Journalistic musings. There are times when seemingly disparate events take place within a short window of time. They coalesce within the mind of a journalist. They become paint for the canvas of our words. This is one of those times. First Act: The Make-a-Wish Foundation. The national headquarters for the Make-a-Wish Foundation is in Fort Worth. It is one of the many reasons I remain proud to live in the great state of Texas. Since 1980, this organisation has granted the wishes of more than 227,000 children with life-threatening conditions. These children and their family members are aware of the brevity of life. A network of 25,000 volunteers function as wish-granters, special event assistants and fundraising specialists to assure these special children a significant memory to carry both them and their families to the end of the journey. Does the child want a trip to Hawaii? It will be provided. Does a little girl want to dance on a stage with a real ballerina? It can happen. Does a little boy want to meet New York City firefighters and ride along in a fire truck? Maybe the child merely wants a new puppy or a tree house in the backyard. Make-a-Wish is there to make the dream come true. Second Act: Agitprop Confronts Freedom of Expression. A woman arrested for criminal mischief because of an act of vandalism is led off by police proclaiming, “This is what happens in America when you non-violently protest.” In the shadow of her inglorious battle, Mona Eltahawy claims the arrest of Quazi M Nafis for attempting to commit an act of carnage is FBI entrapment. This Egyptian-born journalist should know. On Tuesday, September 25, Ms Eltahawy attempted to entrap the American public with a carefully staged publicity stunt. The New York subway system sported ten posters with a strong pro-Israel message. Prior to the ads running, a US court had ruled the statements as being political in nature, hence completely protected by the First Amendment. This constitutional capstone guaranteed that Americans would embrace true freedom of expression as part of our national character. Ms Eltahawy tweeted her intention to deface the ads. She conveniently created a protagonist/antagonist fight to go down. Naturally, she made sure there was a photojournalist from the New York Post to capture the moment. Staging propaganda events require the proper gravitas. Unfortunately, her tweets also expose a female who tweets with an extremely vulgar street language. Shock value? I would rather be shocked with intelligence. A newly minted American citizen has blazed two trails that lead to the middle of nowhere. There are 14 words I am willing to defend to the death: “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.” These words rank among the most beautiful and powerful words ever penned by mortal men. They paint a picture of liberty. Man is free to think and to speak his mind without fear of criminal penalty. There will be no government oppression such as that noted in Putin’s Russia. Final Act: Homeland Security’s Fairy Godmother. Quazi M Nafis played out his fantasy last week. He attempted to detonate what he believed was a car bomb packed with a half-ton load parked in front of the (Manhattan) Federal Reserve Bank. After repeatedly keying in what he believed was the cell-phone detonation code, he was arrested by the FBI Welcome to Homeland Security’s ‘Make-a-Wish’ group, Quazi. You introduced yourself to their network of fairy godmothers when you attempted to form a cell. Whilst some would cry ‘sting’, the rest of us send up a shout. Quazi Nafis is just the latest in what will continue to be a long line of psychologically diseased young men who have a brain-wasting disease. It places them too near death’s door at too early an age. Few people understand how the brain can become diseased with an ideology. But somewhere along the way in an alley in Bangladesh, or perhaps the office of a local cleric, the wasting disease was initially passed along to Quazi. Initially, he was unaware that he had contracted the disease. It may have incubated and remained dormant for months. However, once the disease affected hormonal cascades, he determined to catch a flight to the west to infect a few new friends. He brought his wasting disease and his wish to America. He made his wish known, that thing which he longed to do prior to struggling along sadly with his incurable disease. The right people took note and stepped up to the plate. Make a wish, Quazi! Does the young adult with a wasting disease want an IED or a big boom? The wand is waved and the dream comes true. Does he want a Mumbai-style attack? How many weapons? And do you want to go out in the woods and learn how to shoot? The wand is waved. Chemicals? Sure. The fairy godmother can cook up a batch. Have you studied wind speeds, humidity, vaporisation and LD50? Yep, the FBI can help. But along the way, important questions are persistently asked. “Is this really what you want to do? We want to be sure. Or do you have another dream that is more important? Do you want an education? Do you want to live a good life? We want to be sure that we are giving you exactly what you want.” Quazi M Nafis had this to say, when he made his wish known. He was very specific regarding his dream: “What I really mean, is that I don’t want something that’s like small. I just want something big. Something very big. Very, very, very, very big, that will shake the whole country…and make one step ahead, for the Muslims…that will make us one step closer to run the whole world….” (See the second link given at the end.) Quazi Nafis got his wish. Mona Eltahawy did not gain full purchase on her own. Many of us recognized what she did for what it really is: simple agitation propaganda. Thank god, on both counts! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/mona-eltahawy-arrested-for-spray-painting-anti-jihad-subway-poster_n_1915832.html http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/breaking-sting-foils-bangladeshi-man-intent-on-jihad-at-federal-reserve The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at tammyswof@msn.com