[Happy Times]

From Wikipedia, i blame some on his parents, weird family.

Background

Gadahn is the son of Jennifer and Phil Gadahn, a musician best known for the rare but critically acclaimed psychedelic album "Relatively Clean Rivers". Gadahn's Jewish paternal grandfather, Carl Pearlman, was a prominent surgeon and on the Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League; his paternal grandmother, Agnes Branch, was an editor for The Chronicle Christian Newspaper.[4] Before Adam's birth, his father, originally Phil Pearlman, converted to Christianity and changed his name to "Gadahn," derived from the name of the Biblical figure "Gideon". Gadahn's family raised and butchered goats in accordance with halal food requirements for sale to Muslim groceries on a farm in Winchester, in Riverside County, California. Adam was homeschooled until mid-1995, when at the age of 16 he moved in with his grandparents in Santa Ana, California. Adam was described by former friends as a "loner" as well as a "follower" who had little experience in social situtations.[5] A fan of death metal, Gadahn contributed music reviews and artwork to a zine called Xenocide. Sample excerpts include this from a review of Acts of the Unspeakable released on the Vile label:

The Bay Area quartet crank it up to a good fast grind on many of these tunes, notably `Tortured Moans of Agony,` Batter Acid Enema`, Blackness Within` and `Skullptures` ... This is an excellent release from some Death Metal pioneers!

and for an EP released by the band General Surgery:

This is basically a Swedish `supergroup` of death, featuring members of Dismember, Afflicted and Creamatory ... Lyrically, the quote on the back cover pretty much sums it up: `Murder is the only way to kill time.`[6]

At age 16, he recorded a 60-minute-long death metal symphony.[7]

In 1995 at the age of 17, Gadahn began studying Islam at the Islamic Society of Orange County. Members of Gadahn's study group were young fundamentalists who "targeted the mosque's chairman, Hitham 'Danny' Bundakji," whom they referred to as `Danny the Jew,` for his practice of "wearing Western clothes and being overly friendly with Jews." [8]

Gadahn converted to Islam later that year, and shortly thereafter posted an essay to the USC website describing his conversion, entitled "Becoming a Muslim."[9] According to his parents, Adam was arrested and convicted of assaulting his former mentor Haitham Bundakji (`Danny the Jew,`) in May 1997, he served two days in jail, but his failure to do 40 hours of community services leaves a warrant for his arrest active.[10]

Gadahn moved to Pakistan in 1998, where he married an Afghan refugee and maintained intermittent contact with his family.[11]

In Pakistan during 2003, Adam was asked by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to participate in a suicide attack in Maryland, but Adam decided against it citing "he had recently married and his wife was pregnant."[12] However, a CIA official "added, Gadahn participated in a number of “face-to-face brainstorming sessions” with Mohammed."[13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Yahiye_Gadahn