Muhammed bear blasphemy makes baby Allah cry

[Arrian]

I'm not so sure that, if that had been a realistic option - had the question REALLY been posed as "should we nuke Afganistan" - that a majority of Americans would've said yes. Loudmouths popping off in casual conversation is one thing. Actually authorizing the use of nuclear weapons is entirely another. Would the vox populi of Sudan, really given the option of stoning this woman to death, do it? I don't know. I hope not.

I would think that the appropriate response is to give Sudan the diplomatic cold shoulder. Of course, that would require ignoring their oil deposits. Aid groups could decide they'd rather work elsewhere.

I don't really understand trying to defend this. It makes no sense.

This doesn't mean we should invade, or bomb, or treat Sudanese people like ****. It does mean that the Sudanese goverment/judicial system is worthy of criticism... and maybe even the culture that underlies it, too. Is that so wrong?

I mean, it's awfully fashionable to criticize certain cultural trends in my country (and I do it plenty myself). But criticism of conservative Islamic law/custom... that's beyond the pale, I guess.

-Arrian

[Winston]

Damn Islamophobes distorting things as usual. I simply don't see what's getting you so worked up time and time again.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian
I'm not so sure that, if that had been a realistic option - had the question REALLY been posed as "should we nuke Afganistan" - that a majority of Americans would've said yes. Loudmouths popping off in casual conversation is one thing. Actually authorizing the use of nuclear weapons is entirely another. Would the vox populi of Sudan, really given the option of stoning this woman to death, do it? I don't know. I hope not.

I would think that the appropriate response is to give Sudan the diplomatic cold shoulder. Of course, that would require ignoring their oil deposits.

I dont think the US has any access to their oil deposits. A diplo boycott of the Sudan would mean giving up on Darfur.

Im still hoping someone will try to figure out the puzzle I propose above.

6 degrees of seperation - Teddy Bear to overturning this by force of arms, in less than 6 jumps.

[Arrian]

I wasn't speaking just about the US, LotM. China's involvement occurred to me, for instance.

And yes, Darfur is another problem.

I don't know about your riddle, and at 3:30 on a Friday, my brain refuses to try

-Arrian

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian
I wasn't speaking just about the US, LotM. China's involvement occurred to me, for instance.

And yes, Darfur is another problem.

I don't know about your riddle, and at 3:30 on a Friday, my brain refuses to try

-Arrian

Say, who was the Teddy Bear named for (I mean originally, not Muhammed), Ted Williams? Ted Kennedy?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian
I wasn't speaking just about the US, LotM. China's involvement occurred to me, for instance.

somehow China giving Sudan the cold shoulder for arresting someone over an arbitrary and illiberal law never occurred to me.

I must be cynical

[Arrian]

somehow China giving Sudan the cold shoulder for arresting someone over an arbitrary and illiberal law never occurred to me.

No kidding. Ya think?

-Arrian

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian


No kidding. Ya think?

-Arrian

Which is why I ASSUMED your reference to oil deposits had something to do with the US and other Western countries.

[Whoha]

Barring a total trade embargo, China won't give a damn about this.

[lord of the mark]

Good night.

Teddy Bear => Teddy Roosevelt => "Perdicaris alive, or Raisuli dead!" => Freeing prisoners by threat of force => Imprisoned teacher in Khartoum => Teddy Bear

[Whoha]

Yes I'm aware of what he did in Morocco.

[Cort Haus]

Well, ya learn something every day.

teddy bear
Origin: 1906

Our most cuddly companion for children got its inspiration and its name from the least cuddly of our presidents. Or perhaps more precisely, it was named for the president who seems least likely to have thought of himself as cuddly. Theodore Roosevelt deliberately cultivated the rugged outdoor life after growing up in wealth and comfort and frail health in the East. In between political positions in New York and Washington he retired to his ranch in the Dakota Territory. He also went on exploring and hunting expeditions in Africa, South America, and the American West. On such trips he brought along only difficult books to avoid the temptation of relaxing with easy reading matter.

Teddy Roosevelt favored a strong navy and a strong military position for the United States in world affairs. His "Rough Riders," a cavalry regiment consisting mostly of Western ranchers and cowboys, was the star of the invasion of Cuba in the Spanish-American War of 1898. As president from 1901 to 1909, he was equally rough as a crusader against trusts and as an advocate for pure food and drugs and for conservation of national resources. And if not cuddly, he was widely admired, winning the 1904 presidential election with 60 percent of the popular vote.

So it happened that when the great hunter spared a bear cub in 1906, a cartoon celebrating the event was widely printed. And in the spirit of American enterprise, a commercial product soon followed: the plush toy teddy bear, cuddly enough for babies to enjoy while able to serve (at least in the minds of parents) as an inspiration to rugged individualism.

Teddy Roosevelt's brand of big-game hunting is now in disfavor, as is his gunboat diplomacy, but his legacy of government regulation of big business remains with us, along with the conservation movement and the soft stuffed toy that makes the lives of children around the world more bearable.

http://www.answers.com/topic/teddy-bear?cat=technology

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Perdicaris

[SlowwHand]

We Americans knew that already.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
We Americans knew that already.

Yes, I expect so. But why didn't you jump in and solve LotM's little riddle then. Mmm? Mmmmmm?

[Riesstiu IV]

Little known fact, Theodore Roosevelt invented the Flowbee and the monocle shammy.