Arm yourself, intellectually!

The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

Author: Gad Saad

When the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall came crumbling down, the world thought the leftists and their ideas were buried in the rubble of what was once considered the panacea of all of Man's woes. They were wrong. The concept of unhappy people blaming all their woes on the system continued. The leftists just went into universities and infiltrated the world media. With neologisms and complicated, contradictory coined phrases, they managed to create a world of similar thinking individuals.

It would have been fine if these new ideas were just another armamentarium to research for the ultimate truth. It instead was meant to create a herd of an unthinking population whose way of thinking permeated all layers of society. Radical militant feminists insist that being born male means toxicity oozing from all his orifices. The cancel culture practitioners literally shoot down people if their narratives do not concur with the leftists' agenda. Transgender people think gender is fluid and press for society to assign gender to young children at a tender age.

Playing victimhood is the newest game in town. The victims are actually perpetrators of mayhem but cry a river when their assault is retaliated. And they use the power of media and academic pseudo-intellectuals to justify their course. Identity politics divide and sub-divide people into combative camps.

A particular way of thinking labelled 'ostrich parasitic syndrome' by the author has emerged. Scientific thinking developed over generations of discovery has been annihilated by science deniers and denial-discarded ways of thinking. These people are cocksure about their convictions and, like wailing babies, just would not accept others' arguments, no matter how rational or scientific it is.

Prof Gad Saad is a sane voice in these insane times who encourages his readers to arm themselves with knowledge and defend the world against the attack on common sense. Saad himself was a victim of such infectious barbarity. He grew up as a Jew in the only country in the Middle East with a Christian majority around 1948 at the creation of Israel, Lebanon. The wars that flared after its inception created waves of refugees. In the spirit of humanitarianism, Lebanon took in refugees from its Muslim neighbours. Saad was born in 1964. By the late 1960s, due to disparities in population growth, Lebanon was no longer a Christian majority country. It instead had to deal with terrorist groups like Fatah, Hizballah, Hamas and many more and found itself embroiled in a Civil War by 1973. Saad's family, living as closet Jews, had to flee their motherland after being doublecrossed by the very close Muslim worker who had serviced their house for years. 

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Convert, leave or die!

The Kashmir Files (Hindi; 2022)
Writer & Director: Vivek Agnihotri

This post would probably draw a lot of flak, especially after Singapore's censors recently banned this film. Singapore's justification for its ban is that it is provocative and gives a one-sided portrayal of Muslims in a horrible light that can potentially cause enmity between communities.

According to the affected community depicted in this movie, the Kashmiri Pandits, it is precisely the reason why the film 'Kashmir Files' was made. It claims to be the voice of the descendants of what could simply be put as the original inhabitants of the Cradle of Civilisation. Back in the days, aeons ago, Kashmir was the centre of knowledge; of philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, theology, you name it. It was the place thinkers worldwide used to congregate to unravel the Universe's secrets. 

From the 14th century onwards, their peaceful existence went into turmoil with the infiltration of Islamic invaders from the West. Waves after waves of invaders, from the Sunni to Shia denominations, had tried their luck at usurping the land and its beauty. The Pandits also underwent tumultuous times under the Moghul dynasty. All in all, they all wanted to change Kashmir into an Islamic country (Darul Islam). As decreed in the Sharia Laws, the non-believers were imposed exorbitant taxes (jizya). The invaders' battle cry had been consistent - 'Convert, die or leave'! Under the threat of death or maiming, many Pandits embraced Islam. Again as per Islamic law, the non-believers were slaughtered, and their female companions were taken as captives to be raped or kept as sex slaves as part of their war spoils. (Kashmir, without Kashmiri men but with their women).

Before the 1990 exodus, some say genocide, history has recorded six other exoduses starting with the 14th century. 

Maharajah Hari Singh

Rumours have it that his 1921 blackmail

scandal by a Parisian sex worker was 

used as a bargaining chip to rope Kashmir

into India.

