Children are our future, so why are they leaving in droves?

Editorial
Sunday Comment from NN, Spain

It was interesting, if not predictable that Obama and Cameron would emerge this week after 2 days of talks to announce they would work together to counter the 'poisonous ideology' of Islamic extremists and would (most likely) flout privacy laws in order to achieve their aims makes me somewhat uneasy.

In their joint press conference on Friday Cameron said, "We face a poisonous and fanatical ideology that wants to pervert one of the major religions, Islam and create conflict, terror and death.  With our allies, we will confront it wherever it appears," with Obama adding that they would work together to build "strategies to counter violent extremism that radicalises recruits and mobilises people, especially young people, to engage in terrorism."  (See Reuters for more details)

It is widely accepted that many young people are recruited via social media and I agree that something needs to be done to try and combat this type of recruitment and radicalisation, but it's a very slippery wicket.  If legislation is passed that allows the authorities to close or limit the reach of the sites from where recruitment may or may not occur then Western governments run the risk of being labelled hypocrites.  How can one extol the virtues of Charlie Hebdo to espouse their form of free speech (agree with it or not) and on the other hand legislate against others because they may promote subversive material?

It is a very sticky situation and I'm not sure that anyone knows quite how to combat the problem.  I agree with both Obama and Cameron that something needs to be done to counter Islamic extremism, but I'm not sure that fighting it by passing one-sided, or selective legislation is the way forward.  In the same way tackling the threat militarily is, I think, not the answer.  I think all these will achieve is the radicalisation of the next generation and then the next, and the next.....

According to the Economist the reasons that Western youngsters join IS, among other Islamic groups, are manifold and surely the governments in the West should be looking more at the reasons for the disenchantment and disenfranchisement of the West's young people rather than by trying to shut the gate after the proverbial horse has bolted!  It appears that many may be merely looking for some substance in their life, a bit of meaning to counter the boredom of unemployment or a life with little or no prospect of a meaningful or satisfying future in their homelands.  

Reproduced from The Economist 

I think many people are dismayed by the two-tier society we inhabit these days.  The gap between the rich and the poor, the have's and the have-nots, is growing.  In our 21st Century world should there really be people who go hungry, wherever they live, whatever their religion?  Should there really such a gap between those at the top and those who struggle to make ends meet.  Poverty, hunger and the resurgence of diseases such as typhoid and polio (I realise this is largely due to anti-biotic resistance, but politics also plays it's part) are problems that should not be occurring today.  I understand and fully appreciate it's easy for me sitting here to just say why don't they do this, or do that.  The mechanics and logistics of politics mean that much of what should happen never does just because of the various political systems within which we all live.  But that said, I would assert that if Western governments put greater effort into solving the problems at home, this might make the recruitment of our brothers and sisters that much harder.  After all, if one is generally happy and fulfilled then what reason would there be no reason to leave, would there?

Throughout human history Wars are traditionally fought by the young.  And now in the 21st Century, after the longest period of peace (is that what this is?) in modern history the boundless energies of youth are not being harnessed in any sort of constructive way.  Is it any wonder the youth in the West look on enviously at their generational compatriots in the Middle East and see that they fight for a principal, fight for each other and have something to believe in, whereas at home all they have is a once-a-fortnight visit to the dole office to gee them up.  The natural optimism of youth is irrepressible and yet in the West we seem to want to pull the teeth of our young men and women, telling them to be happy with a life of inequality, unemployment and little or no prospect of a home life, a home of their own and then we tell them to sit back and be good little citizens.  Is it any wonder youth crime, drug taking and now radicalisation are all on the rise.  The street gang members of the 90's are today's radicalised.  The mods and rockers of the 50's and 60's are today's disenfranchised.  You can see, this is not a new problem.  It's just a shame that what we don't have are new answers to a very old question.

In retrospect, I think National Service should never have been stopped, but sadly one can't go back, no matter how much one might wish to.  

Policy makers want to look at what is missing from the lives of the disenchanted youth (see chart above for estimated numbers of foreign fighters recruited by IS) that they can look at the videos of IS and imagine that life could be better under their banner than at home.  For me, that says more about what they leave behind than what they're running too.

