Orlando, FL ---“One of the things I believe, is we will see a major terrorist attack in this country or in Europe soon, because there are certain equities that have to happen before a certain date.”

     This was Stephen Coughlin’s answer when asked, “What do you think will happen next?” at an event hosted by ACT! for America on October 21, 2015.  ACT! for America, an organization that “educates citizens and elected officials to help impact national security policy,” hosted  Mr. Coughlin, an International Comparative Law expert and former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Intelligence Directorate.  Mr. Coughlin presented the case for how constraints on language and analytics are limiting the United States’ effectiveness in defeating it's enemies.

     In Paris, France 31 days later, 130 people were killed in a series of terrorist attacks conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, KAESH)

     The basis for the current briefing began when Mr. Coughlin realized “what we were saying about the nature of the threat is wrong, and the people in the Department of Defense have a duty to know.”  Mr. Coughlin explains that “they are not responsible to know every interpretation of Islam, but there is a duty to know the version they use to justify destroying us.”  Furthermore, “there are extreme costs associated with choosing not to know the nature of a self-declared threat’s self-identified threat doctrine”

      To demonstrate the purging of language from intelligence strategy documents, Mr. Coughlin shows a comparison of the 9/11 Commission Report, the 2008 FBI Counterterrorism Lexicon (Bush administration), and the National Intelligence Strategy 2009 (Obama administration).  Violent Extremism was used 3, 29, and 9 times respectively.  Religious was used 65, 3 and 1 time respectively.  Al Qa’ida was used 16, 0, and 1 time respectively.  The following words appeared only in the 9/11 Commision Report, published July 22, 2004: Enemy (39), Jihad(126), Muslims (145), Islam (322), Takfir (1), Muslim Brotherhood (5), Hamas (4), Hezbollah (2), Caliph/Kaliph (7), Shari’a (2).  This results in “the destruction of factual analysis by the removal of words that define.”

      Mr. Coughlin was highly sought after for his briefings at the Pentagon.  The briefings were called “the Red Pill Briefings” as they were able to “shift the audiences understanding of the nature of the threat in the War on Terror,” like the “Red Pill” in the movie The Matrix.  Mr. Coughlin used these briefings to show “the relationship between the Islamic legal doctrine of abrogation and a Muslim Brotherhood strategic doctrine based on a book called Milestones by Muslim Brother and Islamic thinker Sayyid Qutb.”

     The changing culture in the administrations of both President Bush and President Obama, have made Mr. Coughlin’s candor unwelcome in the national security agencies.  He says, “We are no longer a fact driven culture, we are a narrative driven culture.”

     Mr. Coughlin shares the following example of inappropriate influence over our national security strategy.  This example began with a briefing he was giving for law enforcement in Columbus, Ohio.  NPR published an article on July 18, 2011 which said some Muslim attendees were offended by some of the language used.  One of the attendees sued Mr. Coughlin over this briefing, but the case was dismissed when it was revealed in discovery that the plaintiff had not attended the briefing.  Mr. Coughlin shares a letter from CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was sent to the CIA around the same time. It was a letter requesting Mr. Coughlin not be allowed to give his upcoming briefing at the CIA.   The CIA cancelled his briefing as well as the entire training program.

     The Department of Homeland Security came up with the new program called Countering Violent Extremism (CVE).  Mr. Coughlin says the goal was to “realign them with the post-modern narrative to attack people who are not politically correct.”

     Out of the 16 member CVE Working Group, that was the committee to develop the standards, 6 were affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. 

    Mr. Coughlin goes on to share the case against the associates of the Muslim Brotherhood as appropriate advisors.   In the 2008 Holy Land Foundation Trial, the “largest terrorism financing prosecution in American history,” evidence showed the connections between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.  Hamas is a designated terrorist organization according to the United States and Canada.  In addition, Judge Solis, the sentencing judge in the HLF trial, wrote a letter stating that CAIR is Hamas in America.  CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF trial. Mr. Coughlin’s point: “Are these the people who should be choosing the language and procedures the United States uses in determining a course of action in our counterterrorism efforts?”

     Highlighting the two schools of thought, Mr. Coughlin shows a video clip of a congressional hearing on homeland security where the former Attorney General of the state of California, Daniel Lungren asks Secretary Stockton, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Security, if we are at war with Violent Islamist Extremism.  After many unsuccessful attempts at prodding him to use the term Violent Islamist Extremism, Assistant Secretary Stockton explains, “Al Qa’ida would love to convince the world that the United States is at war with Islam. It’s a prime propaganda tool, and I’m not going to aid and abet the effort to advance their propaganda tools.”  The Attorney General Lungren says, “One of the questions we’re trying to deal with is the radicalization of Islam, …and if we can’t distinguish between Violent Islamist Extremism and Islam then all this stuff about behavioral indicators doesn’t mean anything.”

