- The Syrian jihadi rebels say they shot down a government helicopter over Damascus . They might as well take credit for this one. The government has at least 175 more. Wiki
- Taliban "party-poopers" beheaded 17 men gathered for traditional singing and dancing in Helmand Province where the marines have spent so much time on COIN in the last couple of years. Taliban Islam does not tolerate such frivolity as music and dancing. Hmmm. Cotton Mather wasn't this much of a prude.
- Garbage in Cairo is collected by Coptic Christians who feed the edible parts to pigs. President Mursi's relations with the whole Coptic "thing" is still rather indeterminate. Last year htere was a Muslim inspired general round-up and wasted slaughter of the swine and as a result the Cairene population is faced with a crisis of garbage accumulation.
You couldn't make this stuff up if you were writing fiction nobody would believe it. pl
I particularly like the pig part. It is bitterly hilarious in its stupidity.
Iirc that the big swine killing was during the swine flu hype, and the pretext was the swine flu.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/world/africa/20cairo.html?pagewanted=all
Naturally, there was, as the WHO stressed at the time, no connection between the swine and the flu but in the name of the disease, but trifles like that must not stand in the way of swift action of Egyptian authorities in face of imminent danger!
Indeed! Who likes pigs anyway, or Copts ...
Poor creatures, and poor people who lost their livelihood. Egypt does not have organised garbage disposal. The killing of all the swine deprived the Copts of their main incentive to pick up the garbage, with the result that the stuff remains on the streets.
This is truly a "Schildbürgerstreich". Expect more of that.
One of my favourite sillies I read a couple years back. Iirc it happened in rural Iraq. Muslim zealots overdid it with the local farmers when they shot a randy goat for 'indecency' (what a slut). This principled stance against immorality in the animal realm was not met with general enthusiasm.
Posted by: confusedponderer | 27 August 2012 at 08:21 AM
San Diego has a law that the city may not charge residents for picking up their garbage. The reason for the law is that residents found out, a century ago or so, that the city was charging for garbage pickup and then was selling the garbage to farmers who were feeding it to their pigs. Residents were outraged. Why, I'm not sure, but they got the law in question passed with an overwhelming majority.
So, to this day, San Diego has "free trash pickup." Actually since it's done by workers paid by the city using city-owned equipment it's not really free, but the people of "Enron by the Sea" are not in touch with such nicities. It's no longer feeding pigs, but goes into a landfill.
Posted by: Bill H | 27 August 2012 at 10:05 AM
All:
Festivities at the Village of Masouleh, Northwestern Iran; also present a certain Johh Knitting.
http://www.fardanews.com/fa/news/217097/برگزاری-جشنواره-محلی-ماسوله
I expect Wahabis and neo-Salafis would have a fit; responding with machine guns.
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 27 August 2012 at 01:03 PM
Yes, reminds me of the Communist Campaign against Sparrows in China - please see below:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2908223/posts
Somethings never change...
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 27 August 2012 at 01:06 PM
God creates children. God gives his children music and dancing. Taliban dismembers God's children. What awaits the Taliban when God meets them face-to-face?
Posted by: David @ Bar Whiz | 27 August 2012 at 02:15 PM
Do you think showing the movie "Babe" would soften the hearts of the Egyptians?
Posted by: optimax | 28 August 2012 at 10:09 AM
That movie always softens my heart. I think I usually cry watching "Babe". But I grew up in Kansas and I knew pigs in my childhood. One even paid for my younger brother. I wish we would have kept the pig.
Posted by: Jackie | 28 August 2012 at 08:53 PM