It's not about restricting Western freedoms further.  That surely, ultimately plays into the hands of IS and anyway, once a freedom has been taken away it's much harder to return it.  This is no doubt, the thin end of the wedge!  Monitoring our emails, phone calls and spending habits, or restricting our movements as a means of 'securing our own safety' are examples of freedoms that we will never get back.  Happy people have nothing to hide and if we spent more time trying to make our people happy, by giving them a future that they can invest in, something to look forward to, to work for, then surely having Big Bro peering over your shoulder won't be necessary.  So, be brave policy makers; level the playing field and give everybody the same opportunities.  Make all education free; make health free, cap the salaries of all fat-cats no matter what industry they are in - we're all pissed off at the criminal bonuses bankers, for example, receive even after plunging the world into recession - ensure everyone who works earns a living wage, one that enables everyone to put a decent meal on the table.  Stop world hunger, end world poverty and promote equality across all boundaries.  Invest in our youth; stop punishing them for being young.  Give youth the chance to shape their own futures in a world we can all be proud of and we might just find that a few more stay at home.

None of this is easy, but it is all possible.  It can all be achieved.  It can be done in stages, bit by bit and as it happens the simultaneous dismantling and disarming of the terror machine may well accompany it.  Happiness at home is the extremists worst enemy. They pray on disenfranchisement, loneliness and dissatisfaction offering the excitement of a life with guns, the chance to mould their own futures, even if it wasn't exactly what they anticipated their lives would be when they were children.  Take that away and you disarm the extremists, their promotional videos become just that; videos.   

As the song suggests, 'children are our future.'  The problem is that no-one in the West believes that any more, especially the kids themselves, so who can blame them for looking for something else to fill the void in their lives.  The governments of the West must find ways to fill those voids with something more constructive than just talk and empty promises of a bright future.  Just because the youth are young don't make the mistake of thinking they are stupid.  We need to give youth a chance, a chance to grow, to experience, to learn and to choose what is right, what is wrong, what their lives can be, what they should be and we need to be strong enough to trust them to come to the right decisions off their own back.  

Perhaps then we can all go to the shops or take a flight to our holiday destination without fearing that our families are in mortal danger!

Have a good week.

Charlie Hebdo: Can we move forward from here?

Tout sont perdonnes!  All is forgiven.  When I saw the front page of the new issue of Charlie Hebdo on the early morning news on Al Jazeera English I couldn't quite believe it.  So strong!  Such a forceful bi-line for peace.  Chapeau a tous la!  That, in the wake of the Unity marches around the world have given me some cause for hope.  If the message of forgiveness can be championed by those directly in the firing line then this can surely become an irrepressible message of hope that can light the way for the peoples of the world, the governments of the world, to "endeavour to persevere," (quick film quote there.... big kiss and hug to the first person to name the film) and to strive for a peaceful end to all hostilities.

A vain hope I know, but a hope nonetheless.  To see Netanyahu and Abbas marching so close to each other was amazing, something I think only the most optimistic of us might have imagined before last Wednesday. But, there they were.

My colleague (and my biggest puppy!.....I'm so proud! Gush!), Mister Cool in his blog yesterday (  ) tried to show how violence begets violence in a seemingly never-ending cycle.  Violence to quell violence doesn't work.  We have thousands of years of documented history behind to illustrate the point.  Let's try something new, for all your God's sakes.

Sure, we dogs understand better than most that you must protect what you have, sometimes with your life. There is always some dirty dawg somewhere who'll want to take what's yours.  So, yes, we should protect what is ours.  But then be strong enough to stop there.  Not go for retribution but offer the hand of peace; show forgiveness, a la Charlie Hebdo, and stand firm, stand together, and reassure the would-be conquerors that we don't covet what is theirs; we wish to live in peace and harmony, and if we can do this together then we can all win and move forward together as a united Species, all men, all hu-mans together.

Us dogs might end up getting a better deal then, eh?  Here's hoping!

Lola Lush, reporting for NN, live from the almond grove.