     Mr. Coughlin shares that this is exactly the problem in threat analysis.  To obey the current rules of threat analytics in the CVE, analysts have to spend time keeping the language “politically correct.” This results in wasted resources, including time, money and brain power.  According to Mr. Coughlin, the more serious problem is that it “has led to tragedy and real loss of life, leaving America vulnerable to those who wish to destroy us.”

    

   

 A Buddhist Monk at Rollins College

Winter Park, FL --- A soft breeze was blowing off of picturesque Lake Virginia through the open doors and windows of the French building.  About 75 degrees, it could not have been a more suitable setting for a  presentation on meditation.

   Quang Le, a monk and meditation teacher from Vietnam, sat quietly in the front of the room with a half-smile on his face.  He occasionally stood to greet one of the attendees but seemed very content just to sit and wait for people to arrive at this meeting of the Rollins College Philosophy and Religion Club on October 21, 2015. 

   Le is not only a Buddhist monk and meditation teacher, but he is also a student at Rollins College.  Le says, "I  came to the United States in 2013 to improve my English, learn the limitations of my traditions and share the benefits of meditation with as many people as I can."  

  Le has been practicing meditation for over ten years.  Drawn to the happiness and well-being he knew it could bring,  he began practicing in a big Buddhist temple in Vietnam in 2004.  Later Le had an opportunity to become a disciple of the Vietnamese Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tic-Not-Haun). Thich Nhat Hanh is ranked 4th in the world’s top 100 spiritual leaders, according to Watkins Mind Body Spirit.  Le seemed just a little more joyful as he shared how Thich Nhat Hanh shaved Le's head. The shaving of the head is a symbol of a person’s commitment to live the monastic life.

  Part of the monastic lifestyle is the practice of spreading peace wherever one can.   Le does this through giving talks on meditation, mindfulness and peace within oneself. 

  Quang Le began by stating the main reasons for practicing meditation:  “Meditation will increase happiness and well-being.  Meditation will reduce suffering.” In addition to increasing happiness, he explains, “meditation can help one study better and sleep better.” There are all kinds of possible benefits.  In one of the more unusual examples,  Le tells of a man who called to thank him;  Le's instruction had helped the man’s son give up a video game obsession. 

  “Meditation can generate love, kindness, and compassion,” states Le. This can be achieved through four kinds of contemplation, according to the lesson:  contemplation of the body, contemplation of the mind, contemplation of the feelings, and contemplation of the spirit.  More than merely thinking on each of these ideas, Le shares “one can see the body inside,” and “use meditation for healing.”

  When meditating, Quanq’s process is simple, “Focus on your breathing.  Counting breathing in, out.  I know that I am breathing in.  I know that I am breathing out.  Don’t force.  Just observe.”

   Walking meditation is one of the more unexpected concepts  Le introduced.  “In walking meditation, one walks slowly… mindfully…Stop to observe nature…Don’t say anything, just observe.”

  In living the monastic life,  Le chooses to do as little harm as possible in the world.  This includes being  a vegetarian.  In addition to not wanting to be responsible for the death of another living thing,  Le expresses he does “not want to ingest the bad energy.”  It is his practice to be mindful of all that he ingests.
   Le spoke again at an Interfaith Council event held at the Hindu Temple in Casselberry on November 1.  The goal of the Interfaith Council, which hosts events all around the central Florida area, is to bring leaders in all faiths together to discuss topics such as respect for one another, religious tolerance, and peace.  
  In his presentation, Le shared, "Many people talk about peace.  Many want peace; they just do not know how to do it." He imparts one way to bring peace to ourselves is to be mindful of the nutrients we ingest.  He goes on to share there are four ways of ingesting: by mouth, sensory impressions, intention, and consciousness.  
  Ingesting by mouth is the food one consumes.   Le chooses to be vegetarian, ingesting food he believes gives him the most positive nutrition.  A less obvious nutrient one ingests is that which one takes in through the senses. From the conversations one takes part in to the television and video games one plays,  these images are being integrated into one's life. Le goes on to point out the thoughts one thinks are part of what one feeds oneself. Thoughts can effect behavior and even one's health. Finally,  Le shares the final thing one ingest is consciousness.  This can be one's individual consciousness,  which is how one thinks about our interactions with the people and world around them, or it can be a collective consciousness, in which one is uniting with others to affect conditions in the world.

