I strongly believe the best strategy to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks in Canada is for western nations to withdraw from the Middle East.
Nicolas Henin would not agree with me, I think.
Nicolas Henin is a French Journalist who was held hostage by Isis for 10 months. One of his jailers was Mohammed Emwazi, known as “Jihadi John”.
Listen to what Nicolas has to say about Isis, our treatment of refugees and most importantly: what it’ll take to defeat them. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Like most people, I’ve been extremely pissed off since the Beruit and Paris attacks. Especially since I’m spending the week with some excellent Gymnastics coaches from Jordan, Iran, France, Lebanon, Qatar, Yemen, Palestine, Egypt, …
This is the most uplifting thing I’ve seen since. Hopefully we can all start turning the corner as this boy has.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR1zjZ2Cyaw
Or share it on Facebook.
#1 of 64 things to do in Doha.
One of the most impressive architectural inventions I can recall. Loved it.
The iconic building was designed by architect I. M. Pei. …
… the Museum of Islamic Art stands out as an architectural gem. Once inside, you will see masterpieces of Islamic art, including metalwork, ceramics, jewellery, woodwork, textiles and glass, collected from three continents and dating from the 7th to the 19th century. …
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Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Does this image make you fearful or angry?
When they get home and remove the abaya, underneath women are often wearing expensive designer clothes and jewelry. Arab men love expensive garments, as well, but are as covered up head-to-foot in their own traditional ‘thawb’.
Islamophobia (or anti-Muslim sentiment) is a term for prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of the religion of Islam or Muslims. The term entered into common English usage in 1997 …
Some commentators have posited an increase in Islamophobia resulting from the September 11 attacks, while others have associated it with the increased presence of Muslims in the United States, the European Union and other secular nations. …
There is no shortage of guys like this in 2015. Politicians use fear of Islam to motivate him to show up at the polls on election day.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Muslim nations since 1994. I just left Saudi Arabia. Arrived Qatar.
For men, Islamic nations are very hospitable. Most lists of friendliest nations include Syria, Jordan and Iran. I’ve not been to Iran. But of the 70 nations I have traveled, Syria and Jordan were by far the most welcoming. Egyptians I found very warm too.
I can’t say much about Women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. But, it’s much more complicated than you and I know.
More university graduates in Saudi Arabia are Saudi women than men, and female literacy is estimated to be 91% (though lower than male literacy) is far higher than just 40 years ago. The average age at first marriage among Saudi females in the kingdom is 25 years. …
The World Economic Forum 2013 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 127th out of 136 countries for gender parity. …
Islamophobia is fairly new. When I was in school the evil enemy was the Commies. It was the Cold War. Friends of mine parroted Better Dead than RED.
I recall how shocked Richard Englehardt was when I told him I would not fight the Russians. Most of my sport heroes were Soviet gymnasts. Many of my coaching mentors were Russian. In fact, I told REnglehardt, I’d probably be better off coaching under the Red Menace.
My grandparents immigrated from Ireland. In that era they suffered persecution.
(I’d heard about signs like this. But one historian argues they are a myth.)
It seems to be human nature to want to hate some enemy. The enemy frequently changes. Haters not so much. 😦
related – Guardian – America’s embrace of Islamophobia is new – but not surprising
I was much impressed with the simplicity and honesty of this little film.
A Separation (Persian: جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaí-e Nadér az Simín, “The Separation of Nader and Simin”) is a 2011 Iranian drama film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, starring Leila Hatami, Peyman Moaadi, Shahab Hosseini,Sareh Bayat, and Sarina Farhadi. It focuses on an Iranian middle-class couple who separate, and the conflicts that arise when the husband hires a lower-class care giver for his elderly father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
A Separation won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, becoming the first Iranian film to win the award.
Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.
Roger Ebert’s review
The Guardian review
This video, by In a Nutshell, speaks about how the Syrian crisis is an international issue, and how it all started with countrywide unrest and the civil war in Syria. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The fourth season of the American television drama series Homeland premiered on October 5, 2014, and concluded on December 21, 2014 …
Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.
