Category: the Rant Board
what does it mean when an angry Iraqi journalist throws his size ten shoes at our dejected president of the united states? From what I have been able to glean, in the Arab culture, throwing ones shoes at another is a terible insult. Is it equal to giving a person a one fingered gesture? Not that I blame the reporter, frankly, I was sad he missed the fucking, sorry, excuse for a president. Not only does the president have the audacity to make a joke out of something that may be a profound insult of someone's culture, but the man who was merely expressing his point of view was arrested, and then reportedly beaten!!!? In my view, this is an apalling injustice to say the least!!! I'll say one last thing to end my rant. I hope, that our next president, ends a war, that should have never been started. too many innocent men, women and children have lost there lives!!! Enough is Enough!!!
Hear hear!
God, I hope that reporter is not killed. Surely his own people wouldn't kill him; the majority of them must agree with him.
omg I know! I was sorry he was able to duck the shoes! :p I notice that quite a number of people tend to make fun of other people's cultural beliefs. So the president making a joke out of the whole thing didn't really surprise me. I'm sure some people think our hand jestures seems strange too. I personally never knew that throwing a shoe at someone would be insulting. I learn something new everyday! But yeah...
Yeh, it's interesting when you think about all the different customs of the world. And of course Bush would make light of any culture that isn't his own. lol
I hear that this reporter is being called a hero throughout the Arab world, apparently much to the dismay of many Americans. But I think half of America agrees that the guy is a hero, although only half of the half would ever have the nerve to admit it. Haha.
I think he's a hero and would personally love to shake his hand.
Namaste,
Becky
personally, I think he's a dick, and I've a six inch spiked heel I'd just love to drive right through the part in his hair at the center of his head.
Go get educated! Aren't you freakin liberals happy enough that Obama was elected? I wish someone would throw a shoe at him!
An education equals having enough brains not to tear an already fragile country to pieces just because you're a sad little son of a bitch who doesn't feel like playing nice on a particular day. Also, to further back this up, this imbarrassment of a president has openly admitted that Alkaida was never in Iraq. Also, where are those supposed weapons of mass distruction?I'll tell you where, there were none!!! I think John Carey said it best: "Weapons of mass deception!!!"
My, the rant board is popular today!
Agreed again Jess!
And Starfish, the act of an American throwing a shoe at President Elect Obama (for whom I am indeed overjoyed) wouldn't mean a whole lot, as it is not considered a serious insult in American culture as it is in Iraqi culture. Now who looks uneducated?
Good day to you all.
Namaste,
Becky
Hello all,
According to the English version of Al Jazeera throwing a shoe at someone in the Arab world is a sign of contempt. I can't find any reliable sources on the net, so perhaps someone like Cris or Mohammed (if he reads the boards) can clarify, it is the equivalent of showing the sole of your foot to someone which is an incredibly rude jesture. Beyond that I'm not sure.
On the lighter side of things though check out these jokes in this article I found, you gotta love our Egyptian friends lmao:
Shoe-Throwing Journalist Inspires Arab Jokes - Middle East Times.
Starfish, "Go get educated"? Perhaps you would like to enlighten us on the manner in which you would like us to do so. But hey perhaps I am missing something here I am, after all, one of those "freaking liberals". *sticks his middle finger up at the fish in a pretty well known gesture of indifference and contempt*
Oh yeah, and I was pretty damn pleased that president Obama got in to so there.
Cheers,
Simon
Yes, obama, finally changes have come.
This deviates slightly from the original topic, but I couldn't resist posting it, since talk has come up about Obama. If he's so for making change, and shaking up the government status quo, then why are so many of the cabinet he's picking former Clinton staffers? Not to mention Hilary Clinton herself? That seems more like a throwback to old government, not a refreshing change to new.
Exactly! And he has no freakin experiance what so ever!
I think he himself represents that change that we so badly need. And the Clinton years were great so why not go with what worked under a new leadership in Obama
lol Simon, you're awesome!
As for Obama picking people from the Clinton administration, I'd rather have them in Obama's staff than people from the Bush administration. Clinton had his problems, but this country was in better shape when he was President than when either of the Bush's have been.
Becky
Agreed Izzy, it was the Bush administration when things started to go really wrong. Plus, any reform happens slowly, so give the fella a chance, he only just got in!
Cheers,
Simon
roflmao Simon, I love you, seriously. Seriously, people must think Obama is a miracle worker or something. He can't just snap his fingers, and say wa la, everything is fine now, the economy is good, the war ended, everything's peachy. he's just a human. It would probably take more time than what Obama has in office to make everything really right again
Exactly! If it took them that long to fuck things up, it's going to take just as long if not longer, to put it right again. But ur, aren't we digressing slightly here guys? lol.