  In his speaking engagements,   Le is on his way to having a profound affect on the consciousness of many. As for future plans, Le hopes to stay in the United States “forever.” After he completes his B.S. in Psychology, he plans to work for a while and pursue his Master’s Degree in Religion, as well as a Ph.D. 

2011 Nobel Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee

  Winter Park, FL---“As long as we continue to sit back, there are people who will continue to do bad.”

 And Leymah Gbowee (pronounced bau-wee) , a peace activist and Nobel Laureate, is not one to sit back.

   
At a speech presented by the Winter Park Institute, held at the Alfond Stadium at Rollins College on 

September 16, 2015, Ms.Gbowee tells an amusing story: 

 Some boys at a restaurant in New York City take sunglasses from a little girl and throw them in the 

trash.  The girl starts to cry, and the girl’s friends laugh.  Ms. Gbowee goes over to the table and asks the 

girls, “Which of you is this girl's best friend?” One girl gestures that she is the best friend.  Ms. Gbowee firmly

 tells her that she should be ashamed and asks them to think how they would feel if they were the ones who 

were being laughed at as they cry.  After a blunt lesson, she says to them "now who wants ice cream?" and 

treats the girls.

   
   She then follows the boys as they try to escape up some stairs.  She calls out to them to stop and lets 

them know she wants to talk to them. The boys reply that it isn't her business. 

She retorts "See how I'm dressed? I am not from here.  You disrespect me, I will whoop your ass." The 

boys stop and listen.  She asks them, “What would you do if someone did this to your sister?”  She told 

them they were not to do it again because it's not right.  She softens the blow with “Now, who wants a hug? 

 Come give auntie a hug.”

   Despite her tough words to the boys, Ms. Gbowee is not a violent person.  In fact, she won the 2011 

Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent efforts leading to increased women’s rights and participation in 

Liberia.  Ms. Gbowee knows it is up to each individual to take notice of injustice and take action.  This is 

why her mission is to encourage people to take up activism wherever they can.  She asserts, “ ‘That ain’t 

our business’ is responsible for the refugee crisis,” referring to the crisis in Syria.  She says, “Good people 

need to stand up and do activism.”  

   
  She did and put an end to a war.

  
 Ms. Gbowee was born in Liberia in 1972.  The Liberia of Ms. Gbowee’s youth was peaceful.  She lived in 

a home with both her parents, who were of the indigenous tribe Kpelle. She went to a private high school 

where she graduated in the top ten percent of her class.   She aspired to be a pediatrician and had just 

begun college at the University of Liberia when her world was turned upside down by war. 

   
  She shares how she went from being a 17 year-old girl responsible only for herself and her future, to being 

responsible for fifty people under her roof, all fleeing the war that had erupted in the region surrounding her 

hometown of Monrovia. 

   
  Her mother would not return for a week.  Her father, who worked as a radio technician at the U.S. 

Embassy, did not come home. She was resentful of having to make all the decisions, while having to protect 

her parents’ possessions.  The course of her life would be changed forever.

   
  From 1989 to 1996, the duration of the First Liberian Civil War, rebels and government fighters alike were 

looting provisions and terrorizing the people. Ms. Gbowee, along with the population of Liberia, struggled 

with death, rape and hunger as daily possibilities.  

   
  Ms. Gbowee was eventually able to begin pursuing her own dreams. Through volunteer work at the 

Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program, Ms. Gbowee became aware of another kind of healing work 

that was desperately needed, that is the healing of the minds of women brutalized by events during the war.   

Through her work at THRP she would meet mentors including Reverend B.B. Colley who encouraged her

to learn about current events, economics and politics to enable her to deeply understand the source of 

conflict.  Her continued studying, as well as guidance from another mentor Hizkias Assefa, a conflict 

resolution and reconciliation expert, would expand her understanding  of peace-building and conflict 

resolution. 

   
  Ms. Gbowee had a realization that it was the men who waged war for control of resources and personal 

gain, while the women and children suffered.  As she continued her training and counseling efforts, she had a 

dream in which a voice told her to “put the women together to pray for peace.”  This would be the catalyst 

for a series of organizing efforts to encourage the women of both Christian and Muslim beliefs to put aside 

traditional biases and join together in extensive peaceful protests.  In her Nobel Prize interview she 

contends, “If you want to build peace, you cannot reinforce or continue to enforce those things that people 

use to divide your communities. In Liberia, ethnicity, social class, status and religion, were some of the 

common things.”  She helped them to understand they were all the same in that they were women, and it is 

the women and children who suffer in war.

