The meaning of life <cartoons, etc.> ... an evolving thread

Ha!

Just catching up with my email updates now, Gus.

Oh my, that is some site!

And I hate to disillusion you, but we have major political creepiness here, too! Didn't you know that our prime minister was called the "deputy sheriff" (!) by your president? .... a description that was very apt, sadly. Where George goes, John follows ...

Please do post more! That was a blast!

Apart from the anti-Jewish ones...

Oh! Right you are, nimh! I got so carried away with the bush-chimps I didn't stop at those.

The subject of depression has been receiving lots of attention in the Oz media recently, since a successful state political leader resigned his job for that very reason. Actually, there have been a number of other high profile figures (all male, surprisingly,) over the past year as well ....:

more:

....And speaking of political leaders & depression. :wink: :

I was filling my truck at the gas station. It was pretty nippy for a Florida winters day and I had the radio on an NPR station that was covering the Challenger launch. I remember looking up towards the northeast and Titusville about 60 miles away.. I saw the white plume of smoke and then something shot out and away from the missile. Instantly I felt numb and as I stared at the explosion, the gas poured out over my shoes.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4120/347/400/22google.583.jpg

from here: http://www.fjmc.blogspot.com/

why did these cartoons cause such an uproar?


The drawings, which include a depiction of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, were meant as satirical illustrations accompanying an article on self-censorship and freedom of speech.

Jyllands-Posten commissioned and published the cartoons in response to the difficulty of Danish writer Kåre Bluitgen to find artists to illustrate his children's book about Muhammad, for fear of violent attacks by extremist Muslims. Islamic teachings forbid the depiction of Muhammad as a measure against idolatry (see aniconism); however, in the past there have been non-satirical depictions of Muhammad by Muslims.

Although Jyllands-Posten maintains that the drawings were an exercise in free speech, many people (Muslim and otherwise) in Denmark and elsewhere view them as provocative, offensive, disrespectful, blasphemic and islamophobic.

In reaction to the articles, several death threats have been made, resulting in two newspaper cartoonists reportedly going into hiding, and the newspaper enhancing its security precautions.

The foreign ministries of eleven Islamic countries demanded action from the Danish government, and Libya eventually closed its embassy in Denmark in protest after the government refused to censure the newspaper or apologise.

The Danish prime minister said, "The government refuses to apologise because the government does not control the media or a newspaper outlet; that would be in violation of the freedom of speech". A large consumer boycott was organised in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and elsewhere in other Arabic speaking countries.

Recently the foreign ministers of seventeen Islamic countries renewed calls for the Danish government to punish those responsible for the cartoons, and to ensure that such cartoons are not published again. The Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League have demanded that the United Nations impose international sanctions upon Denmark.[1] Protests have also taken pla ce against the cartoons.

from Spiegel online

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,398853,00.html

The cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten raise the most important question of our times: freedom of expression. Are we in the west going to cave into pressure from societies with a medieval mindset, or are we going to defend our most precious freedom -- freedom of expression, a freedom for which thousands of people sacrificed their lives?

A democracy cannot survive long without freedom of expression, the freedom to argue, to dissent, even to insult and offend. It is a freedom sorely lacking in the Islamic world, and without it Islam will remain unassailed in its dogmatic, fanatical, medieval fortress; ossified, totalitarian and intolerant. Without this fundamental freedom, Islam will continue to stifle thought, human rights, individuality; originality and truth.

hmmm...seems there's a cartoon protest thread here somewhere...I just can't find it

One? There's, like, three.

I think the best, or most on-topic, is this one: BLASPHEMY.

But this one, after a lot of digressive contention, has gotten more to the point as well from page 7 onward: Why insulting prophet Muhammad?!

I crossposted my take and a list of summaries from relevant news articles in both, perhaps good basic background info to start with. In the latter thread they're in this post and the one after it, respectively.

Last month, our combative Minister of Immigration and Integration, Rita Verdonk, came up with the latest half-cocked proposal: people should be required to speak Dutch in public. Yeah, to promote integration. She got the idea from the Fortuynist-ruled Rotterdam city council, where they already proposed as much in the "Rotterdam city code" they adopted. (More information here).

(Remember when Western organisations would be indignant about the human rights abuse when, back in the bad communist old days, a country like Bulgaria forbade its Turkish minority to speak Turkish in public?)

Anyway, she's been backtracking a bit again on that one, but in the meantime the cartoonists had a field day with it...




Muslim guy, Morroccan kid (talking in Dutch): "Infidel whores and homos! You'll burn in hell"
Dutch guy and gal (ditto): "Bugger off! C*nt Morrocans!"
Third Dutch person: "Ah, isnt it great! Dutch [being spoken] on the street!"




[girl to baby] - We're only allowed to speak Dutch on the street now
[baby] - Gloe, krioe ...
[girl] - So you'd better watch out, outside, if I were you




Caption: "Verdonk supports Rotterdam-code: only Dutch on the street"

Black guy (speaking in half-Dutch, half-English, half-slang): "Yo man, Rocca sucks! Come, we go to Tripple X, there you can at least still check chala's chil-like, and go spacing and chopping! Da bomb!"
White guy to cop (ditto): "Go blow off, mate"

(*Rocca = Rotterdam, triple X = Amsterdam...)

Two older ones on the first commitment to work towards EU membership for Turkey ...

A nice follow-up on this theme after the Labour Party's decision, this week, to back sending new Dutch soldiers to Afghanistan after all ...


(Text on windvane: "Forward!")

good stuff...as always nimh

I was able to find all the threads you mentioned...I just arrived at the fire a little late..
BTW...my soulseek crashed and it wouldn't open

Hilarious, nimh!

More, please!