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kpete Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 08:58 PM
Original message
Man shot entering Danish artist's (creator of controversial cartoons of Mohammed) home
Source: AFP


Man shot entering Danish artist's home
January 2, 2010 - 11:14AM

AFP

Danish police late on Friday shot and wounded a man trying to enter the Aarhus home of Kurt Westergaard, who drew controversial cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammed, Danish media reported.

The Danish cartoonist, who has received several death threats since a Danish newspaper four years ago published his drawing featuring Mohammed wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb, was at home in Viby near the western city of Aarhus when the 27-year-old and two others tried to get in, daily Politiken reported online.

Guards repulsed the three intruders as security alarms were set off, and the wounded man was hospitalised.

Denmark's Ritzau news agency said a dozen police vehicles were at the scene while sappers were sent in to look for a bomb that may have been laid.

Read more: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/man-shot-entering-danish-artists-home-20100102-lm51.html
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:03 PM
Response to Original message
1. Hmmm.....
:popcorn:
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Jim Sagle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:13 PM
Response to Original message
2. The first graf has been expanded slightly:
Danish police late on Friday shot and wounded an axe-wielding man linked to radical Somali Islamists who tried to break into the home of a cartoonist whose depictions of Islam's Prophet Mohammed infuriated Muslims.

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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:17 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. black flag operation?
Edited on Fri Jan-01-10 09:19 PM by LouKneeLib
Why would people be so angry over a cartoon? Perhaps this is a black flag operation to raise religious and racial tensions against the poor practitioners of Islam? Or maybe they were simply extending an offering of peace with their neighbor by helping chop some firewood? I just find it hard to believe they would be so angry over a cartoon. I'm calling b/s.
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Pavulon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:19 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, maybe allah
was asleep on this jihad trip and this guy got his ticket punched. People are fucking stupid.
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No Passaran Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 02:54 AM
Response to Reply #4
56. No need to insult their God now
This is not Freerepublic. Thanks
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JonQ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:08 PM
Response to Reply #56
62. Why not?
People make insulting comments about other religions, their beliefs, and their deities all the time. Islam isn't special.
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panzerfaust Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 06:47 AM
Response to Reply #62
85. ? Because they will come kill you
It is my understanding that under Islamic law to insult Allah, or The Prophet, is punishable by death - whether one is kafireen (unbeliever) or Muslim (not that any Muslim would).

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JonQ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 11:44 AM
Response to Reply #85
94. Seems like that's rewarding barbaric behavior
So a good strategy, it encourages other fanatics to follow a similiar course.
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christx30 Donating Member (774 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:38 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Filmmaker Theo Van Gogh.
was shot 8 times, stabbed in the chest and nearly decapitated by a muslim because he made a film critical of the way muslims treat women.
And don't forget all of the riots and deaths because of the cartoons a few years ago, or the death threats against Salmon Rushdie for 'The Satanic Verses'
The list goes on and on, at least in Holland.
The fundies really believe hard core, and will kill anyone that doesn't believe as they do.
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:43 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. I would argue
that it was a deranged criminal that did that not a "Muslim."
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Pavulon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:50 PM
Response to Reply #8
11. Bullshit. That was some jihadi
all fucked off about what the man did.
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snagglepuss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:55 PM
Response to Reply #11
35. The poster is playing dumb. nt
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:17 AM
Response to Reply #35
48. Deleted message
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:32 PM
Response to Reply #8
19. Deleted sub-thread
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Regret My New Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:09 AM
Response to Reply #8
40. Interesting username...
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alphafemale Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 02:27 PM
Response to Reply #40
95. Good catch. nt
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PurityOfEssence Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 04:42 AM
Response to Reply #8
58. Well, there seem to be a lot of them who use that excuse
Okay, perhaps "true" religion is always sweetness and light and all that rot, and all the Jim Joneses, Baruch Goldsteins and Mohammed Attas of the world are just unfair anomalies. Even so, the practitioners of those religions need to take SOME responsibility.

For those of us who don't see religion as inherently "good", there's less inclination to make excuses, and there's NO predilection to disavow actions like this as not having stemmed from the religions themselves.

Religion fosters and nurtures mental illness; it's simply hard to square preposterous claims of immortality and divine control with the visible world.

