Random Politics & Religion #00

Poverty alone isn't too blame, poverty in the presence of obscene wealth breeds violence every time. It's happening here, too.

I think we're on the verge of a breakthrough. Since everyone who disagrees with your parroted, narrow view of the world is apparently a shut-in liberal, why do all the people involved in these middle East conflicts disagree with you? Short answer: you're wrong.

Who cares about Africa we have enough problems to deal with in our own country.

Who cares about Africa we have enough problems to deal with in our own country.

Lol. You don't even know what you are disagreeing with me about now. You are just disagreeing.

Was the shooter in Tennessee impoverished?

It is not a rare exception. Many well education middle-class people are flocking to ISIS.

How did you get that "a few hundred" number?

FBI press releases. If you have a different number with some kind of legitimacy, by all means, provide it.

How about you provide the evidence since you stated the number?

Nice try, you are making the claim that a significant number of affluent people are joining ISIS, posing that the reasoning for their recruitment success stated by everyone involved and informed is wrong. You don't get instant credibility for managing to put a sentence together.

No doubt poverty plays a role in making some people susceptible to their propaganda and brainwashing but I was simply trying to refute the claim that a massive welfare program will fix that because a massive majority of people will always be poor in those regions. There isn't enough money to dump into the region.

Faith is the biggest recruiter. Strength is next. You cannot easily remove the faith but the strength can be decimated.

So for future reference, when Jassik provides information, it is fact until you prove otherwise. He is not responsible for backing his ***up.

we've seen that over and over.

Getting the heck out, apologizing for ever invading them, and keeping our noses out of internal conflicts does work.

They don't hate us for any reason besides the right one: we've occupied their lands for 15 years, our civilian contractors are abusing them, stealing their resources, and failing to protect them from the radicals that we created by destabilizing two countries in the region.

Faith in all forms is an excuse to indulge dark desires. They are twisted, bloodthirsty people operating under the guise of religion.

President Obama to Make 7th and Final ‘Daily Show’ Visit

Can you imagine how incredible it will feel for Jon Stewart when the tremendous weight of carrying Barack Obama for 7 years is lifted from his shoulders?

Nice try, you are making the claim that a significant number of affluent people are joining ISIS, posing that the reasoning for their recruitment success stated by everyone involved and informed is wrong. You don't get instant credibility for managing to put a sentence together.

Conflicts in Syria and Iraq continue to serve as the most attractive overseas theaters for Western-based extremists who want to engage in violence. We estimate upwards of 200 Americans have traveled or attempted to travel to Syria to participate in the conflict. While this number is lower in comparison to many of our international partners, we closely analyze and *** the influence groups like ISIL have on individuals located in the United States who are inspired to commit acts of violence. Whether or not the individuals are affiliated with a foreign terrorist organization and are willing to travel abroad to fight or are inspired by the call to arms to act in their communities, they potentially pose a significant threat to the safety of the United States and U.S. persons.

Oh for *** sake.:
https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/counterterrorism-counterintelligence-and-the-challenges-of-going-dark

JORDAN TRIP WAS "EYE-OPENING"

Abdulazeez's friends, who asked not to be identified for fear of a backlash, said he was upset about the 2014 Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza and the civil war in Syria.

"He felt Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia were not doing enough to help, and that they were heavily influenced by the United States," said the friend who received the text message.

...

Abdulazeez, an engineer, had occasionally smoked marijuana and drank alcohol, and struggled to reconcile that with his faith in Islam, the friends said. At one point, in 2012 or 2013, he received therapy for his drugs and alcohol use, they said.

...

Abdulazeez also had problems with local youths that sometimes took on a religious and racial tone, the friend said.

"There were rednecks, ignorant people, who sometimes would cause problems. Mo never fought, but he used to get worked up and yell and stuff," he said. "Afterwards he would calm down, and just say it doesn't matter."

...

The night before the attack, just after 10 p.m., the friend received a text from Abdulazeez with this link to a Hadith, or Islamic teaching: http://sunnah.com/nawawi40/3.

For jihadists and ultraconservative Salafist Sunni Muslims, the Hadith "is usually understood within the context of al-wala wa-l-bara (or) love for Islam and hatred for its enemies," said David Cook, an associate professor who specializes in Islam in the department of religion at Rice University in Texas.

...

He said Abdulazeez had a good paying job and many plans for his life, including possibly starting a computer sales business in Chattanooga. "He wanted to buy a car. He wanted a video console, to make a man cave - every guy's dream."

He said it was difficult to understand how his friend became the suspect in the rampage.

"The signs just weren't there," he said. "The only thing I can think of is that it was a combination of things - what is happening overseas, his family problems, maybe some of the issues with the less educated people here. I don't know."

