Obama Brands Republicans as Radicals
THE TELEGRAPH: US President Barack Obama on Friday branded Republicans as radical and reactionary, in campaign appearances for high-profile Democratic senators under threat in November's midterm polls.

Mr Obama rallied crowds in Los Angeles, California, and was to move on to gambling paradise Nevada in a bid to rescue wobbling Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid, on the third day of a four-day campaign blitz.

He charged that the first Republican president, his political hero Abraham Lincoln would not be able to win the opposition party's presidential nomination in the modern age.

"Seriously, can you imagine him trying to run with these folks?" Mr Obama said, in a bid to portray the Republican Party as outside the mainstream ahead of November 2 congressional polls in which his Democrats fear heavy losses.

Mr Obama accused Republicans of sitting on their hands while he saved the economy from a second Great Depression and of wanting to go back to the same lax regulatory regimes that caused the crisis in the first place.

"This agenda that poses as conservatism is not conservative. It resulted in a radical shift from record surpluses to record deficits, allowed Wall Street to run wild, nearly destroyed our economy," Mr Obama said. >>> | Saturday, October 23, 2010

Saudi Arabia Wages 'War of Minds'
THE WASHINGTON TIMES: Summer camps for youths target extremist ideology

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

Young men spray hoses in a car-washing contest and play pool. Children make paper crowns in an art class, while their parents have a picnic. Alongside the fun and games, Muslim clerics answer questions about jihad or give lectures about the proper dress for women.

This is Islamic summer camp, and it's part of Saudi Arabia's campaign to eliminate al Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia says it's waging a "war of minds" against extremist ideology, alongside the fierce security crackdown that has killed or led to the arrest of many al Qaeda leaders over the past six years. To do so, the kingdom plans to expand a broad public campaign aimed at preventing young people from being drawn to radicalism.

"We are working on the men of the future," Abdulrahman Alhadlaq, general director of the Interior Ministry's Ideological Security Directorate, told the Associated Press.

Islamic summer camps are a key part of the program, attended by thousands of families who consult with government-backed clerics instilling what Saudi authorities call a moderate message.

The teachings at the camps are still ultraconservative, in line with the kingdom's strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam - but the clerics drill the message that youths should turn to approved religious authorities for guidance, not radical preachers. For example, on the issue of jihad, or holy war, they teach that it can only be waged on the orders of the head of state.

"It is ... essentially about obedience, loyalty and recognition of authority," said Christopher Boucek, an associate at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who has studied the camp programs. "That is what is stressed over and over again in these programs: Loyalty to the state and recognition that there are certain correct and qualified sources to follow."

Mr. Boucek said it would take a long time to evaluate the programs' effectiveness. "In many ways, these are generational projects," he said.

The kingdom's emphasis on ideological campaigns is a stark change from the defensive stance it took immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. >>> Donna Abu-Nasr, Associated Press | Wednesday, September 09, 2009

British Citizenship Lessons for Young Muslims
Hazel Blears is at it again! Teaching young Muslims British citizenship will not keep them away from Islamic extremism, as hoped. Islam is an extreme religion. There will always be a propensity for adherents to the faith to become more extreme the more devout they become.

To try and teach these young people that there is no conflict between Islam and British values is so blatantly untrue that it is absurd!

When are we going to get a government in this country which will protect the British people and their values? - ©Mark

Photo of Muslims at prayer courtesy of The Times
TIMESONLINE: Muslim children will be taught British citizenship in mosque schools as part of a Government attempt to keep them away from the influence of Islamist extremism.

A trial of the new lessons will begin in several cities at the start of the new school year in September, according to Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary.

The initiative, designed to show young Muslims that there is no conflict between their religion and being British, is part of a package of measures being published today.

It also includes a new independent board of academic and theological experts, and a group of community leaders to advise on local responses to tackling extremism. British Citizenship Lessons for Young Muslims >>> | July 18, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>

’Visualizing the Sacred: Islam on Film’ at UCLA
LOS ANGELES TIMES: IN THE post-Sept. 11 world, images and impressions of Islam in the Western media have often been synonymous with extremism. To temper this, the UCLA Film and Television Archive is offering "Visualizing the Sacred: Islam on Film," an attempt to present a more inclusive look at the religion. "Obviously Islam and images of Islam in the media are a big issue these days," notes programmer Paul Malcolm. "It's just been overwhelmed by the focus on terrorism and radicalism. . . . These films show the other side of Islam and the Muslim experience."

The program, which runs this weekend through June 7 at the Hammer Museum in Westwood, was originally conceived as a showcase for films created after 2001. But Malcolm says he soon realized "that the 9/11 marker was maybe too limiting in terms of getting the kinds of films that I thought would be great for audiences to see."

One of those films is "The Message," Moustapha Akkad's 1976 epic on the birth of Islam that kicks off the series at 7:30 p.m. Friday. "We have the term 'biblical epic,' but this is a Koranic epic," explains Malcolm. Films such as "The Message" and the animated "Muhammad: The Last Prophet" (2 p.m. May 24), he adds, "are very similar to the Hollywood biblical epics of the '50s and '60s; they're part of that genre and they draw on that genre."

Both movies also tackle the challenge of portraying the prophet Muhammad when the religion forbids representations (the subject of May 17's panel discussion). "What's fascinating is that they found cinematic ways to respect religious tradition and custom while telling engaging and entertaining stories," says Malcolm. "They use . . . other
ways of really expressing the powerful spiritual presence of Muhammad without actually depicting him on screen." ’Visualizing the Sacred: Islam on Film’ at UCLA >>> By Allyssa Lee | May 8, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)