   
  One particularly bold protest, which entailed over 100 women sitting down outside the meeting room of 

peace negotiators, would lead to the signing of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement.  Although 

 there had been many treaties signed over the course of the war, this one would successfully bring an end to 

the war.  She credits the success of the movement to the ability of the women to overcome their 

separateness, as well as the conviction of all of the women that “For us, the price of peace was even worth 

the lives that we live.”

   
  At the conclusion of her message, she is asked a question submitted by the audience, “Is there hope?” 
 
 Ms. Gbowee responds with a smile, “Yes. We are the hope.”  When asked, “What makes you happy?”   

She responds, “ Young people and the tenacity they have, and the hope they bring to this world.”  She 

knows there are good people who will continue to take up the work.

Most Prized Possession

Who’s a Fan Now?

I can't say that I've always wanted to be a football fan, but after I got married, I started to be a little envious of the way my husband was so passionate about the events in the games. My stoic husband, a man who usually keeps his emotions close to the vest, would cry out in anguish or exhilaration over a play.  I was intrigued.  As I watched him plan his draft picks for one of his many fantasy football teams or be mesmerized by the TV on Sunday, I could see there was something very interesting going on and I was missing out.

I never had anything against football fans; I just never really had the occasion to become one.   I like to say I was raised by wolves, but the truth is I was raised by humans.  They just weren’t into football.   My father died when I was very young and never really had a chance to introduce me to sports.  I guess even if he had, it probably would have been fishing or hunting, judging by the deer carcass hanging from my swing set in one of my favorite childhood  photos.

I remember my friends and their families having favorite teams, but those were their favorite teams not mine.  I knew enough to know you had to have a special connection to your team. You needed to be from a certain city or go to a certain school. Or did you?

My most prized possession came into my life in a most unexpected way.  I was helping out at my church yard sale and the t-shirts we had so painstakingly folded that morning were being sold for 50 cents apiece; that is, unless an “extra savvy” yard sale shopper (although even at church I’m certain that is not how we referred to them) who wanted it for a quarter was shaking us down.  As I saw the t-shirts and other clothing going for 50 and 25 cents, I was reminded I needed more t-shirts and I should take a look.   

As I browsed through the t-shirts, there it was, a Cleveland Browns t-shirt.  Dark grey, with black, orange and white lettering, it was quite an attractive shirt, and it was my size!  I realized right then and there the key to being interested in football is simply having a team to root for; at this moment, the next Brownies fan was born. This was essential to my developing an interest in football.

Now this next turn of events will be a little unbelievable, but this is all 100 percent true.  As I’m admiring my new favorite t-shirt, a man walks up and says, “You’re a Browns fan?”  I replied, “I am now.”  He laughed.  It turns out, this well-dressed man from Winter Park named Frank, happened  to be from Cleveland.  I said to him, “I would let you have the shirt, if you really want it, but it’s not your size.”  I was so thankful that it was not his size; I didn’t want to lose that shirt.  I couldn’t wait to wear it.  We continued talking about the team. “Are they any good?” I asked.   He said, “The teams alright, but the fans are great.”  That was good enough for me.

I’m a pretty busy person, full time work, full time school, full time service at my church Inspire.  I’m not sure I will get to see many games, but I have the one piece of essential proclamation of my team, my beloved Browns t-shirt.  

My husband wasn’t sure I was serious at first.  I guess I wasn’t certain it would take either, but I loved that shirt!  I have worn it at least once a week since the day I found it.  I would tell people every chance I got, “I’m a Browns fan,” or I would refer to them as my Brownies.  I even used the line, “Did you all know I’m a Browns fan?” to redirect a political conversation that was taking a bad turn.  The Browns are becoming a part of my lexicon, and I do love that shirt.

As time has gone on, I’ve had other confirmations that this is my team.  One of my best friends is from Ohio. I remembered my mom was born in Sydney, Ohio; I’m practically a native.  And, as if I needed more confirmation, I now have a professor from Cleveland who just happened to assign a paper about our most prized possession.  My Browns t-shirt is truly my most prized possession (that’s not a cat), and its story continues to develop.  Go Brownies!