I didn't know the reporter had gotten arrested for his protest. I'd like to add my voice too then to hoping he gets released. After all who are the Iraqi authorities trying to impress by arresting him? Unless America still has control over there, in which case my question has been answered. I need to keep up with things more than I do.
Cheers,
Simon
I think the American military still does have some degree of control over there, which pisses me off. They need to get the fuck out.
Okay, I'll probably get banned for this, but I am in the auxiliary of the military. We are only doing what we are told. We are trying to show what freedom is to the Iraqi people. Civilians will never understand until they have been in.
Um, Starfish, why would you get banned for the above post? You seem to really have to work to get banned from this site. There are quite a few people who I think would deserve to be banned, but the CL's and admins still won't do it. So I think you have nothing to worry about.
And yes, it seems that most of the country thinks Obama is the new Messiah. Whatever side of the fence you come down on, no one is perfect, but most seem to think Obama is. Should be an interesting four years.
So why do you think from the civilian prospective that we should get out of Iraq? Do you even know what is going on?
For the record, her getting the boot had nothing to do with this board topic, though it was rather nice of her to out herself like that. Carry on.
Oh, and as for the board topic, I also agree with the reporter and his gesture of contempt.
awe, poetic justice
lol i thauht it was her from the start. lol.
lol
And I know Obama's not perfect, but he's a hell of a lot better than Bush and will bring some much-needed change. I'm also aware of the fact that Obama won't be able to fix the country's problems in just four years. So I'm hoping it'll be an interesting 8 years. lol
To all the people who object to the arrest of the shoe-throwing journalist, would you want nothing to be done if somebody threw shoes at you? Would you think nothing of it if they hit you and left a mark? I think not. If it's not okay for people to hurl objects at you, it shouldn't be okay for people to hurl objects at other people either.
I think it was on November 1st that I was at the football match between Huddersfield Town and Crew Alexandra. The officials ruled that a goal which Huddersfield Town had scored was offside, and the fans were very angry. Some fans decided to retalliate against that decision and others that hadn't gone our way by hurling missiles towards the pitch. They didn't like Stan Ternent either, and he was in his dugout. No doubt some fans would have liked to have hit him with some of their missiles. I personally was not happy with what the officials had done, but if they were unhappy with something I did, that wouldn't give them the right to throw missiles at me. Therefore I don't expect to be allowed to start throwing missiles onto the pitch when the officials make decisions against my team. I agree with the club's campaign to catch and take action against missile-throwers. It is the right thing to do. If you don't break the law, you won't get punished.
You can't go throwing missiles at somebody just because you don't like them. If we can do things like that to people we don't like, where does it end? Does it eventually become acceptable to kill people just because we don't like them? There has to be a boundary and that boundary in my view is crossed when people start throwing missiles at others.
Fine senior, as long as the punishment fits the crime. But in this journalist's case, do you seriously think it will? I don't.
This reporter is being a called a hero throughout the Arab world. In fact, I think it was some famous gentleman or another that offered his daughtered to be the man's wife.
I believe that throwing one's shoes in the Arab world is equivalent to calling someone dirt or shit. They think anything that touches the ground is dirty or unholy. If I'm not mistaken, they take their shoes off when they enter the church.
Muslims take their shoes off when they enter the mosque, Arabs or others, that's right.
Some man is offering the journalist his daughter as a wife? Why doesn't she have the freedom to offer herself to the man of her choosing?
(Applauds starfish) Well said.
(shivers) Yes, obama means Change and a bad kind too.
I want to be rich, I don’t know about you, and I want to be successful, and Obama isn’t going to help successful dependent folks like me. It’s a socialistic government he wants to administrate, and if you would just look at how bad the USSR was, you’ll get my point.
Socialism is one step away from communism and we‘ll almost be as bad as what we complain about.
Senior
Women is thought as sacred, and she has no right to ask him. In Islamic countries only men has that power.
I'm totally on board with the Obama Nation, but Bush really didn't have any other recourse than a joke--what was he supposed to say? "My fellow Americans ... today, a piece of footware was thrown at me by a citizen of Iraq."
And to anyone who thinks Obama will single-handedly turn the country socialist, we'll talk in four years. Democrat or Republican, Bush or Obama, the Constitution is still the law of the land--not the president. We'll be saved not by heroes or figureheads, but by our big clunky bureaucracy.