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The original 3D computer animated story follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared. Published on Jun 18, 2013 by WarnerBrosPictures
► RELIGION : Millionaire Gives It All Up For Islam - Ishaq Mustaqim - My Path To Islam. Published on Mar 25, 2013 by roadside2islam
► ACTIVISM : University of Central Florida Professor Spews Anti-Islam Hate. Dr. Jonathan Matusitz, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida, January 31, 2013.
(TAMPA, FL, 6/17/13) - The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL), along with other community organizations, announced today that it has called on the University of Central Florida (UCF) to review the accuracy and objectivity of information offered to students in courses taught by Dr. Jonathon Matusitz.
CAIR-FL says Matusitz, an associate professor in the UCF Nicholson School of Communication, is "membership director" for the anti-Muslim hate group ACT! for America and bizarrely claims Germany will "become an Islamic republic by 2050."
ACT! for America leader Hanah Kahwagi Tudor, who goes by the pseudonym "Brigitte Gabriel," says an American Muslim "cannot be a loyal citizen" and that Islam is the "real enemy." She once told the Australian Jewish News: "Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim." Tudor also claimed that "Islamo-fascism is a politically-correct word...it's the vehicle for Islam. . .Islam is the problem." The New York Times describes Gabriel as a "radical Islamophobe" who in the past has made statements like "Arabs have no soul" and "Arabs are barbarians."
Matusitz recently told a Tea party gathering, "The problem is not so much the average Muslim, as it is the ideology," and falsely claimed that the Quran has "a lot of hateful verses that urge the adherents to kill non-Muslims." Public outcry forced Florida Republicans to cancel a scheduled lecture by Matusitz titled "The Islamic Threat to America."
Moderates within the Republican Party, such as Chris Latvala, son of state Sen. Jack Latvala, expressed concerns with Matusitz's talk, describing it on his Facebook as "bashing an entire religion practiced by many in Pinellas County."
In a letter outlining Matusitz's Islamophobic views sent to the Dean of the UCF College of Sciences Dr. Michael Johnson, CAIR-FL wrote in part: "His presentations on these subjects are full of anti-Muslim bigotry in the form of hate speech, inaccuracies, sweeping generalizations and stereotypes that would mislead students to believe that all Islamic societies are nothing more than violent, hate-filled terrorist factories. . .
"The focus of Dr. Matusitz's teachings appears to be more about his personal ungrounded fear of Muslims than about teaching students how any culture actually facilitates terrorism. "We are requesting that courses taught by Dr. Matusitz be thoroughly reviewed by the College of Sciences so that your students are not subjected to his apparent disinformation and bigotry."
CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. Published on Jun 17, 2013 by CAIRtv
► EDUCATION : How Culture Shapes Terrorism - Dr. Jonathan Matusitz & Rep. Sandy Adams. The University of Central Florida Nicholson School of Communication is proud to bring you the third in a Lecture Series on Terrorism and Communication. The title for this lecture is "How Culture Shapes Terrorism"
Professor Jonathan Matusitz has 95 academic publications and over 100 conference presentations, he taught at a NATO-affiliated military base in Belgium in 2010. In 2011, Dr. Matusitz's research was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tonights special guest speaker is Congresswoman Sandy Adams (2011-13). Ms. Adam's background in law enforcement and as a U.S. Congresswoman gives her a unique perspective on this subject matter you are fortunate to hear.
The DOD definition of terrorism is "the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.". A RAND study showed that 96% of worldwide terrorism is Islamist related. Therefore, understanding terrorism is of paramount importance to every American.
With that in mind - Professor Matusitz and Dr. Danielle Franco want to make this information on terrorism available to the general public. "Terrorists are inspired by many different motives. Students of terrorism classify them into three categories: rational, psychological, and cultural. A terrorist may be shaped by combinations of these. This excerpt below on Culture and Terrorism is sourced from, " U.S. Army, Field Manual 100-20, Stability and Support Opperations, (Final Draft), "Chapter 8: Combatting Terrorism."
Cultural Motivation
Cultures shape values and motivate people to actions that seem unreasonable to foreign observers. Americans are reluctant to appreciate the intense effect of culture on behavior. We accept the myth that rational behavior guides all human actions. Even though irrational behavior occurs in our own tradition, we seek to explain it by other means. We reject as unbelievable such things as vendettas, martyrdom, and self-destructive group behavior when we observe them in others. We view with disbelief such things as the dissolution of a viable state for the sake of ethnic purity when the resulting ministates are economically anemic.
The treatment of life in general and individual life in particular is a cultural characteristic that has a tremendous impact on terrorism. In societies in which people identify themselves in terms of group membership (family, clan, tribe), there may be a willingness to self-sacrifice seldom seen elsewhere. (Note, however, that American soldiers are less surprised at heroic sacrifice for one's military unit; the difference among cultures is in the group with which one identifies.) At times, terrorists seem to be eager to give their lives for their organization and cause. The lives of "others," being wholly evil in the terrorists' value system, can be destroyed with little or no remorse.