What's most nauseating as a defense from believers (although I make no presumption about your particular beliefs) is that nothing bad ever happens because of God, and everything good stems from that whatever-it-is. The premise is that it's good, and that's it, and everything bad is obviously something else. That's self-congratulatory, self-proclaimed privilege to be above the law.

The kind of poppycock that spews forth in defense of religion is beyond absurd; it's like those who claim that women are equal to men in Islam. They aren't. They aren't in the other major religions either, but Islam is particularly nasty on this subject.

The problem at hand with this issue in Denmark is that Islam has an especially low tolerance for "others".
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tburnsten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 11:33 PM
Response to Reply #8
74. I would argue
that you for some reason are having a hard time accepting that certain sects of Islam are inherently violent, putting infidels to death by the slow knife and all, and it is a religion that is dominant in many areas of the world where violent thugs have control. Put them together and you get an abnormally large cross-section that behaves in violent, fanatical ways, and view the world through lenses no rational person could ever understand. It's a sad situation that will not improve until education, infrastructure, agriculture, and commerce in those regions changes significantly. No Dutch cartoonist should have to die because of the situation though. Hopefully some friends and family of the young man who was shot can talk some sense into him and get him onto a more reasonable path.
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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 07:06 AM
Response to Reply #74
86. The poster you replied to was already tombstoned
It was a troll, and so don't take anything they say as being a real opinion - they seemed to be trying to play at being a liberal with a caricature.
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tburnsten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 04:41 PM
Response to Reply #86
99. Aha.
explains that pretty handily.
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rrneck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:33 PM
Response to Reply #3
20. You need to get out more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005. The newspaper announced that this publication was an attempt to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of Islam and self-censorship.

.......

This led to protests across the Muslim world, some of which escalated into violence with police firing on the crowds (resulting in more than 100 deaths, all together),<1> including setting fire to the Danish Embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran, storming European buildings, and desecrating the Danish, Dutch, Norwegian and German flags in Gaza City. While a number of Muslim leaders called for protesters to remain peaceful, other Muslim leaders across the globe, including Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas, issued death threats.<2><3> Various groups, primarily in the Western world, responded by endorsing the Danish policies, including "Buy Danish" campaigns and other displays of support. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen described the controversy as Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II.<4>


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snagglepuss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:54 PM
Response to Reply #20
34. The poster playing dumb. nt
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rrneck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:56 PM
Response to Reply #34
36. Ga! Guess that makes me dumber. Heh. nt
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Regret My New Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:09 AM
Response to Reply #34
41. yeaps.
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AtheistCrusader Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:54 AM
Response to Reply #3
54. Occam's Razor would like a word with you.
Or, Ockham's Razor, whichever spelling you prefer.
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tburnsten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 11:18 PM
Response to Reply #3
73. You must not remember the uproar when it was published
There were riots over it. A fatwah (sp) was issued against him. The anger is very real, and the threats to him are very real as well.
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LiberalFighter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:30 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. graf?
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Jim Sagle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:57 PM
Response to Reply #5
14. graf = paragraph
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marshall Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:40 PM
Response to Original message
7. That cartoonist is damn lucky to still be alive
I admit I thought they'd killed him a long time ago.
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alp227 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:44 PM
Response to Original message
9. Danish Police Stop Attack on Cartoonist
Source: Associated Press

Filed at 8:25 p.m. ET

COPENHAGEN (AP) -- Denmark's intelligence service says police have foiled an attempt to kill cartoonist Kurt Westergaard -- the artist who drew cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, causing outrage in the Muslim world.

Jakob Scharf, who heads the PET intelligence service, says a 28-year-old Somali man was armed with an axe and a knife when he entered Westergaard's home in Aarhus.

Scharf says the attack was ''terror related,'' adding the suspected assailant has close contacts to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab.

The Somali man was shot by police in the knee and the shoulder during the Friday attack. Preben Nielsen of the police in Aarhus, where the attack took place, said the suspect was seriously injured but his life was not in danger.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/01/world/AP-EU-Denmark-Cartoonist.html
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #9
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:50 PM
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Arrowhead2k1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 03:31 AM
Response to Reply #12
57. Rather another opportunity for bigots to reinforce their ignorant views. nt
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YouTakeTheSkyway Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 11:46 PM
Response to Reply #57
75. It's bigoted to point out the seemingly high number of Islamic radicals committing acts of violence?
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Arrowhead2k1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 03:39 AM
Response to Reply #75
78. If you're demeaning the vast majority of Muslims who peacefully practice their faith in the process.
Edited on Sun Jan-03-10 03:40 AM by Arrowhead2k1
Yes.