A Hollywood simpleton’s version, for sure. But it’s a good glimpse into the ethical dilemmas of western boots on the ground in the Muslim world. I recommend Homeland.
Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison is a manic CIA intelligence officer assigned to the Counterterrorism Center. She fanatically wants to defend America … at any cost.
In the fourth season, Carrie is working as a CIA station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Carrie’s failures are symbolic of the failures of the USA in that region.
On Metacritic, it has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 22 reviews.[22] On Rotten Tomatoes, the season received an 82% rating based on 49 reviews with an average rating of 8.0/10. The critical consensus reads “Homeland is back on top, with a renewed energy and focus not seen since its first season.” …
I’d agree. Seasons 1 and 4 are the best, so far.
… According to media reports, Pakistani officials were unhappy over the depiction of Pakistan in the fourth season. …
Homeland will be returning for a fifth season.
One of the many things that revolts me about the GW Bush years was their introduction of “enhanced interrogation techniques“.
A new documentary reminds us of American torture.
FRONTLINE investigates the fight over the CIA’s controversial “enhanced interrogation” methods, widely criticized as torture. Based on recently declassified documents and interviews with key political leaders and CIA insiders, filmmaker Michael Kirk investigates the secret history of what the CIA did — and whether it worked.
It didn’t work. It was torture. If another nation had used these techniques on Americans, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld would have called it torture.
Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.
You can watch the hour long documentary on PBS.
Enhanced interrogation techniques … … methods included prolonged stress positions, hooding, subjection to deafening noise, sleep deprivation to the point of hallucination, deprivation of food and drink — as well as waterboarding, walling, nakedness, subjection to extreme cold, confinement in small coffin-like boxes, and repeated slapping or beating.
There were also cases of medically unnecessary forced rectal feeding (anal rape) and threats to harm family members. …
A nonpartisan, independent review of interrogation and detention programs in the years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks concluded that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture” and that the nation’s highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it. …
When Bill O’Reilly asked Lt. Col. Ralph Peters what his strategy would be to defeat the jihad, he said:
“You go wherever in the world the terrorists are and you kill them, you do your best to exterminate them, and then you leave behind smoking ruins and crying widows.”
Scientific American – How Can We Condemn Boston Murders But Excuse U.S. Bombing of Civilians?
Though I totally disagree with Ralph Peters, I respect his honesty. He admits innocents will be killed.
IF the USA wants to fight terrorists overseas, with drones or smart bombs, that’s probably the best way. Boots on the ground is the worst way.
Instead, foreign nations should isolate Islamic nations. Close embassies. Enforce boycotts. Freeze bank assets. Stop giving them an excuse for terrorism.
If you leave Islamic hotheads alone, it won’t be long before they are fighting each other.
Homeland security should be security within your own borders.
Gross Domestic Product has become the yardstick by which we measure a country’s success. But, says Michael Green, GDP isn’t the best way to measure a good society.
His alternative? The Social Progress Index, which measures things like basic human needs and opportunity. …
The Social Progress Index determines what it means to be a good society according to three dimensions: Basic Human Needs (food, water, shelter, safety); Foundations of Wellbeing (basic education, information, health and a sustainable environment); and Opportunity (do people have rights, freedom of choice, freedom from discrimination, and access to higher education?) …
Some countries over-perform on social progress relative to their GDP per capita. Costa Rica is the biggest aggregate over-performer, showing strength across all the dimensions. The key lesson here is that building social progress takes persistence. Costa Rica has had strong education, health and welfare systems for a long time, as well as a long democratic tradition. SPI measures outcomes — life expectancy, literacy rate — not inputs, like laws passed or money spent. There are no cheats or quick fixes
Saudi Arabia is the biggest underachiever. I’ve just arrived … Actually I’m scheduled to get to San Jose, Costa Rica May 1st, my first visit.
Rick McCharles 