Other factors include the manner in which aggression is channeled and the concepts of social organization. For example, the ambient level of violence is shaped by the political structure and its provisions for power transfer. Some political systems have no effective nonviolent means for the succession to power. A culture may have a high tolerance for nonpolitical violence, such as banditry or ethnic "turf" battles, and remain relatively free of political violence. The United States, for example, is one of the most violent societies in the world. Yet, political violence remains an aberration. By contrast, France and Germany, with low tolerance for violent crime, have a history of political violence.
A major cultural determinate of terrorism is the perception of "outsiders" and anticipation of a threat to ethnic group survival. Fear of cultural extermination leads to violence which, to someone who does not experience it, seems irrational. All human beings are sensitive to threats to the values by which they identify themselves. These include language, religion, group membership, and homeland or native territory. The possibility of losing any of these can trigger defensive, even xenophobic, reactions.
Religion may be the most volatile of cultural identifiers because it encompasses values deeply held. A threat to one's religion puts not only the present at risk but also one's cultural past and the future. Many religions, including Christianity and Islam, are so confident they are right that they have used force to obtain converts. Terrorism in the name of religion can be especially violent. Like all terrorists, those who are religiously motivated view their acts with moral certainty and even divine sanctions. What would otherwise be extraordinary acts of desperation become a religious duty in the mind of the religiously motivated terrorist. This helps explain the high level of commitment and willingness to risk death among religious extremist groups." Published on Feb 8, 2013 by connect741
► Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban
By Hamid Shalizi and Lesley Wroughton - KABUL/WASHINGTON - Revived Afghan peace talks hit their first roadblock on Wednesday, a day after they were announced, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S. talks with the Taliban and would halt negotiations with Washington on a post-2014 troop pact. | Video
* U.S., Taliban talks may take place in 'next few days': official
* Afghan officials say U.S. broke promise on Taliban office
* Afghanistan suspends security pact talks with U.S.
* Taliban held secret talks in Norway to broker Doha deal
► Brazil's protests: Not quite a 'Tropical Spring'
By Brian Winter - SAO PAULO - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability.
* Sao Paulo, Rio revoke transport fare hikes as protests continue
► Singapore, Indonesia tussle over haze problem
► Lourdes closed, 200 evacuated after flash floods
► 50,000 protest in Sao Paulo 'Tropical Spring' revolt
► Karzai suspends talks with US over Taliban move
► PHOTOS
■ Liliger
■ Lego
► Dolce and Gabbana sentenced to jail for tax evasion. Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been sentenced to jail in Italy for one year and eight months for tax evasion. They were accused of hiding millions of euros from Italian tax authorities. The pair, whose customers have included Madonna, Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue, were not at the trial, deny the charges and have appealed. Dolce and Gabbana have not commented on their sentences, which have been suspended pending their appeal. Alan Johnston reports.
► Polluting to death: China introduces execution for environmental offenders
► Mask ban: Canada's veiled protesters face 10 years' jail
► Crowd of 30,000 overruns police cordon ahead of Brazil football match (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
► Obama defends US snooping in uneasy Germany
► Kim Dotcom: All Megaupload servers 'wiped out without warning in data massacre'
► Assange: Obama 'corrupted the presidency'
► PHOTOS
■ Sky High: World's best aircraft wow at 50th annual Paris airshow
■ Parades, concerts, festivals: Russia Day celebrated all over country
■ Brazil rocked by largest protests in decades
► VIDEOS
■ Lancelot du Leaks: Whistleblowers unfazed by US crackdown
■ 'Yes We Scan': Anti-wiretap activists protest as Obama visits Germany
■ CrossTalk: Syria - The Next Iraq?
► James Gandolfini, 1961-2013: A Made Man Who Made TV Great
TIME TV critic James Poniewozik says that Gandolfini, with his subtle performance as a suburban mobster in The Sopranos, wrote the blueprint for the modern, complicated TV antihero
* Top 10 Sopranos Episodes
* Q&A: Not Fade Away's David Chase, James Gandolfini and Steven Van Zandt
► FBI uses drones inside U.S. for spying, director says
► Kate Middleton, Prince William and the royal baby birth details
► FRAMEWORK
■ Brazilians protest rising public transport costs - Posted By: Marc Martin
Novosibirsk, Russia — Zita, a liger -- half-lioness, half-tiger -- walks with her month-old cub at the Novosibirsk Zoo. The cub's father is a lion, so breedwise, the cub is considered to be a liliger. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ilnar Salakhiev / Associated Press
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