The religion itself isn't the problem here. It's unfortunately being highly perverted by quite a few extremists in recent times though.
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YouTakeTheSkyway Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 03:52 AM
Response to Reply #78
79. There two basic facts I feel need to be taken into consideration when discussing this
The first is, as you point out, that the vast majority of Muslims do peacefully practice their faith.

The second, however, is that there is still a sizeable number of Muslims extremists who carry out acts of violence in the name of their faith, far more so than with any other religion.

If the poster who sparked this were truly seeking to demean all Muslims than I'm in agreement with you, doing so is wrong, but if he/she were simply attempting to articulate the reality, that both of the things I've stated above are true and that's difficult to reconcile, then I don't fault him/her.
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Arrowhead2k1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 04:09 AM
Response to Reply #79
80. Right, but I don't see what good it does to deride the entire faith as that is what I saw the
Edited on Sun Jan-03-10 04:13 AM by Arrowhead2k1
original comment and many others outside of this forum are doing. Muslims as a whole are probably the biggest victims of Muslim extremism in this world today. No other group has lost nearly as many lives to Islamic extremism as the Muslims themselves. Those Muslims living in the west also have to deal with the apparent backlash from those who wrongly perceive all Muslims and their faith as being responsible for their extremist groups. It certainly is tough being a Muslim these days. I think the least we can do is maintain our efforts to be fair and sensitive to those who do not subscribe to this sillyness and try not to alienate anymore of them in the process by not insisting on insulting their personal beliefs.
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YouTakeTheSkyway Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 05:14 AM
Response to Reply #80
81. I definitely agree.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #80
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:52 PM
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 09:58 PM
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JonQ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:35 PM
Response to Reply #16
22. Religion is not an ethnicity
you can change your beliefs, a bit harder to change your skin color.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:41 PM
Response to Reply #22
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Pavulon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:58 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. None of that has shit to do with hacking up a guy for cartoons
these guys take their voodoo to far. They can draw cartoons of anything they want, say dipping a crucifix in piss and not die for it. That just makes people mad.

Once you get a hatchet and get all squirrely expect to get shot.
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yava Donating Member (384 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 09:42 AM
Response to Reply #27
60. foreigners and religions
Birds travel world wide without passports and shit anywhere they feel like it but until further notice, that is not the case for humans. So these Somalis cannot just go to Europe and shit where they please.
In Holland, there are many problems with second generation of immigrant families from their ex-colonies but Somalia was not one of them.
So these guys show up from another continent into a small, very liberal pot-smoking country in the middle of Europe and try to axe people to death.
There is no excuse. Put them in jail for a year (since it was only attempted murder and breakin) and then deport them to somewhere they can practice their form of expression.

Having said that, lets remember that this cartoonist made a fortune by insulting (repeatedly and intentionally) another religion. He calculated the gains based on the Rushdi (Sir Salman) success.
So, while I am glad they didn't get him, this guy is a bastard with plenty of blood on his hands and lots of $$$ in his pocket, protected by taxpayer money.
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yava Donating Member (384 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 09:48 AM
Response to Reply #60
61. foreigners and religions correction

Sorry, I mixed up Denmark with Holland but the rest remains my opinion
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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 07:53 AM
Response to Reply #60
90. How much did the cartoonist make, then?
You seem to know for sure it's a 'fortune', so please give us the figure. I suspect he made very little money at all, since the original cartoon was just 1 of 12 in one newspaper, and official reprints have been almost non-existent (indeed, even Yale University Press, in an academic book about the cartoon controversy, decided not to print the cartoons, as did, ironically, Index on Censorship when writing about the YUP decision).

What's more, the cartoonist did not 'repeatedly' insult the religion - he drew one cartoon, for an article about how Islam complains about anyone drawing Mohammed (which stemmed from a book for children that was respectful of Mohammed, but was unable to get an illustrator - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4693292.stm).

The Somali had been granted asylum, but was also under investigation by the Danish authorities: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/muslim-terror-suspect-tries-to-assassinate-danish-cartoonist-1856173.html

Granting asylum to someone from Somalia isn't all that surprising - it is a bit of a hellhole, with no real government able to stop people being killed.

