Yeah, but those AEL cartoons are an insult to editorial cartoonists (and fans thereof) everywhere. I mean, I suppose you can question the Holocaust if you want, but at least be clever about it.

(But perhaps I'm heading too easily down the Seinfeld road of "And that offends you as a Jewish person? No, that offends me as a comedian.")

Yeah, I'm having problems with the whole controversy about the cartoons. On the one hand, the cartoons depict Muhammad, something that is forbidden (one notes that many of the Persian and Ottoman depictions veil his face), and some of the cartoons are offensive (though not as offensive as the later pictures in that image archive that Ed posted.)

On the flip side, a cornerstone of Western democracies is free speech, and not simply the freedom to say that which is not disagreeable. I mean, the original newspaper story (which has somehow been lost in all of this) dealt with the fact that an author writing a book about the Prophet could not find illustrators for his book, because they feared retribution. (I leave you to discover the irony for yourself (assuming, of course, that irony is what I'm looking for here; I never did figure that whole concept out.))

Clearly there is no defense for the burning of embassies. At the same time, I wouldn't exactly call offensive cartoons an enlightened and intellectual defense of free speech. There are issues on both sides here that go beyond drawings and violence. (Although, admittedly, the disproportionate response from protesting Muslims in various countries is the worse of the two sides.)

Fortunately, some people are smartening up: Muslims tell Yard to charge protesters:

“Lots of innocent Muslims went to the demonstration not realising that it was organised by extremists. They were hijacked by them.”

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, the [Muslim Council of Britain]’s secretary-general, said: “We cannot have double standards, so therefore any breach of the law should be looked at by the police and investigated.

“The cartoons have offended every Muslim and the anger of Muslims has to be lawfully expressed. However, this outrage was used by some to induce Muslims into taking part in terrorist violence. We condemn their actions.”

hmm... so what does one do when one finds out about stuff like this??

well, if you're the Arab European League, you post anti-Jewish cartoons in response.

and, a protest in eastern Canada had this to say: "The protesters say insulting the Prophet Muhammad is an insult to Muslims everywhere."

And, really, what more could you ask for than this? The newspaper that first published the cartoons has apologized, but the protesters say demonstrations could continue unless those responsible are held punished. What exactly is considered punishment? fire bombing? or how about this: "Whoever defames our prophet should be executed. Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up." wow, over a cartoon., or, pardon me, twelve cartoons, some of which are hardly insulting.

And though, yes, some of the cartoons originally submitted are in poor taste, some of them, like the initial intent of seeking the images (to illustrate a book about the life of Muhammad) are quite tasteful. somehow, I like this as a response to the whole thing... perhaps overreacting, but then again, isn't everyone? What would the world look like if the Catholics responded in a similar fashion every time the Pope got attacked, or all of Christians and Jesus? where would we be then? I mean, even Sinead didn't get this much hatred. Sure, she got booed a lot, but no one fire bombed the British embassy.

While I might be able to empathize with the sentiment … I don’t know if I’m capable of completely understanding the response.

Either at the Danish consulate in Beirut, Lebanon...



Or outside embassies in London, England...



I suppose if I was a cartoonist, and I was to draw a cartoon now, I would draw a picture of Mohammed furious at a newspaper with Jesus attempting to comfort him saying "Welcome to the secular world..."

Anyways, here are some depictions of Mohammed throughout history. In includes the Danish cartoons and some other representations that I think would be more controversial.

Well, friday sucked for me too, some stupid hick rear ended me, probably did about $4000 in damage... car not even 3 months old

Shit, Jesse, that sucks. Can you try talking to your faculty or to admin? Maybe you can eke out an exception.

If you didn't take that class, and they didn't let you graduate this semester, would you have a Fall convocation instead? I guess that'd be better than waiting a year...

Rumsfeld Likens Chavez To Hitler:

"I mean, we've got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money," Rumsfeld added. "He's a person who was elected legally — just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally — and then consolidated power and now is, of course, working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others."

Timing is everything..... I just learned that I don't have to take that class after all next fall. After I talked to that academic advisor guy, he went and talked to the associate dean. I guess they discussed my situation and came to the conclusion that I could graduate with the classes I already had. I would graduate in the individualized concentration instead of the sports performance concentration. which isn't really a big deal eone way or another, therefore all I have to do to graduate is sign a freaken sheet of paper. Unfortunatly as I was under the impression that there was little I could do until registering for that class in march, I didn't check my email until friday night. Another email let me know that I had missed the deadline to graduate this semester by 3 days. If I had checked my email a week earlier I could have graduated this semester. but as it turns out, nothing will happen till the fall whether or not I decide to take that class.

And my brand new ski boots that I had custom fitted, they make my toes go numb within the first hour of wearing them. hopefully I can find a way to make them fit better. or else It was an serious waste of money.

friday night was not a good night for me. nothing seemed to go my way

and, with music!