1 Happy St

Last night and today, we've been bombarded with information about an alleged terror plot on Miami and Chicago. But the more I read about this, the more I'm reminded of Wag the Dog. Let me say this: if this plot WAS real, I would like to meet these bumbling conspirators, because they were about as inconspicuous as a rash on my face.

Their hideout was a warehouse in a rough area of Miami. They came out at night to exercise. They stood guard outside the doors of their warehouse. They tried to "recruit" (yes, this was the word used by their neighbor who was interviewed) different neighbors to join their organization. And they sometimes covered their faces.

In case you've been living under a rock, apparently there's been some excitement in the middle east because some people are upset about some cartoons. To recap, some Dutch newspaper published some editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed in a less than complementary manner. One of them depicted Muhammed turning away suicide bombers from "paradise" because they are all out of virgins. However, most of them were less clever. Islamic tradition prohibits the depiction of Mohammed in any way. (It stands to reason that Dutch tradition is ambivilant.) Muslims across the middle east and part of Europe reacted by torching embassies, rioting in the streets, and declaring their hatred for Europe and the west in general. In other words: business as usual. No big shock there. I think it would be bigger news if their first response to something wasn't "lets blow stuff up!"

But since we're talking about reactions to offensive religious images, did any of the mainstream media outlets take time to note that when rapper Kanye West appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone as Jesus, Christians didn't take to the streets and start burning down record stores and marching with signs that read, "Death to the iPod!" or "Media Play you will PAY!"?

As what may come to a surprise, the New York Times says they will not run the images out of respect to Muslim sensibilities. Today, they instead reprinted a photo of the controversial Virgin Mary depicted in elephant dung. I guess you only have to worry about a group's sensibilities when they are a threat to burn down your building.