Personally, I think a year in prison for attempted murder is far too short - he's a danger to people, and sending him back to his terrorist group in Somalia in just a year will almost certainly mean he continues to threaten people. You could justify a prison sentence of at least ten years, IMO.
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AngryAmish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 02:27 PM
Response to Reply #22
63. Tell that to Sammy Sosa
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ldf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 10:00 PM
Response to Reply #22
102. religion is, in fact, the ultimate chosen lifestyle.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:23 AM
Response to Reply #15
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vixengrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:28 PM
Response to Reply #13
18. I would tend to look for firewood in the forest rather than
Edited on Fri Jan-01-10 10:29 PM by vixengrl
someone's house. As to "uncharacteristic", it is generally felt that, in light of things like the Van Gogh murder and well, extremism in general, ranging from suicide bombings to mere, un-metaphorical vitriol attacks, that word....is debatable.

I envision an interrogation along the lines of,

"You there---what are you meaning to do with that axe there?"

"Oh--freezing my ass off! I'm lost. Is this where I'd get some firewood?"

"'Fraid not. You want the outdoors."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Carry on then." Proceeds to whistle and go about his merry way.

See, it doesn't really *work* for me. I mean, as a skit, perhaps, but not in a practical way.
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:37 PM
Response to Reply #18
23. That's not how my hypothetical scenario plays out
"I sure am appreciative for the opportunity to live in such a peaceful nation, I will cut firewood for my neighbor, since he is unable to do it himself."

KAPOW!

Let's just wait for this to play out, in today's world of imperialism and war nothing would surprise me.


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vixengrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:51 PM
Response to Reply #23
25. It would be a bit interesting to decide some guy's door
is for firewood, though, regardless of who one is getting it for. I'm all for peace. Until someone knocks on my door with an axe blade-first, and then I get touchy.

But a "false flag" op would be about starting a war--this is just a dumb incident that wouldn't really start a war, you know? Between who--the Danes and Somalia? It would just either show that this guy is a looney (who uses religion as justification of his looniness) or that there was a bloody-minded cultural reaction when West met East over the issue of where notions of free speech met with a cultural taboo. Pick your poison--but there isn't a reason for it to be fabricated in the service of imperialism.
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:57 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. Fair Enough
Edited on Fri Jan-01-10 11:02 PM by LouKneeLib
I'd rather not debate semantics, but you have to admit there is value to be gained by continuing to demonize the enemy. This surely doesn't have to be an action taken by the Dutch ....evaluate the usual cast of characters.
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vixengrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:42 PM
Response to Reply #26
33. I didn't know anyone was at war with axe-wielding looneys.
Or that the meaning of "false flag" was a semantical argument. I'd rather not debate semantics either. Evaluating the incident on the face of it, on the other hand, let's just say that when I see hoof prints, I think horses, not "horse-shoes cunningly pressed into place by geopolitical powers that be in the effort to defame entire groups of people to accomplish nefarious ends on behalf of Imperialcorporatists, Inc, a sub-division of New Boss/Same as the Old Boss, LTD."

Yes, propaganda happens, but this isn't on a par with the Boche raping Belgian nuns or babies being plopped out of incubators. On the other hand, it does fit a rather sorry narrative that isn't all that fake-worthy--of lone "an-heroes" who decide to do desperate stuff.

(Out of all the houses in all of Denmark, out of all the Somalian radicals, why'd he have to walk into that of a certain fatwa'd cartoonist, sweetheart?)
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:57 PM
Response to Reply #33
37. n/t
Edited on Sat Jan-02-10 12:01 AM by LouKneeLib

, not "horse-shoes cunningly pressed into place by geopolitical powers that be in the effort to defame entire groups of people to accomplish nefarious ends on behalf of Imperialcorporatists, Inc, a sub-division of New Boss/Same as the Old Boss, LTD.

Someone has to think that way. Anyone who questions the spin is assumed to be an Alex Jones worshiping fruitcake.

FYI - an heroes are made not born.
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vixengrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:06 AM
Response to Reply #37
39. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Sometimes conspiracy theorists are right. And sometimes fruitcakes make excellent gifts.