The deadly shootings at military sites in Tennessee illustrate the threat that FBI officials have warned about: violence directed against a vulnerable government target by a lone gunman with apparent terrorist aspirations.

The FBI has not detailed a motive, but Thursday's attacks that killed four Marines and one sailor are under investigation as a potential act of terrorism, with authorities combing through the gunman's past to look for travel, contacts and online writings.

The rampage unfolded as the federal government has raised alarms about the online spread of terrorist propaganda, including repeated exhortations by groups such as the Islamic State for sympathizers to target police officers and military installations.

It came two months after two men opened fire outside a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas before being killed by police, and during a year when several dozen people in the United States have been charged with supporting terrorism, with more than 10 arrested in the month before the July 4 holiday.

"This is the new normal," said Will McCants, a terrorism expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington. If a terrorist group is looking to influence public opinion and generate fear, he said, "this kind of tactic has a lot going for it."

One federal law enforcement official said investigators did not immediately find an extensive online presence involving the gunman, 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, or evidence that he was directly influenced or inspired by the Islamic State. The official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday the nuclear deal with world powers did not signal any wider shift in Iran's relationship with Washington or its policies in the Middle East.

The agreement struck this week was met with celebrations in the streets of Tehran as many Iranians anticipated it would allow the economy, battered by years of sanctions, to stabilize and make their daily lives easier.

But Khamenei, who has the last word on high matters of state and had given his blessing to the nuclear talks, moved to dampen any speculation it would lead to a broader rapprochement with the United States.

"We have repeatedly said we don't negotiate with the U.S. on regional or international affairs; not even on bilateral issues. There are some exceptions like the nuclear program that we negotiated with the Americans to serve our interests."

U.S. policies in the region were "180 degrees" opposed to Iran's, he said in a speech at a Tehran mosque punctuated by chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".

"We will never stop supporting our friends in the region and the people of Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon. Even after this deal our policy towards the arrogant U.S. will not change," he said.

Thanks, but I really don't know why you bother.

me neither....

had either of you two ding dongs actually read the article you might have noticed that it agrees with aman,

ISIS recruitment success has nothing to do with economics and more about being part of something bigger than yourself and having a purpose...

me neither....

had either of you two ding dongs actually read the article you might have noticed that it agrees with aman,

ISIS recruitment success has nothing to do with economics and more about being part of something bigger than yourself and having a purpose...

Well.

Specifically for teenagers (who live in Western countries) they are basically using the same methods that gangs and cults use:
-lies about what "the west" are doing do your people (fake pictures and videos, although sometimes they don't need to lie....)
-offering you a "family" who understands you
-(this one not necessarily used by cults) the ability to take revenge against preceived transgressions.

For adults/teenagers who have had family members killed in these recent middle eastern conflicts they are offering the opportunity of revenge. Powerful motive for almost every human being.

Basically, followers of infowars and the men's rights movements are ripe pickings for IS; the same tactics are used.

A Ku Klux Klan chapter and an African-American group plan overlapping demonstrations on Saturday outside the South Carolina State House, where state officials removed the Confederate battle flag last week.

A sea of Confederate flags held by screaming Klu Klux Klan members fluttered in front of the South Carolina Statehouse Saturday, just as a counter rally featuring African flags on the other side of the Capitol wrapped up.

The Loyal White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan, based in North Carolina, vowed to protest the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse last week — and made good on that promise.

About 50 members descended on the Capitol steps waving the rebel banners — at least one of which included a Nazi symbol — and immediately began shouting racial slurs at attendees of an earlier "Countering the Attack on Black Unity Rally." Those protesters were moved to behind barricades, a distance away from the Statehouse steps, where they yelled back at the pro-Confederate flag group.

Within about an hour, everyone was ushered away from the Capitol by dozens of law enforcement officers, many outfitted in bullet-proof vests, helmets and camoflauge. At least one physical scuffle broke out, and some people who got a hold of a Confederate flag tore it into several pieces.

The earlier rally, including members of Black Lawyers for Justice and Black Educators for Justice, a Florida organization with links to the New Black Panther Party, began with about 200 people gathered around a podium and responding to passionate speakers shouting, "Black power!"

Justice Coats said she came to communicate a message about the Confederate flag. "Equality is more important than a symbol of hate," she said.

But Stan Stones, a Baptist minister, said he came to defend the flag but made clear that he does not support the KKK or their beliefs. The KKK "hijacked it in the mid-1950s, and they made it a symbol of hate. And Southern heritage has nothing to do with hate — it has to do with honoring those who fought," he said.