Tuesday, September 18, 2007

It's a Give and a Take


We live by codes, we live to crack codes. We want freedom, but we want stability and respect. Lately, Swedish artist Lars Vilks is in hiding. Why? He broke an Islamic code. He mocked the Prophet Muhammad, and he did it deliberately. Now he has a bounty on his head. Worse, as any episode of The Sopranos shows, things often -- shockingly and in a flash -- spiral out of control. Now, Islamic hardliners are threatening to attack anything Swedish -- including IKEA and Volvo and, heaven forbid, Electrolux. Imagine: one minute you're trying to replace a part for your vacuum cleaner, the next minute a bomb goes off in your face. And why? Because Lars Vilks is part of a collective, anything Swedish. Does it make any sense? Ask the children of Hiroshima.


The great Swedish actress Greta Garbo. Perhaps Islamic radicals will mock pictures of her in retaliation against Vilks?


Here's sexy Spanish actress Pilar López de Ayala Arroyo. Madrid was bombed because Spanish troops were in Iraq.

Today's Rune: Flow.

Birthdays: Samuel Johnson, Greta Garbo (Greta Lovisa Gustafsson), Jack Warden, Robert Blake, Jimmie Rodgers, James Gandolfini, Tara FitzGerald, Aisha Tyler, Jada Pinkett Smith, Pilar López de Ayala Arroyo.

Ciao!

5 comments:

JR's Thumbprints said...

I certainly can identify with being part of a collective. Some inmates will tell me, "I hate all white people." My response: "As long as I know where you're coming from." Its the type of people that hide behind an ideology and attack you when you're not looking that I'm concerned with.

Charles Gramlich said...

I like the comment from Muslims against Sharia. I wish I could see more folks standing up for what is right and against what is wrong even if it is members of a group that they themselves are in that they are standing against. There's too little of this in the world.

Joe said...

Every day I fight the urge to stockpile more ammo and canned goods, and retreat into a rural bunker.

Your posts, and these comments, help ease the fear a little bit.

the walking man said...

I think what disgusts me most about the western culture is that when a new ideology or cultural difference comes in and is allowed to settle that they want their neighbors to assimilate into that culture.

Detroit is a fine example: once Detroit changed from a Caucasian city to a city peopled by Citizens of Color, I truly had to learn and adapt to the new reality. No problem. I get and give respect respect to & from all.

But there is no way the world is going to do what bin Laden said in his video..."if everyone adopts Islam, there would be no more reason for war."

I understand the Arabic peoples do not particularly want to adapt to most of western culture, cool OK no problem there. But to engage in a world wide terrorist acts in the name of Islam just shows the intolerance Arab people have for anything outside their culture. I am sure there are plenty of Jesus jokes out there in the Arab world.
Why am I sure...because it is human nature.

*sigh*

Peace


TWM

Danny Tagalog said...

It's such a tragedy that Islamic Radicals destroy public perception of the softer brand, like in Malaysia - where women have far greater freedom. I hate 'invisible Gods', especially those that force women indoors and to cover their being up. but Islam contains some good - yet the Crazed Elements destroy even thst.