And an heroes aren't born of course, silly. They are made with the tears of people who believe in serious business on the internets and are for great justice.

n/t means there is no text to follow. As in--n/t








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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:29 AM
Response to Reply #39
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vixengrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:13 AM
Response to Reply #45
47. You're welcome--and welcome to DU.
Your name is giving a certain impression and your argument is not popular. I realize you are a recent poster and will get a hazing from people even less sympathetic than me--

And good luck with that.

In general--there are many libs who just aren't fans of the war on terror--but still are against terrorists. They won't make apologies for anyone who chooses the violent path, nor assume that religion of any kind absolves, forgives, justifies, or sanctions violent acts. Also, there are some who recognize religion as a way of imposing inequality on people, or enforcing injustice. That sort of thing always seems like the work of bad people, not anything divinely-inspired.

The problem with any apologia on the behalf of Islamic extremists is that it appears that one either approves of doing anything on behalf of religious belief--meaning that one tacitly accepts that an unproven paradigm accepted irrationally or emotionally is grounds enough for any action, however extreme, or one allows that the propaganda of that faith has subverted any rational thought to the extent that one is no longer capable of refusing such action--i.e. free will is gone. One agrees with the terrorists, and assumes that extremism in the defense of any ideology is no vice, and the other simply excuses, excuses, excuses.

What you are accused of in this thread is more the latter, with a twist. In the circumstance, you denied the actual details of the cartoonist and the police who responded having witnessed and been able to speak for themselves, and created an "out" for the perpetrator that was fanciful, but not even all that plausible, and garnished it with a conspiracy theory.

This is a bit much.

Admittedly, it is possible that the cartoonist is a bigot, who does not care for Islamists and having been persecuted a bit for his cartoon, is sensitive on that account. It is also possible that the police, having fired on an assailant, wish to paint their involvement in the best possible light--


AND YET:

One can not maintain that a domicile was broken into by an axe if there is no indication that an axe actually was used on the entrance in question--it leaves a very distinctive mark. Also, the fear of a 75 year old man in his safe room does not suggest a friendly, "Heigh-ho" proffered by the interloper. And the shooting by the police and the radical connections are also what we would consider "checkables." As in, an investigation will actually bring about what we call "evidence".

The give and take of DU sometimes means not just being in a hurry to be neutral (I'll give you that you added a "let's not jump to conclusions" while committing your apologia) but also an attempt not to be absurd. If it should turn out this gentleman was only in the yard of the cartoonist, and maybe had already chopped some firewood, and that the police and all panicked, you get a mea culpa mea maxima culpa from me. But I don't think so.
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saigon68 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 07:47 AM
Response to Reply #47
89. Looks like he , she, it isn't around to get your Props
Edited on Sun Jan-03-10 07:49 AM by saigon68
TS ed right out of the box

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Quantess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:02 PM
Response to Reply #23
28. You should have waited at least a month and at least 800 posts
before going so balls-out ridiculous and blowing your cover like this. You have a lot of nerve to come here and post this absurd horseshit and think anyone believes you are sincere.
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:08 PM
Response to Reply #28
30. That's silly.
Someone holds a different perspective than you thus they must be a Freeper. Come on. You sound a bit more paranoid than they do.
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Quantess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:22 PM
Response to Reply #30
31. It's interesting.
I didn't even know what a FReeper was my first month at DU.
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:31 PM
Response to Reply #31
32. Some people learn faster than others?
Just kidding! I've read DU for years. I started reading DU back in the summer of '04 when the race was really heating up. I've been a regular lurker almost every day ever since. I'd bet there are countless others who have similar experiences.

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Quantess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:27 AM
Response to Reply #32
52. As reticent and timid as you are,
Edited on Sat Jan-02-10 01:27 AM by Quantess
I can really picture you as a reflective lurker, silently absorbing the threads without commenting, for all these years. I commend you on your bravery to finally start posting.
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Regret My New Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:15 AM
Response to Reply #30
43. LOL... You're coming off a 'loony lib', LouKneeLib...
:eyes:
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:57 AM
Response to Reply #28
55. Deleted sub-thread
Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Pavulon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 11:06 PM
Response to Reply #23
29. I am surprised this guy is alive.
guess he was a bit jumpy and did not take his hits center mass. Danish po-po used pistols and not shotguns or rifles.
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KDLarsen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #29
44. He was shot in the shoulder and knee
As far as I know, Danish police are trained to shoot to disable.
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proteus_lives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:19 AM
Response to Reply #44
49. How irresponsible.
Give the suspect time to do who knows what.
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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:04 AM
Response to Reply #13
38. P.S. Mr. "boogieman"...Denmark is not in 'The Netherlands'.
You're welcome.
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LouKneeLib Donating Member (68 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:34 AM
Response to Reply #38
46. Thanks. My mistake
Sorry about that, I don't know why I would've subconsciously linked The Netherlands with bigotry towards Muslims.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 12:13 AM
Response to Reply #13
42. Deleted sub-thread
Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
cali Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 04:57 AM
Response to Reply #13
59. sod off, freepwad.
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Odin2005 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 03:11 PM
Response to Reply #13
66. Oh look, a conspiracy nut.
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harvey007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:17 PM
Response to Original message
17. Our freedoms are being threatened by religious fanatics
Glad to know Mr. Westergaard is safe.

