the identity politics game. Writers of fiction should be free to explore the experiences of ‘others’, even if they are not members of the same racial, gender or other identity groups.

Shriver’s so-called apologia for ‘cultural appropriation’ is relevant not only to works of imagination but also to the humanities and social sciences.

There is a growing trend for scholarly enquiry into certain subjects to be deemed inappropriate if the researcher lacks ‘lived experience’.

Political criteria also apply, as the social psychologist and critic of the lack of intellectual diversity in the modern academy, Jonathan Haidt, has pointed out.

Activist scholarship committed to fashionable notions of social justice that campaigns for the rights of oppressed racial and gender group is welcome.

But any work that is critical of a particular group, or which make members of the group feel bad about themselves, is unacceptable.

But the real victim of the stultifying culture of political correctness is our ability to accurately, objectively, and effectively describe and address important social problems.

Take the difficult task of overcoming Indigenous disadvantage. Activist-academic accounts perpetually blame every problem in Indigenous communities on the racist legacy of invasion and dispossession.

According to this school, research that explored the links, say, between traditional Aboriginal culture and contemporary Aboriginal men’s violence against Aboriginal women would be condemned as ‘victim blaming’.

We see similar things happening in the debates around Islamaphobia, marriage equality, feminism and gender.

Identity politics — let alone obsessing about the identity of the author — is a poor substitute for focusing on importance of good scholarship that tells the truth about controversial social issues.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here

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