That Old Time Religion
Alright already - yes, we admit it - Saddam was a bad man. He did nasty things. But life in Iraq is worse now - once the Dear Leader invaded, the religious nutjobs came out of their holes and decided it was time for some Sharia-style justice. This sort of killing did not happen when Saddam was running the place.
Listen to this NPR report and learn how shepherds are being killed when they don't diaper their goats (clerics think people will be turned on otherwise) - apparently this sort of punishment happens regularly in Nazaria, a suburb of western Baghdad. Are you a grocer who arranges your vegetables in a way that some mullah might find suggestive? You get the death penalty too, or at least your store will be firebombed. Shiite clerics wrote up a flyer telling you how to display your food and, if you don't obey, it's two in the hat! And here's a squib and a link to a Time article describing the hell on earth that Baghdad has become. And an NBC blog re: same.
Thanks Dear Leader!
Bonus religious intolerance: Bush's hand picked guy, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, "has moved aggressively to crack down on what Afghans call imported vices. He is acting partly in response to pressure from domestic religious leaders and partly to upstage Islamic Taliban insurgents who are stepping up attacks across the south."
Killing sheperds for not diapering goats. Shrubya has opened the gates of hell, and he's pushed the world in.
Posted by: DivaJood | August 07, 2006 at 06:45 AM
This sounds like a bar bet, right? "Two clerics get hammered at the old Bucket o' Brew. One says to the other, 'What's the dumbest fatwa you've ever issued?' 'I ordered Ahmed the grocer killed for fanning out his artichokes,' says the second, 'You?' 'That's awesomely dumb,' says the first cleric, 'But I've out-dumbed you by miles. First, I ordered shepherds to diaper their goats and I was so impressed they did it that I ordered killed shepherds who didn't. Yahtzee!' The first cleric is stunned, 'Really? Diapers on goats? I'm giddy with anticipation. What will you order next?' The second cleric rubs his hands together. He thinks, he smiles, "Taylor Hicks will be the new face of American music?'"
Posted by: Tata | August 07, 2006 at 07:54 AM
* shakes head in disgust *
Posted by: Kathy | August 07, 2006 at 09:16 AM
Y'know, ol' Hop Kim down the block has his cucumbers laid out in such a way that my daughter might become sexually aroused...I mean, you know, if *I* noticed them, I can only imagine what a fevered teenager must feel, and while I *know* she's never had sex, I feel I must take action now to keep her on the straight and narrow...firebombing it is!
Posted by: actor212 | August 07, 2006 at 09:34 AM
what's the punishment for squeezing the melons?
Posted by: Comandante Agi | August 07, 2006 at 10:45 AM
* blink * blink *
Posted by: Shakespeare's Sister | August 07, 2006 at 11:14 AM
what's the punishment for squeezing the melons?
Posted by: Comandante Agi
She usually just slaps me really hard.
Posted by: actor212 | August 07, 2006 at 01:32 PM
Actually, I can understand wanting goats diapered...you know, they faint so easily...
Posted by: actor212 | August 07, 2006 at 01:33 PM
Those are the *special* goats. They come with *special* couches.
Posted by: Tata | August 07, 2006 at 02:45 PM
Isn't ther some way we can ship all the various religious nuts to some part of the world, like Antartica, where they can cover up each other and fight each other over silly little problems such as exist in their heads?
Posted by: LewScannon | August 07, 2006 at 04:52 PM
Those vegetables can be very enticing you know. They don't want to be corrupted like the evil Americans. And once a young person views a veggie with lust, well, they get ideas....
Posted by: Libby | August 07, 2006 at 06:11 PM
Wonder if Saddam would take his job back if we let him?
Posted by: pissed off patricia | August 08, 2006 at 04:38 AM
Don't you even consider polluting Antarctica like that! Think of the penguins (who probably need diapers)!
Posted by: The CultureGhost | August 08, 2006 at 08:34 AM
While over on our side they're continuing to pipe-bomb Planned Parenthood.
I wonder how severe the punishment would have been for the poor mook who had refused John Ashcroft's order to cover up the statue of Justice's jumblies?
Posted by: teh l4m3 | August 08, 2006 at 10:10 PM
Coming soon to a bookstore near you, promises to be the bestseller of 2006:
"My Pet Diapered Goat," by George W. Bush and Nouri al-Maliki
Posted by: Daniel Smith | August 11, 2006 at 10:31 PM
OK, Daniel Smith just fucking killed me. I don't often use this sort of acronymic webspeak, but I am, literally, ROTFL.
Posted by: HelenWheels | August 12, 2006 at 04:59 PM
Cheating Is, is not Unacceptable!
Posted by: bulk valentine candy | August 13, 2007 at 02:17 PM
I haven't been up to much lately. Eh. I just don't have anything to say right now. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning. That's how it is. I haven't gotten anything done.
Posted by: 854 college loan student | August 27, 2007 at 01:24 PM
We are better off today than we were eight years ago
Posted by: Lee | October 01, 2007 at 07:24 PM
We are killing the rainforest
Posted by: lena | October 08, 2007 at 05:54 AM