All good people who value liberty need to stand up to religious fanatics of all stripes.

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JonQ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-01-10 10:35 PM
Response to Original message
21. Glad he's safe
They need to have this one lesson drilled in to their heads over and over again (or shot, whichever works quickest): in the west we believe in free speech, you can hate what a person has to say but you cannot silence them, and you really shouldn't try to kill them for that.

They have places where islamic holy law is the law of the land, and speech that criticizes islam or mohammed carries the death penalty. They know this, because those were the hell-holes they fled when they immigrated to the west.
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Imajika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 03:34 PM
Response to Reply #21
68. Almost correct...
"They know this, because those were the hell-holes they fled when they immigrated to the west."

The problem is the 1st and often even 2nd generation of immigrants from these Muslim countries to the West remember this, and by and large they are peaceful and appreciative of the freedoms they have.

It is their kids, grandchildren, etc, who have no understanding why their families fled those "hell holes". The later generations have no appreciation of what the West offers, and for many reasons are very open to becoming radicalized.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 01:20 AM
Response to Original message
50. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Nye Bevan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 02:53 PM
Response to Original message
64. A wake-up call to all cartoonists
For your personal safety, only target Christianity. That guy who created "Piss Christ" is not only alive and well, but never even had a Fatwa issued on his head. Some religions are more peace-loving than others.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 03:09 PM
Response to Original message
65. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Imajika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #65
67. It is odd..
..that very often when something like this happens, so many people rush in declaring "but Christians do it too, ALL religions have nuts that do this, we have the Christian rightwing here in the US that are equally batty".

I mean, this constant attempt to excuse, equate and otherwise explain away the high incidences of Islamic violence against, well, pretty much anyone not Islamic is pretty irritating.

I do think the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful and just want to get on with life like the rest of us, but it is pretty clear that a disturbing minority of them are extremely backwards in their thinking.

At the moment at least, of all mainstream religions, Islam is probably producing the most intolerant adherents resulting in high incidences of violence directed at anyone who offends their sensibilities. I do believe the European people have just about had enough. That is starting to show up in high vote totals going to xenophobic rightwing political party's and balloting going the way we just saw in Switzerland with the Minaret ban.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 07:51 PM
Response to Reply #67
69. Christian terrorists only shoot abortion providers
And kill some gays. And liberals in churches.

To be fair, many religions do the same or recommend these practices to their adherents, via dogma and sacred literature.
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Imajika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 08:03 PM
Response to Reply #69
70. In a single day...
Muslim terrorists kill more people around the world each day than Christian terrorists do in a year.

Trying to equate the two is silly and exactly what I was previously commenting about.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 09:16 PM
Response to Reply #70
71. Murder is murder. n/t
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Imajika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-02-10 10:02 PM
Response to Reply #71
72. Sure...
Murder is murder, but to try to equate Islamic terror and Christian terror is plain silly. Islamic terrorism = massive number of incidences requiring enormous resources to deal with. Christian terrorism = relatively few number of incidences requiring far less resources to deal with.
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Douglas Carpenter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 12:53 AM
Response to Reply #70
76. Imagine for a moment if America and the West had been under a century of Islamic dominance
Just imagine for a moment that the power relationships of the world were the other way around. Imagine if a powerful Islamic state and their allies decided where I borders were, what governments in Europe and North American were legitimate and which were illegitimate. Imagine the armed forces of these powerful states totally surrounded us on all sides to insure that our raw materials were devoted to satisfying their demands. Imagine if multiple western countries were now and for the foreseeable future under military occupation by powerful Muslim countries.

