Kill a cartoonist for Allah

In the western world, we know how to laugh at a cartoon. Maybe, at worst, we might be offended but we will get over it very quickly. Not so in Pakistan.
You might think that high ranking military officials would have better things to do than fuss over a cartoonist. But, no, we are dealing with the Muslim mentality and that is probably as alien to the western mindset as you can get. Those people who refuse to take the Muslim threat seriously, those who dismiss outrageous behavior as that of a minority of extremists might take refuge in their own world view. But they are not seeing the Muslim mindset as it really is.
We would probably associate high ranking military officials with plotting a coup, especially in countries that have a problem grasping the basics of democracy (no offense meant to Pakistan) but plotting to kill (the word "assassinate" makes the whole idea surreal) a Danish cartoonist might come straight from the episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus if it wasn't so tragically real.

And this is the dilemma we face. Can we see the world as it is (a Monty Python circus with Muslims as the key players) or do we stubbornly stick to our rational viewpoint and assume that all others are equally rational? Rationality is a dangerous presumption that blinds us to acts of mischief (you know I mean terrorism) and the root causes of such behavior.
I'm certainly not laughing this one off.

Tribute to /t

/t as he is known on his blogging site displays his art which he terms "visual poetry". I've been a fan of his work for many years now. In fact I even asked for an autographed print of one of his works. It hangs proudly in my home. What is amazing about his art is that it is free, available to anyone with a computer to download and use. /t is Ted Warnell. He has a wicked sense of humor and you will discover this when you check out his blog. He doesn't use paint or canvas for his works. He uses programming code. His "brushstrokes" are the letters of the alphabet and punctuation marks. His color scheme can be randomized and modified yet the results are still awesome. In fact I've changed the color schemes as you can see in the variations of the works in the video. I take my hat off to a true and gifted artist, /t.

Am I right and Are you wrong?

Image via Wikipedia

I know I'm right. Why? Because it's what I believe. I've thought about it and I've come to my opinion and that opinion is right. Any other opinion that differs is wrong. I do not doubt this.
I have many reasons I can give for my opinion and they all justify my opinion. Taken together, all these reasons for absolutely a convincing argument for my opinion. I know that other opinions which differ to mine have their own convincing arguments to justify that other point of view but they are wrong. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any opinion that differs from mine is caused by a lack of intelligence. My opinions are in fact based upon my superior intelligence. Only opinions that agree with mine are of equal intelligence. There are no opinions of greater intelligence than mine if they disagree with my opinion. Of course, if I choose to alter my opinion to another opinion, that can only mean that I have opted for the more intelligent opinion. If you disagree with me then not only are you obviously wrong, but you must also be less intelligent.

I continually tell myself, isn't the human mind wonderful? Each of us is capable of having unshakable belief in our own opinions even when they differ from other people's opinions, we never doubt that our opinion is correct.

I have to confess that one day, many years ago I lost my faith in my opinions. Here I was trying to talk sense to my stepson and he said he couldn't accept my opinion because I was a loser. (He didn't put it so politely but that's the gist of it). How could I argue with that? If I come across as a loser in somebody's mind, how can my opinion carry any weight? How can I expect them to respect my opinion? In other words, how can my opinion carry any weight when I don't command any respect as a successful individual? And that made me realize how in society, we do value certain opinions above others. The value we attach to individual opinions is based upon that person's material, financial and career success.
Let's say for example, a wealthy lawyer has an opinion on a structural engineering project. (Regardless of the fact that he may know nothing about structural engineering), his opinion would carry more gravitas than say a checkout chick at the supermarket. Even if the lawyer has no knowledge of structural engineering, we bow to his achievements in making money and bestow upon him the virtue of wisdom. We respect his opinion.
Similarly, I see ads on TV with surgeons telling me what is safe speed to travel on the road. He is a surgeon therefore he must know more than me about road safety than me (and probably structural engineering as well).

Here's another example that comes to mind. Ever tried discussing your health with a doctor?
Have you opinions ever been dismissed as irrelevant by the doctor because he knows better? After all he is a doctor?

So what's my opinion worth? It all depends on how successful I am, how rich I am and how important I am.
I guess the fact that I blog speaks for itself.

TED

YouTube is for the shallow minded. If you're a deep thinker then, check out the many interesting lectures on fascinating subjects on TED (www.ted.com) I will be spending most of my spare time there.
Here for example is a talk on "McMafia" or the growth of global organized crime.
In fact, if you're interested in this subject, the book Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano is fascinating insight into organized crime of Naples.

Refugees, boat people, illegal immigrants

We like to call them "boat people" because they arrive by boats.
They are also called "refugees" but more often than not they are referred to as "asylum seekers".
Some refer to them as "illegal immigrants". Many people have arguments that pull at our heart strings and play with our sense of humanity and obligation to help these less fortunate people.
They make demands on our government and refuse to leave the ship unless these demands are made. They plead hardship and political persecution and look into the television cameras with sad eyes. In the past they have jumped overboard as a protest against customs officials. They destroy their passports so that their true identities are not revealed.

Today we realize that whatever we might call them, they are opportunists who have no regard for truth. They are willing to pay huge sums of money to people smugglers and risk everything (sometimes even their lives) for a chance to beat the system. These people, whatever we might call them are economic refugees, looking for a better life in a different country, not just any country but specifically Australia. Their demands are specific and explicit. The government in a desperate attempt to diffuse the situation makes promises of expedited processing for legitimate refugees.
What result? 30 of sum total of 50 agree to return to their home country. A further six who took part in a protest while in a detention centre are also sent back to Sri Lanka. 12 have been granted protection visas. 2 are still being processed.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan

When a mass murderer is put on trial, the first point of reference is what defense he will put up for his actions.
In the case of NMH, it is inconceivable that he would have any defense for his crimes other than his religious convictions, being a Muslim.
I wonder if there will be a cover-up, so that to avoid any political backlash or public outrage(read Muslim outrage) the Muslim Jihad defense will be suppressed.

In other instances, mass murderers might use the insanity plea, but for a qualified psychiatrist, this would be just too cynical. A psychiatrist is trained to observe and diagnose mental illness as well as treat mental illness. He would have been in a unique position to prevent himself from behaving as he did because of his knowledge and understanding of his mental condition.

In fact a defense of diminished responsibility would also seem beyond credible - yes he is a psychiatrist.

No matter how you look at his case, there is no doubt his religious convictions seem to be the prime cause for his actions.

I feel that his actions as a mass murderer would and should be classified as acts of terrorism.
Although there are no agreed definitions of "terrorism", it would be acceptable to say that acts of violence made in the name of ideological convictions (Islam) constitute terrorism.