PS.  That slacker of a Boss hasn't finished my avatar yet, so no little piccy of me.  Eventually he might get his arse into gear, but even then I don't expext to be too impressed by his handiwork!  Not much of an illustrator, is he? LOL

TV review: Monday night's Panorama: After Paris, what's next?, and the Incas: masters of the clouds

Last nights Panorama wasn't exactly an eye-opener.  I think deep down most knew that the runaway extremist viewpoint among many young Muslims was on the rise.  What I did find surprising was the attitude of some of the women who if they got their wish to live in their 'conservative Muslim' society that they would end up being the oppressed and the fact that they cannot see that is .....what?  Short-sighted?  Ill-informed?  Badly informed?  Mislead?  I don't know.....! From everything you hear about Taliban and ISIS societal organisation women are at the bottom of the heap with no right to education, no voice and, to be frank, no life to speak of.  So why do they seem crave this subjugation?  

I have no answer to this.  I can only assume they have some romantic notion (though romance is disallowed; hence I use the word for purely illustrative purposes) that after they have succeeded in oppressing every other woman in their fantasy world that they will somehow rise above the rest and achieve exalted status, either in this life or the next.  I have only one question for them.  What have they got against happiness?

And as for the self-said 'moderate Muslim' who would see all ex-Muslims executed (presumably by stoning) and who insists he is not an extremist....well, this guy needs to dig his dictionary out and look up a few of the words he's bandying around because this guy is clearly confused.

They should try reading the Koran for the beauty therein and not see it as a recipe book for dominating other cultures, people and religions, maybe then they'll soften up and see Islam for the peace loving religion it should be and not bring violence, fear and lies to the true moderates in Allah's name.  I'm pretty sure He would be ashamed of you.

It was heartening though to see the new British Muslim TV channel who seem to have their finger much more on the pulse, showing a much more realistic, tolerant and rounded attitude to Islam.  I hope they succeed in their endeavour and we at NN wish them every success. 

Every day the news and media bring us one horror story after another from one exotic location to another. From beginning to end news bulletins are of Wars, conflicts, murders, incurable and highly lethal communicable diseases, weather extremes all leaving us feeling worn out, fed up with it all and wondering what is truly the greatest threat to hu-mankind.   Climate change, religious extremism, EBOLA, AIDS or social unrest or just plain boredom?

I digress.....

Later on on Monday evening there was a wonderful documentary on the Incas: Masters of the Clouds. Whilst they might not have been the most 'civilised' of people to our modern way of thinking, they did have, what I considered to be, a somewhat enlightening attitude towards the expansion of their Empire and the way they went about it, albeit that the conquered peoples had little choice in the matter.  It was 'our way or the highway ...to heaven,' but that trifle aside, it seems that once the choice of least resistance had been adopted they would be incorporated into Inca society.  The Incas allowed their 'subjects' Religious freedom to continue to practice their own religions and beliefs or, they could adopt the Inca way as they saw fit with the various beliefs often morphing into something of an integrated, half-half religion.  As a result it seems their societies functioned rather peacefully and whatever your creed or belief system, you could find a place to fit in.

I thought that was kinda cool and it set me to thinking.  Newton's third Law of Motion states that every generated force has an equal and opposite force opposing it. The Inca conquered through integration and tolerance.  Today's religious extremists seem to want to conquer through violence.  But as young Master Newton has proven, the problem with oppression through violence and force is that it inevitably breeds an equal and opposite reaction from within the oppressed.  The more they push, the greater the resistance they are likely to encounter.  To be fair though, one might easily argue that today's extremists are often yesterdays oppressed.  The fault, if there is one, is perhaps then within your hu-man nature and not within a political or religious sphere.  But again, I digress.

One of the most over-used and purely pseudo-political expressions of the past decade was the fight to 'win the hearts and minds' of the various nations that the US lead coalitions invaded.  And look how that worked out!  In theory, to win the hearts and minds of the people is a sound concept, but in actuality it was somewhat different.  The Americans always stopped short of 'going the whole hog' in my opinion.

The Taliban, for example, arose in Afghanistan after years of violent oppression by the Russians, who subsequently, as we know, got their asses sorely kicked by the then, Mujaheddin, who were backed up covertly by the CIA eventually resulting in, not only the withdrawl of the Ruskies, but also the added bonus of the collapse of the old Soviet Union.   Case to point......violent oppression by force leads to equal and opposite reactionary force.