In 1947, at Indian Independence, Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu monarch, Maharaja Hari Singh, ruling over a Muslim majority. This princely state was given the option of becoming part of Pakistan or being absorbed into the Indian Dominion.  When the Maharaja opted to join India, Pakistani tribesmen and later the Army sneaked in to create mayhem. Nehru then decided to call the United Nations to mediate the situation in Kashmir. That proved to be a big mistake. Kashmir was divided into two, each controlled by India and Pakistan, with an area of 'no man's land'. From then on, there was no peace, so to speak. The democratically elected leaders have been accused of practising double standards. The rebel yell for a free Kashmir and 'Quit India' has been ongoing. With its ascension to India came special legislation like Article 370 that gave Kashmir certain powers to rule itself. By 1990, the number of Islamic terrorist groups in Kashmir had reached discerning levels.  

Growing up in the 90s and keeping updated with the day's events, I was fed the idea that Kashmir had its internal problems. That was all. Now, the alternative media is telling me that there was another aspect to Kashmir's history. As Napoleon had purportedly called history 'a fable mutually agreed upon', in modern times, we find the narrative that the general public is fed is politically and ideologically convenient. François Gautier, a French journalist who covered Kashmir at that time, has a totally different version of what happened there. The mainstream rejected his reporting and photojournalism articles as they did not align with their narratives. Gautier, disillusioned by the whole media business, became a naturalised Indian and is now delving into rewriting an alternative history of modern India. 

The movie's premise is that the world had wronged the Kashmiri Pandits by not giving an accurate account of what took place in the Kashmiri Valley, which made almost 90% of the Pandits exit the country. That was more than meets the eye, and the film hoped to put the facts straight. The Pandits insist that it was not an exodus but an attempt by the Islamic militants at genocide. It tells the tale of terrorists masquerading as Indian Army personnel luring them to a safe haven in all that chaos to kill en masse and bury them in mass graves. It tells in gory detail how students turned their guns against their teachers and how cordial neighbours turn into informants in the name of rabid religious convictions. It describes how the world, through the media and the academia, is duped into believing the Pandits left of their own accord.

Krishna Pandit, a student leader from one of those who left the Valley in the 90s as a toddler, has no recollection of what happened to his family (his parents and an elder brother). He was informed that his parents died in a scooter accident, and his brother is still missing. The grandfather who brought him to Delhi is a broken man suffering from PTSD. Krishna is fed with the idea that the cruel acts of the Central Government of India turned them into refugees. Krishna is active in the 'Free Kashmir' movement and is prodded by his Professor to become its leader. Its members scream 'Azadi', meaning freedom.

He gets a firsthand account of what actually occurred in his hometown when his grandfather dies, and he has to return to Kashmir with his remains to perform the final rights. He is introduced to his father's friends and the militant leader who carried out the atrocities to form his own opinion of what transpired in 1990s Kashmir. 

This film had a worldwide release to roaring success. Many of its viewers, who personally endured the events, came out immersed in tears, transported back in time to relive those suppressed memories. They claim that it was an accurate account of what really happened there. 

Everyone agrees that what the jihadists are doing simply cannot be in line with any teachings worth being called 'the way of life'. The interpretation of the religion by fanatics simply defies logical thinking. Anyone with a little brain can surely see what the jihadists are doing are wrong by any account. The trouble is that others who profess the same religion decide to keep mum and turn a blind eye to their atrocities. They condemn the Wahabbis acts in private, but in public, they would rather not run down a fellow believer. Each interprets the same line in the scriptures quite differently. Their inactivities ire the non-believers and give the impression that the moderates condone their actions. Hence develops the schisms.  

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And they call it puppy love!

Melody (1971)
Director: Waris Hussein

I watched this movie just because the Bee Gees made its original soundtrack, and two of their hit singles graced it. The songs 'To Love Somebody' and 'First of May' seem appropriate to showcase puppy love, the main subject. It tells the story of a co-ed British school in which a young teenage boy falls in love with his schoolmate and wants to get married, not in the near future, but ASAP.

The story is told from the point of view of children. The child actors are the main stars, whilst the adults play mere supporting roles. The adults (i.e., parents and teachers) are painted as flawed, ugly, unimpressive, brash, boring, and disassociated from reality. The children are painted as full of life, mischievous, and imaginative in how they want to live their lives.

This is the exact reason why the lovebirds want to get married there and then, not when they are old and boring like the adults around them. Besides creating a whirlwind among the parents and teachers, the boy's best friend is unwilling to share his friendship with this girl. In. the vein of light comedy that the movie is, all the school kids get together in private to organise a mock wedding.

