Another example of there being far more than meets the eye to violent protests over the cartoons. Mounting concern over Afghanistan | csmonitor.com: Cartoon protests are part of an impatience with the problems of drugs, jobs, corruption.[…]The cartoon protests of the past week – which have been the deadliest in the Islamic world – are largely a barometer of domestic frustrations. In the streets of Kabul, Laghman, Maimana, and Bagram, protesters turned their anger on the US, the West, and... Read more

I’ve commented on how I believe that the riots…I mean "protests"…in Pakistan by hardline Islamists are more about their desire for political influence within Pakistan than piety.  (Zahir, who recently returned from Pakistan, told me how many of the Islamists he interviewed not only hadn’t seen the infamous cartoons, but didn’t even know they were from Denmark.  Some spoke about the "American cartoons"!) In a similiar vein, this report leaves the impression that Malaysia’s Islamist parties are colluding with the... Read more

CatoonBodyCount.com tracks deaths resulting from the Satanic scribblings.  Its list of violent incidents (with links to reports) is particularly helpful for getting an overview of how this mayhem has played out around the world. [Hat tip: Jeff Yang at SFGate.com, who was kind enough to mention Akram’s Razor, as well.  I’m not exactly a regular topic of media discussions, anyway, but this is the first time I’ve found myself mentioned in a discussion of Asian-Americana (e.g., Margaret Cho).] Read more

Professor As`ad Abu Khalil memorably named his blog, a refreshingly stimulating and bittersweet antidote to the mainstream American media’s bland coverage of the Middle East and Islam, the "Angry Arab News Service".  Given how much of my blogging has been dedicated of late to this wacky cartoon crisis, I’m starting to wonder if I should follow suit and christen this blog "The Angry Danish American Muslim News Service".  (Finally, a niche where I’m the expert!)  Doesn’t quite roll off the... Read more