Yeah ok, I hear you say.....what's your point?

Well....my point is this.  If the campaign to win hearts and minds had truly been an honest and well thought out plan the Americans could have gone into Afghanistan after the War armed with donatives, money, aid, medicine, help with reconstruction...all that shit!  But they didn't.  Once the Russians were gone the Yanks left well alone, leaving a War ravaged nation full of bitter young men and women who'd seen their families dismembered and blown up after having fought the War of all Wars basically on behalf of the Americans and the West in general. We should all have been thanking the Mujaheddin but instead we marginalised them, allowed them to become more bitter, their resentment turning inward to eventually change into something we now call Islamic extremism.  The weapons supplied covertly during the 80's to fight the Russians, were just that, covert.  They didn't know it was the US that had supplied them with the weapons.  And then whilst the Americans sat back congratulating themselves on the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Mujaheddin were left to rebuild a devastated country with very little practical help from those who had gained the most out of their amazing triumph.

If just a fraction of the money spent supplying covert weapons was made available to rebuild Afghanistan after the War we might just have had flag waving Mujaheddin instead of them burning the Stars and Stripes. So, as much as we decry the violence and bloodshed and terror wreaked upon us by today's extremists, I think, to a large extent, the problem is one of our own making.

Conquering through violence just doesn't work unless, like the Romans, you completely obliterate any and all resistance leaving none left to bitch about it afterwards.  But, of course modern sensibilities mean that we cannot condone such a course of action.  Governments and armed forces are much more accountable these days than they were 2000 years ago!

So, the Russians begin the game by using force.  They are met with an equal and opposite force in the Mujaheddin.  Now marginalised and dispossessed, bitterness turns inward and we witness the birth of the Taliban and Al-Queada who then use force themselves (9/11 etc), which in turn is countered by the reactionary force, resulting in yet more force being applied in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, resulting in yet more reaction and the countenance of yet more reactionary force.  It's an endless cycle of bloodshed, blinkered ideals and the misuse of force and resources.  At some point we have to learn that military force ultimately doesn't work.  Integration, discussion, shared resources, forgiveness, understanding, tolerance and good old fashioned 'lurve' will surely bring greater stability than what we face now at the point of a gun.  It's gotta be worth a try cos we're doing now plainly doesn't work and unless we can sort it out soon the other problems faced by hu-mankind (such as climate change) become largely irrelevant, because there won't be a world left to watch it happen.

That's ll from me today, your peace-loving canine TV critic, Mister Cool.

Nous Sommes Tous Charlie

 Support from around the world is heart warming, especially from Iraq, Iran and other Muslim nations.  Nous sommes tous Charlie.

My Cartoon in support of Charlie Hebdo

None at NN can claim to be a cartoonist but we're trying to do our bit in support of all victims of terrorism.

PS.  Apologies for the line through the middle of the image, but I couldn't scan as a whole, so had to join it all up in photoshop!!!  Enjoy!

Paris hostage crisis ends.....

This was all too close to home...... I have family living in Paris, indeed one is a policeman and one more was on a plane on Tuesday from there, less than 24 hours before it all went off.  Watching the pictures all day on France 24 left me empty at the uselessness of it all.  It all felt way to familiar for me and took me back to the bad old days of  9/11.  I just hope the French nation don't opt for a Bush-style knee-jerk reaction.  New security Laws are needed, of that there is no doubt, but hopefully nothing as extreme as the US Patriot Act. Thankfully President Hollande doesn't seem the type and Manual Valls is way to smart for anything too outrageous, and anyway the French people have a much more rounded outlook towards freedom than perhaps does your average American and I couldn't see the French standing for anything as outlandish as French Patriot Act.  But time will tell......

For now, I'm sitting here waiting for President Hollande's address on the current state of affairs.  Reports are still sketchy and the numbers of dead (aside from those who asked for it) are not confirmed yet, and to the families of all the victims I can only offer my deepest condolences and hope that their deaths have not been in vain.

