Substance for a Better Image?

A good start, hopefully a very good start.

Using quotations from the Bible and the Koran to support their message, the scholars told people who relished conflict and destruction that "our very eternal souls are" at stake "if we fail to sincerely make every effort to make peace and come together in harmony."

Captain Ed talks about another good start.

Would any of this ever of happen without the War on Terror? The world will never know for sure, so depending on the individuals political stance the answer will be different. Some will say it happen in spite of Iraq, while others will look at Iraq as the spark that got the fire going.
I have been spouting off against the idea of Hollywood engaging in a Jihad to improve Muslims’ image because without any substance it is all just propaganda. This could be the substance behind the words. One can only hope that Muslims and any other religion can live together.

Healing the World, One Finger Pointing at a Time

Why do we need Congress to waste their time and our money to tell us something we already know?

"We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people that began in 1915," Bush said in remarks that, reflecting official American policy, carefully avoided the use of the word genocide.

"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror." A total of 1.5 million Armenians were killed beginning in 1915 in a systematic campaign by the fraying Ottoman Empire to drive Armenians out of eastern Turkey. Turks acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died but contend that the deaths, along with thousands of others, resulted from the war that ended with the creation of modern Turkey in 1923.

Is this how a Democrat majority heals the reputation of the US around the world? The Ottoman emprie exists no more, what exactly does this accomplish? Japan just went through this just a short time ago. That really made the world a better place, didn't it. What next, a resolution about Nazis or better yet one aimed toward Attila the Hun, Gengis Kahn or how about Stalin?

Listen to Us

Timothy Garton Ash discusses why the EU isn’t important and he feels it is because they don’t have any one with a strong, clear message to speak for the EU.

So it's more image-lack than image-loss: it's more that people in the rest of the world have a weak image of what Europe is, rather than having a negative image of it. We've just had the largest enlargement in the history of the European Union, in 2004, and that's a huge achievement -- it's not surprising if that was followed by a few hiccups. I wouldn't overstate the degree or prevalence of gloom. What is missing is a clear European voice in the wider world.

Of course it helps to have a strong, clear message in the first place. This is not a hiccup as TGA describes it but a failure of the basic building blocks.

The European constitution was knocked off course when France and the Netherlands rejected it in referendums in May and June 2005, but European leaders are now discussing ways of reviving it in full or in part.

When the EU can put together a clear message, then a voice will come to light. There is no mechanism for one person to become the voice of the EU currently. Things need to change in order for that to happen. It kind a like a blogger who thinks they are important just because they exist. The Eu needs to be capable of actually accomplishing something before they can be important.

Doctor Who

Hollywood's Jihad

I started in on this yesterday but I just read (via Big Lizard) that over at Pajama Media, Jules Crittenden asked when Hollywood would start making wars of real world events instead of preaching and I think that question has been answered.

Forget the drama and the labored, moral-shoving plot lines that actually have nothing to do with combat and everything to do with your politics. Focus on depicting something that approaches the reality, and its utter disregard for your moralism.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations' Los Angeles office (CAIR-LA) and FOX Television recently co-hosted a "Hollywood 101" workshop to introduce aspiring Muslim writers, directors and actors to the entertainment industry.

Hollywood’s answer is not just more of the same but even more of the same. Less reality and more preaching will be the trend of Hollywood until they convert us, go out of business or get back in touch with reality.

Balance or Propaganda?

Muslims want a new image and they want Hollywood to give it to them. If the image is un true doesn’t that make it propaganda?

An Islamic advocacy group wants the entertainment industry to present a more positive image of Muslims and Arabs, who often play terrorists on television and in the movies –

They also play terrorists on the news and in real life as they suicide bomb and beheaded people. Most Muslims are not terrorists but most terrorist are Muslim. Using Muslim terrorist s as “bad guys” in today’s world is the same as using Nazis as “bad guys” for WW II movie.

Should there be positive portrayals of Muslims in entertainment? Of course there should, but it would be helpful if there were more positive portrayals of Muslims in real world at the same time.

CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said the best way to promote an "accurate and balanced portrayal of Muslims in America and around the world" is thought media outlets that shape popular culture.

If CAIR is serious about improving the image of Muslims through the media, then every one of the TV shows/movies should make a point in denouncing Muslim terrorists. Until then it is just propaganda.

King of the Mountain

An Article over at Spiegel Online is calling on America to do something but it isn’t what you might expect. It calls for President Bush to throw America’s weight around.

But unless Bush first gets publicly tougher on Russia as Iran's protector and international obstructionist, the mullahs may take America's insistence on skirting this reality as the surest sign they can get that they're home free.

John Vinocur isn’t a stranger to calling for the US to step up it just seems strange coming from someone employed NY Times.

It has been said by some circles that Putin and Russia feel betrayed by the US because we didn't help them out enough after the end of the cold war. It could also be that Putin/Russia has a driving desire to be important in the world.

At the end of the Cold War it left the world in a strange place. The US was left in a position of influence and power; the sole "super power". Of course that is a situation that can not exist for long. Since then there have been a couple of countries and organization that are taking aim at being an equal. The EU was constructed to be a direct counter part to the US, China has always been moving toward it and have made great strides.

What to world is seeing now is Russia trying to fill its' old shoes before anyone else gets there. The Middle East is the playground in the world game of King of the Mountain and Russia is using everything it can to get up to the top.