The Nahmias Cipher Report

A plant bears from the fecundity of the soil in which it takes root. Our progenitors are the original farmers and we their crop. It was up to them to nurture and protect us, but broken people are want and often sow their bitterness into the trough.

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-Chief Last Modified: 01:35 AM EDT, 23 February 2010 Update: 10.05.11  CNN ‘Two headless bodies found in Juarez, third body found at Church JUAREZ, Mexico – The atrocities imagined in the 14th Century epic poem the “Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri seem to prognosticate the horror that encompasses the daily lives of the [...]

It is a little disappointing to learn the truth of King Tutankhamun’s death, because like so many others, I reveled in speculations of palace intrigue, royal malfeasance, murder and usurpation. Today the world learned that King Tut was merely a boy, one who had access to and buried with the riches of ages, but a frail boy nonetheless who died from a very treatable infection. Watch the video here.

Nigeria’s Taliban clash with government police and the escalating violence has resulted in over 700 deaths. An international news channel has posted graphic video of Tuesday’s purported execution of seven unarmed men. Watch here.

In the “World’s Untold Stories: Innocence for Sale,” Aaron Cohen and CNN go undercover in Cambodia. The program vividly depicts the abject cruelty, heartless abuse and dehumanizing condition of children sold into sexual slavery, often by their parents. Once imprisoned, pedophiles who travel to the country from all parts of the world can pay roughly the same cost as a round of drinks for sex with a child. The documentary will enlighten and inspire new conversation about the challenges currently preventing aid workers and authorities from winning the battle in the struggle to free children from this most despicable form of modern-day slavery.

As the daughter of a militant extremist, I understand the unique pressures of people who are caught in the cycle of fanaticism and hate. So many times, people on the outside are quick to judge and condemn everyone associated with the radical without carefully considering the associated individual’s role in the drama. Extremism and fanaticism is 100% fatal and infects everyone within its proximity; however, it is particularly pernicious for the children, spouses and family members. It is these people who die slowly from presumed culpability, ostracization, and shame in the intervening years following the catalyst ‘s disappearance either by fleeing or perishing in a blaze of glory.

Contrary to popular conception, the descent into radicalism occurs over time and is usually the result of a string of small but seminal events. Whereas homicide bombers are recruited because of their lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and housing, etc. and are therefore easily manipulated, they are nothing more than weapons yielded by the extremist visionary who deploys them. They are no more than automatons who have been programmed with a set of instructions for which they lack any ability to decipher much less rebel against. For the purposes of this post, the focus is on the titular head of a fanatical, radical or extremists movement. These men, and sometimes women, are intelligent, highly educated, and usually come from good families.