Would there not be an opposition to this world order?

Thomas Jefferson once said that he wished he could sink the whole Island of Great Britain into the sea. Extreme conditions produces extremism.

The REAL threat of Islamic extremism is aided and abetted by policies and actions that cannot possibly have any other outcome than the promotion of more and more Islamic extremism.

Thirty years ago almost all political opposition throughout the Middle East and the Islamic world was expressed by secular movements; both nationalist and leftist; political Islam was a small marginal and fringe movement.

Political Islam grew in currency and strength when secularist movements failed - and I might add they grew in currency and strength with the active encouragement of the United States.

Every bomb that lands on the land or house of some poor farmer, every person who is hassled at some remote checkpoint, every expansion of every settlement and expropriation of every piece of land - every intrusion that no one of ANY race creed or colour would EVER find acceptable recruits more and more Islamic extremist.

And every bit of propaganda that makes Western people less and less sensitive to the people of the Islamic world - Every word and policy that encourages an even more belligerent and confrontational policy - does NOT fight Islamic extremism, it creates conditions to promote it. And frankly, I am quite certain that those in power know that.
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seeinfweggos Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 01:48 AM
Response to Reply #76
77. a lot of it was for many centuries (the west that is, not america)
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Douglas Carpenter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 05:31 AM
Response to Reply #77
82. indeed, parts of it were and it ended most violently
Edited on Sun Jan-03-10 05:36 AM by Douglas Carpenter
It has been estimated that there there are now approximately 20 times as many western military personnel in the Middle East as there were at the time of the Crusades. Military dominance by one power or another does not engender good will. It fact it leaves ill will that last for centuries.
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panzerfaust Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 07:15 AM
Response to Reply #76
87. Thank the French that you are not speaking Arabic
Or, at least thank the Franks (who were actually Germans, some of whom then became the French) who, lead by Charles the Hammer, turned back the Muslim invasion of Europe on 10 October 732 AD (16 SHa`baan 114 AH) at The Battle of Tours/Poitiers (معركة بلاط الشهد/ma‘arakat Balâṭ ash-Shuhadâ).


Of course, it took about another 800 years before the Caliphate was driven from Spain.
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Douglas Carpenter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 08:16 AM
Response to Reply #87
92. I'm not inclined to hold grudges about events that happened several hundreds of years ago
but the western world still militarily dominates the Middle East today
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seeinfweggos Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 03:42 PM
Response to Reply #92
96. but it isn't about religion anymore - its about resources
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Douglas Carpenter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 03:48 PM
Response to Reply #96
97. I agree
There is certainly an ideological equation that motivates both fundamentalist extremist and the crazy neocons - but, the issue is mostly about resources
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Dogtown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 04:29 PM
Response to Reply #70
98. Recently. you mean.
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The Straight Story Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 06:32 AM
Response to Reply #69
83. And jewish terrorists kill a lot more people than christian ones, but it seems taboo to mention it
:shrug:
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Behind the Aegis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 06:35 AM
Response to Reply #83
84. They do? Please do tell. i.e. show FACTS
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panzerfaust Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 07:26 AM
Response to Reply #84
88. Well, there was the Holocaust
Oh. Yeah...Right, it might have been the other way 'round...


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Behind the Aegis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 08:04 AM
Response to Reply #88
91. Sadly, there are those who would agree with you and not get your sarcasm.
To many, we are all "terrorists." We run the US government. We run the media. We are the reason for all horror in the Middle East. We are to blame for the economic collapse worldwide. We are responsible for failed foreign policy. We are even responsible for the crimes committed against us....we are to blame: it's OK for some people to hate us; it's OK to blame us for policies of countries where we have no control or even live; we are responsible for the evil in the world because we dare to exist. We are responsible for the terrorists of other religions because...well, just because.
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slackmaster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 10:56 AM
Response to Original message
93. Westergaard is lucky the police got there in time
:scared:
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seeinfweggos Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-03-10 05:12 PM
Response to Reply #93
101. had it happened in texas the guy with the axe would have been lucky the cops
got there when they did. gun laws here are a little more lax than denmark.
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toopers Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-04-10 12:45 PM
Response to Reply #101
103. Had it happened in Texas . . .
the terrorist would not have had an axe either.
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