Well, the conservatives amongst us in this country would have acted exactly the same way as the school kids decided to do. Rather than doing all the sinful things their hormones make them do, these full-thinking adults have no qualms about child marriages. There is no question of exercising self-restraint or willpower. They would just let their animalistic instincts dictate their lives! All the modern sociological knowledge of the dangers of child marriages goes down the sewer. It happened centuries ago, and all was well, they justify.

To Love Somebody

The song First of May comes on annually, not for Labour Day, but to commemorate Bee Gees' trio. Three of four Brothers Gibb have since passed, but the remaining Gibb, Barry, has lost his mojo without his twin younger brothers. They had been belting hits after hits from the mid-60s to early 2000s.

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A utopia in a woke world?

Encanto (2021)

Director: Jared Bush and Byron Howard

Something is unsettling about this Disney animated musical. Sure the animation, the colour, and the music are spellbinding; it is the story that makes me think.

When I overanalyse the story, the more I feel it must surely be a wet dream for the proponents of the woke culture (or nightmare, depending on how you look at it). Colombians running from their motherland from atrocities (which they think were perpetrated by the US) were ushered in almost magically into a land of magic. In this magical land (the US, maybe), they were all given special powers (read special preference) to help each other in a Colombian only community. Perhaps others (non-Colombians) do not matter.

The next generation all grow up expecting to have special treatment - all the siblings and their siblings. They feel entitled to be treated differently. They deserve the magic that their predecessors received, even though their circumstances were different.

When these doors are not opened, they feel cheated and refuse to do their duty to the community. The community also needs to be blamed, for when someone reminds them of the rotten system and their imminent collapse, he is labelled as a traitor, an outcast, and put in cold storage. For a bit of semblance of sanity to prevail, the whole rot has to be purged away for new building blocks to be put in.

Maybe in not so your face manner, this musical tells the story of a matriarch who flees Colombia to be saved by a magic candle that builds a house for them and nurtures her children and grandchildren. The family and the rest of the community surrounding the shape-shifting mansion just make merry and dance all day through, unaware of the decay in the house's structure. The protagonist, a teenage girl who does not get her dues, goes on a crusade to find the real gift that she duly deserves.

Of course, it is not like that. Mind my wild imaginations! Did I mention the many biracial couples and the fleet of seemingly clueless and docile male characters? They form the woke narrative - payback time for all the toxic masculinity over the generations!

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Put those grey cells to use!

Death on the Nile (1978, 2022)

Director, Actor: Kenneth Branagh.

Almost 85 years after its publication, readers and moviegoers are still discussing Agatha Christie's novel, 'Death on the Nile'. Her recurring character, the eccentric Belgian detective Hercules Poirot still excites writers and readers alike.

After watching almost the whole season of Poirot's TV series, I thought it would be pertinent to compare David Suchet's role as Poirot to the two other actors who tried to create this character - Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Branagh. In reality, maybe 10 over actors tried their hand at giving life to this moustachioed fictional character.

David Suchet as Poirot

Personally, I vote David Suchet as the best Poirot actor. Maybe I had too much time indulging in the complete Poirot TV series. The TV series, episodes over episodes, builds a more composite image of the detective and exposes more and more of his personality as he delves deep into his cases. Suchet's portrayal shows an obsessive-compulsive man with his quirky habits. He gave an aura of a chirpy middle-aged man with a dark past behind him.

Kenneth Branagh as Poirot

Kenneth Branagh's 2022 Poirot is a bitter man who never got over losing his wife-to-be. He carries the burden of guilt for requesting her to take the train trip that proved fatal. He seems to be holding his sorrow on his sleeves. Poirot's usual comical antics seem missing as the tone of melancholy overhangs any possibility of a fun moment.

The Ustinov version, in my opinion, is the least appealing of the three that I have watched. In the 1978 version, he looks more like a bystander, and other actors seem to overshadow his presence. 

Top R - Bottom L
Tony Randall, Albert Finney (Oscar nominee), Peter Ustinov, Ian Holm,
David Suchet, Alfred Molina,  Kenneth Branagh, John Malkovich.

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The higher the fly, the harder the fall!

Flight (2012)
Director: Robert Zemeckis

There was a time when professional jobs were allocated to the crème de la crème of society. It was thought that since the educational design was so gruelling, only the disciplined, regulation sticklers and the honest would pass out the system with flying colours. Such linear thinking fellows would be honest and not cut corners.

