Cartoon Controversy

Above: My fatgirls rio baton ode to the diaphanous FAXY, the Evil Wizard Guy & the dangerously agglutinated SQUASH GOBLIN.

I posted the comment below yesterday on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° Blog. Some of the comments I post on the blog are published. This one wasn't. I'm not sure why. It may have been too similar to other comments or it may have been considered too controversial. Filtering hundreds of comments can't be easy but I wonder about the who and the why of this process. Here is my comment for what it is worth:
I wonder who is instigating these demonstrations. What do they have to gain? The protesters may want to pick their battles with more thought. Are they angry about US occupation and oppression that causes grinding poverty and shortages of basic necessities? Ignorance about what is really going on can cause people to lash out at what appears to be a mere slight yet it represents a deeper hurt. Just think about your family squabbles. They often ignite from the weakest of sparks.
If it isn't obvious the issue being discussed is the demonstrations in the Muslim world over the publishing of several cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Update: According to AC, the 360° Blog got 300,000 hits so far. Does this mean that 300,000 people commented last night or since the blog began about 2 weeks ago? Or does it mean that 300,000 have addressed it with or without comment? Also AC says he reads all of the posted comments. I'm not sure this is such a good idea... There is only so much time in each day. If you like, you may comment on this blog. Before I had it set so that commenters had to be bloggers too. If I hadn't , Internet marketeers would leave bogus comments for their potency enhancement or weight loss products. This is an experiment. If you are an Internet marketeer please refrain from commenting. Thanks.

On the Web:
Anderson Cooper 360° Blog
Ravenscroft Dog Farm: Ice Cream Means War

Check out Annabelle Echo Chicago for a reports about Economic Hitman John Perkins, Welsh music icon & artist, Jon Langford and sculptor, Cynthia Plaster Caster

Check out My Closet for an upcoming review of Iraqi film, The Dreams of Sparrows.

"Gang Infested" Gold ! ?

Because of the war going on in Iraq, I haven’t paid much attention to the winter Olympics this time around. I feel too restless and a little frivolous watching something I now consider a distraction. I’ve been working on a couple of short essays about Jon Langford and Hayder Daffar and was going to try to post them today but instead this caught my eye in today’s Tempo section of the Chicago Tribune:
TURIN 2006 Winners & Lugers:11 days into the Winter Games and the Tempo Subcommittee on Feigning Interest is doing its best to keep the Olympic flame alive. Reported by Maria Mooshil, Linda Bergstrom, Lilah Lohr, Tim Bannon Lucinda Hahn Published February 20, 2006
NBC commentator Tim Ryan: He referred to the "gang-infested Chicago neighborhood" gold medalist Shani Davis grew up in. That would be Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry. Somebody needs a geography lesson.
I grew up in the same Chicago neighborhood. While I have been mugged a few times, I wouldn’t call it “gang-infested.” One guy pulled a gun. When he wouldn’t let me go after I gave him my wallet, I decided to teach the mugger a lesson: Never get close with a gun. I grabbed the barrel and pushed it down towards the ground and started screaming. I fell on the ice. He was so stunned that I had tried to take his gun; he gave up on me and walked away. Another guy stole my bike from me with a shank. A shank is a homemade knife like weapon people usually make in jail. So I’m guessing this guy had been in jail before.
I asked my fellow blogger, Kevin Blanchard what he thought about Ryan’s comment about Hyde Park.
“If he thinks Hyde Park is gang-infested, he should come to my neighborhood, Englewood.”
Mr. Blanchard grew up in Englewood. It unlike Hyde Park does have a reputation for being “gang-infested.”
While I admit I don’t feel very safe going there, the folks I personally know who live there are among Chicago’s best and brightest.
But to return to our topic, I have admit to being mystified that there is so little coverage in the Chicago press about Shani Davis winning a Gold medal. You would think it to be the top story on every TV & radio news program and newspaper. I believe he is the very first African American man to win for speed skating. Vonetta Flowers is the first woman who in 2002 won Gold for bobsled. Although I’m sure some African Americans resent that there has to be a “Black History Month”, the Chicago press usually makes such a big deal about it.
On the Web:
TURIN 2006 Winners & Lugers
U.S. speed skater Shani Davis ices his place in history
Shani Davis does it his way, wins gold medal
Shani Davis rises above the criticism
Friend proud of Davis’ Olympic gold
Shani Davis