This is not the time for Politics or separatism.  Let's learn from the mistakes of 9/11 and let's come together in peace, everyone who believes in freedom and liberty, regardless of skin colour, nationality, race or creed. Let's begin on Sunday....attend the rally in support of the all the victims that is nearest to you and for one day let's forget our differences, forget our fears and come together in love.  We're all the same under the skin, we're all one under the sun and let's show our solidarity and move forwards in love, united across the oceans, under the skies and stand proud and fear-free and tell these fanatics who bring death to our streets that they cannot win, they will not win.  Let's fight with our words, not with guns; with love and not with hate; with togetherness and solidarity and we will win.  Lets #StoptheHate . 

  

An introduction to my News Network Team

Yo! Yo! Yo!  News Network coming at ya........all the way from Valencia, Spain.  As this is my first entry I feel some sort of introduction is necessary.  Firstly, there's my team - a group of dedicated professionals who live for their work and work to live every day.  A team unlike any other, we shall be covering local stories from our region in Spain, as well as national and international events and happenings that arouse our interest. Our unique perspective gives us views unlike any other and we shall be exploring a wide variety of issues, news and events as they happen.

Without further ado let me introduce myself.  You can call me the Boss, and I'm the Boss for one very good reason - I'm bigger than the rest of the team, so they bow to the inevitable and accept their assignments with the bare minimum of whining and the maximum of haste.....and I have to say, it's all done in the best possible taste, but then with a team like mine behind me one would be hard pushed to see it any other way.

So, I'm the Boss and Editor-in-Chief, and, even if I say so myself, a better looking one you'd be hard pushed to find!

Next, my right hand man.....or should I say right 'paw' wo-man ....... my Political and Animal Rights Analyst, and previous Golden Bone winner for contributions to Inter-Specific Relations and the promotion of Canine Rights.... Lola Lush.

Media Correspondent and Head Woofer, that paragon of virtue with the loudest bark this side of the Pyrenees......Mister Cool.

Society Correspondent, dirty stop out and perhaps the most beautifully elegant girl in the world......... Rudi 'don't touch the hair' Rudivic.

Restaurant Critic, in house food taster and all round......well, just 'all round' really........that man and a half, who just can't say 'no' .......Sonny 'got any grub?' Tiger.

Music and Beauty Correspondent, and a lovely little mover to-boot .......Dijon Dudette.

Social Commentator, sports fanatic and the best dressed reporter of them all....... Negrito Man.






Lifestyle guru and all round good egg........Survivor Selfie.

And last but not least, our Travel Correspondent and Local News Head honcho .........Mini the Moocher.

We shall meet all of them individually soon enough, so don't go anywhere because it's lift off for News Network.

The Team....signing off.

Eds Comments
Posting a first blog entry on the day 12 people at 'Charlie Hebdo (#CharlieHebdo)' got murdered in Paris gives one time to pause....the world carries on, much as before, my blog will be published, along with millions of others today, but for those journo's there will be no next entry, no next report or story and I cannot let it pass without comment.  As yet there seems to be no clear idea of who perpetrated these cowardly, despicable crimes.  French Police say they are looking 3 gunman who managed to escape in a hijacked car, but since this appears to be a highly organised, well-funded attack, the extent and depth of the network behind the gunman may well mean that there are many more than the 3 people sought that can be held responsible.

Since no claims of responsibility have yet been made the authorities and media appear to be treating this as an Islamic extremist attack.  My Dad is not a religious person.  My Mum neither.  But when they got married, Dad converted to Islam because Mum's family are Muslim and they take their religion very seriously.  Hence it became important to understand and appreciate the basics of the Muslim religion in order to do and say the right things whilst undergoing conversion and getting married. The 3rd (the Zakat) of the 5 basic tenets, or Pillars, of Islam states that every Muslim should 'help the needy' and should give at least 2.5% of their income each year to good and charitable causes, and one cannot help wondering that, if these fuckers do indeed turn out to be Muslims, that their sad, misguided, tragic and ill-informed notions of the message the Koran contains will mean that these murderers will not be passing through the gates of Heaven. Islam is a peaceful religion that encourages selflessness, reflection and love and I find it hard to believe that anyone can be so gullible or just plain stupid enough, that they can kid themselves into thinking that murdering in cold blood would be acceptable behaviour to their God and that he would welcome them into paradise as conquering heroes.  Their self-delusion is complete.  Their insanity unopposed.

I hope they get what they deserve.



     

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