In most societies, however, such thinking holds no water. In keeping with the tagline of a particular budget airline, 'Now everyone can fly!', such a message also goes to pilots worldwide. Anyone can fly a plane. This type of thinking has also permeated into society on a larger scale. Every member of a particular profession is a cogwheel in a piece of bigger machinery. Everybody has to play his part; no more, no less. Nobody is indispensable. Anyone can be displaced and replaced. There are waiting to take over.

This movie reminds all professionals that vigilance is an eternal necessity. Our jobs are constantly being scrutinised for shortfalls. Anytime anything goes against the grain of normality, the vultures of the world will peel open their eyelids to find a scoop that they can create a whirlwind of mischief. In the modern way of doing things, everything is outsourced. Outsourcing is filled with responsibilities and liabilities. Hence, everybody will want to avert their burden of duty and find a scapegoat. No more are professionals absolved of any of these. No stone is left unturned. So it is of paramount importance to guard your own background. Lest your slightest lapse of concentration will be amplified to paint as the main reason for any malady that may arise.

In this 2012 film, a pilot with many years of experience but a drinking and drug habit saves an obviously old plane that outlived its usefulness from a sure crash with his unique flying manoeuvres. His moves were indeed proved impossible to be reproduced on simulation flights, and he is hailed as a hero. He saved many lives from sure death. Post-crash investigations were not kind, however. His addiction comes to the open, and the pilot is vilified by the authorities. Even though the maintenance standards of the machine are far from satisfactory, somehow, the pilot's deficiencies hit the headlines. The pilot's death-defying heroic act, despite his sobriety, takes a backseat. 

The higher you fly, the harder the fall!

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Parliament, Unexpected; Government Interrupted!

Parliament, Unexpected

Tan Sri Ariff Yusof

This book is more like a report card on the activities of the Speaker who was appointed to the helm when the new Pakatan Harapan coalition government was elected. The government was short-lived with its own appointment premier sabotaging his own partners in what came to be known as the Sheraton move. Mahathir Mohammad was never happy with the unsettlingly high participation of opposition members in the new government. A bigoted racist by mindset, from the get-go, he had been devising a way to get his former party UMNO back to power without Najib and his band of thieves. Maybe by design or double-crossing, Mahathir got ousted instead. What remains now is a sleuth of incompetent clowns who dance around in their self aggrandising Emperor's New Clothes. Hyenas and jackals have all come out to play in a system that borders on lawlessness day by day.

He gives a brief account of his childhood days, his alma mater, his family, and his career and delves right into his sudden appointment as the Speaker in the august house of the Parliament. He took it as a national service as he already had a fulfilling daytime job in the legal circles. As the author puts it, nobody in his right mind would have a lifelong ambition to be the Speaker of the Parliament!

It is disheartening to read about how a respected man of scholarship and a former judge has to condescend to the schoolboy hooligans-like antics of grown men who were elected to ensure the smooth running of the country. These buffoons seem to be high on some kind of intoxicant that they have no qualms about using profanity in the House, that too in front of visitors, including schoolchildren. Coincidentally, the author seems to have drawn his fascination with politics from a similar visit during his school days. Oh yes, parliamentarians were more civil and proficient in their articulation then. In the short 22 months of the Pakatan rule, we witnessed mayhem and devious plot within and without the coalition to derail their administration.

Doing the right or moral thing does not come into the equation. It is all about the party line or some other dog whistle elsewhere. There must surely be some invisible hands above that survived all atrocities from the fall of the Malacca Empire all through the European and Japanese occupation to come out smelling of roses who control the narratives. They must have found the formula to stay relevant all these years.

They say that the Speaker is the person in charge of the Parliament, but is he really? With so many protocols and precedence set, it takes a whole department to ensure the institution's running. Any deviation from the norm would be construed as dishonouring the esteemed House. Many detractors are ever willing, with hawk-eyed tenacity, to pinpoint his deficiencies.

That is all in a day's work. In between slogging it out in the dogfight in the arena of Parliamentary sessions, the author managed to perform his other official duties. Then came Covid that the hidden hands probably used it for their convenience. In the sly, the Sheraton Move was brewing, which finally collapsed a democratically elected government to be replaced clandestinely with a 'back-door' government. The political uncertainty, however, continues. Many by-elections and state elections have shown trends of voters giving up on an alternative to the one they have known since Independence.

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