Friday, November 30, 2007

Teddy Bear Imbroglio

I thought I'd seen everything. There are riots in the streets of Khartoum calling for the head of the fifty-something British teacher who had the temerity to name a Teddy Bear "Mohammed." The fifteen-day jail sentence was just far too lenient.

TEN THOUSAND people, some carrying knives and sticks, have marched on the capital of Sudan calling for the teacher jailed for naming a teddy bear Mohammed to be shot.

To be shot. I've long held that the arrogance of the Bush administration and their hubristic myopia with respect to other cultures has done the United States a great disservice (to put it very, very mildly.) But this, to me, is just too fucked up. Is this eighth-century bloodlust just a manifestation of poverty and hopelessness brought about by repressive theocratic regimes?

I doubt there's a very rich stand-up comedy scene in Sudan. Headline: 12 Killed by Angry Audience at Khartoum's Laugh Factory Open-Mic Night

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

PLEASE! Let's not forget these people bombed the US Trade Center and attacked the Cole BEFORE Bush took office. Steve, let's all say it together. THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS. Not only that they are trained to be stupid. How many global patents are coming from this area of the world. Don't bother looking it up....the answer is very close to ZERO.

Steve said...

If you're Muslim, you're complicit in 9/11? I don't remember any Sudanese among the 9/11 bombers. There's a billion Musselmen in the world and you're tarring them all with the same brush. Granted, Muslims used to have a progressive, intellectual society that made great strides in all intellectual pursuits, especially mathematics...I have no idea why their progress was stunted, but it happened long before oil created the tyrannies that currently exist.

Dick Logan said...

This is reminiscent of the Danish cartoon protests/riots that killed scores of people.

Why did the US media wimp out on printing those cartoons? The offending cartoons should have been printed right next to the photos of the rioting religious fanatics.

Anonymous said...

Did I say 9/11? What I was saying is that ISLAM wants you converted, or dead. It has not one thing to do with us being "good neighbors". The hatred was there well before George Bush. This is radicalism. They are taught to memorize verse and little else which is why they have not innovated. They are taught to be angry and violent, and are no different than skinheads over here. If they don't like tyranny, then they should look inward, it's their leaders, not their business partners that are oppressing them. And yes, I do think you can paint hateful muslim or islam extremists with a broad brush. These are the most intolerant people on the planet. Maybe they should look at Dubai, and Abu Dhabi and UAE and see who is better off. I really don't think those countries view the US as their oppressors.

Anonymous said...

Bear in mind, they want ISRAEL dead too, and I suppose this is George Bush's fault?

Steve said...

I'm talking about our country, not Israel. Why do you care about Israel? I don't think kibbutzes are critical to our survival.

Steve said...

Jim, you did say 9/11. You said, "PLEASE! Let's not forget these people bombed the US Trade Center."

We have a very clear disagreement here. Your posts indicate that you have a monolithic view of everyone that is Islamic. You feel that they (all one billion) are all raised to hate and attack all that we believe.

This viewpoint is reactionary, short-sighted, and silly. My view is that Araby has been enriched by petroleum and the wealth has been concentrated by the leaders. These leaders have made deals with the church to preach repressive Islamism as a "bait and switch" to keep the Muslim street from turning against their own governments. The only free-speech allowed in these countries is over-zealous rallying against an enemy (name any democracy) that is immunce to their raging.

I think people are people. People in the Arab world are protesting against us because they would be shot for protesting against their own governments. These protestations are just a pressure-release valve that the corrupt oil-rich governments allow.

Unlike you, I'm not willing to commit 20% of the world to crazytown. I think they are good people made mad by corruption and opportunism.

Anonymous said...

the first bombing of the WTC, not 9/11, is what I was referring to. My point is that this pre-dates Bush, although he arguably accelerated it. The point on Israel is missed too. The point is that they throw their hate in many directions. Many in this religion believe that Mohammed's convert or kill is what they should do. No other organized religion does this. Or makes their women cover themselves completely. Or kills cartoonists, or teachers. It's a breeding ground. Yes, I think you can paint this kind of hatred and ignorance with a broad stroke.

Anonymous said...

One other thing. When your pressure relief valve results in murder, you are not a good person. Or sane.

Anonymous said...

One OTHER thing. I am painting the extremists with a broad brush. The Mullahs and the bombers, and the ragists. Not all Muslims. Just the Convert or be killed kind.