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A hero's welcome for the famous Iraqi shoe thrower

A hero's welcome awaits a famous Iraqi terrorist. Unlike the recent welcome home party that actually does make me sick, the latest welcome home party I'm in favor of. The party is for the famous Iraqi shoe thrower.

The Iraqi who tested George Bush's reflex skills(which were pretty sharp I must say) is due to be release to a huge welcome home party including women, sports cars, and a buffet of career possibilitie- TPM

Also, how about that last item on the list: "A Saudi businessman offered to buy one of the shoes for $10 million, but they were instead tested for explosives by the US military and then burned"

Zaidi catapulted into the international spotlight when he stood up in the middle of a press conference being given in December in Baghdad by President Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

"It is the farewell kiss, you dog," he shouted before hurling the first shoe. "This is for the widows and orphans of Iraq," he went on, as he threw the second. He was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a foreign head of state, later reduced to one year.

He has served nine months, with time off for good behavior. But while he has been hailed as a popular hero, Zaidi, who was due to be freed yesterday (Mon), fell foul of Baghdad's paper-pushers. Clerks at the jail failed to fill in the requisite release forms. Zaidi's brother and three sisters were waiting for him outside the prison yesterday morning, hoping to accompany him back to their two-bedroom apartment in Sadr City, the poor Shia Muslim suburb of the Iraqi capital.

There, a party had been arranged: his nieces and nephews were waiting with balloons and "welcome home" posters. Zaidi, a journalist for a local television station run from Cairo, al-Baghdadiya, had made a reputation - and been strongly influenced - by his reporting on the deaths and injuries caused by American forces' raids.

He had also been kidnapped by armed groups and arrested by American forces. Although some Iraqis professed shame that a guest had been ill-treated, Zaidi was acclaimed across the Middle East - his picture etched into walls in Gaza and hung from banners in Damascus. 

His greatest support is from the more radical anti-American factions of his own Shia Muslim community, from which he comes. "Muntazer is a courageous man," said Salah al-Obeidi, spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr, who led uprisings against the allied occupation in 2004. "His release will be a great victory for everyone opposed to the occupation." 

What Zaidi has been offered

• The Emir of Qatar has pledged a golden statue of a horse

• An organisation headed by the daughter of Col. Gaddafi of Libya awarded him a medal

• An Iraqi living in Morocco has offered the hand of his daughter and women from across the Arab world rang his newspaper asking to marry him

• His company has bought him a new house

• Businessmen have offered to club together to buy him a sports car

• He has been offered jobs by several Arab television networks

 

Originally published at tpmcafe, click view for more information

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At a recent lecture given by long time subversive artists Gilbert and George, there was a fantastic point made which highlighted the absurdity of institutionalised religion and the anomalous status it's given in today's society.

They said something along the lines of....

"Imagine if a biscuit company was able to sell itself the way the church does. The biscuit company would probably be able to do a lot better if it was able to offer eternal life (in addition to biscuits) as a reward for your money"

Now the idea also works in reverse.

Imagine if there was a company that didn't pay tax, had little or no oversight from the state legal system, was found to be fingering children- had tried to hide it- their leader and the leader's brother were both implicated and they still refused to open themselves up to public scrutiny.

You probably wouldn't buy their biscuits would you.

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A hero's welcome for the famous Iraqi shoe thrower

Terrorist! Please do your research first before writing such dangerous things, we was insulting Bush by throwing the shoe as he was disgraced with him, not trying to topple the largest super power in the world by throwing a shoe. I cant believe you have put those words up. Ashamed

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Re: How to Report the News

Having worked as a TV news reporter I found Charlie's piece very amusing - some of us have long believed reporting like this is a rubbish way to do things! But even if a journalist wants to tell stories in a more authentic and engaging way, the constraints of the so-called "house style" in many news organisations make it difficult to achieve. What's needed is a massive culture shift and a complete re-think of what we understand quality broadcast news reporting is. And guess what? That's exactly what's happening, though you'd never believe it from what we're still mostly seeing on TV. Anyway, the new digital technologies, and shake up of "old school/old mainstream" journalism means new platforms and styles of "news" storytelling can now emerge. Let's hope fresh and appropriate ways of funding appear too, so we can kill off this dreadful formulaic reporting and delivery, and clear the way for more natural and interesting ways to treat stories and content.

Much love, Ian Aspin.
www.twitter.com/ianaspin

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How about the indian guy who slashed his wife's throat, is still australia to blame for?..may be , for accenpting them to move over!I am an immigrant myself but I love this country, there is no perfect place on Earth but australia is one of the best! - Michael

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This entire fiasco is an incredible over reaction. Australia is an easy target. Why? because we are honest, transperant and we talk about our failings. Is there aggression and iolence in Australia? Sure, like any country. But we face it head on and we work to eliminate it. What about the stories of the 100’s of thousands of Indian workers who are treated as slaves in the middle east and nobody says anything? What about the fact that India still has entrenched pedophilia in terms of child brides? What about the crushing poverty embraced by more than 60% of the Indian people while this nation runs around building nuclear warheads? A storm in a teacup, an over reaction, and a diversion from some the really bad issues facing India. What is really happening here is that students are being unnecessarily frightened. meaning they will miss out on what could be the opportunity of their lifetime. - Daryl
 
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I couldn't agree with Sean Maguire's article more on the recent Indian attacks. For all those who like the pretend the attacks are merely based on coincidence, try to imagine how we would react if the boot were on the other foot and an uncharacteristic number of Australia's had been murdered in India. Would you push for a travel ban? Would you be scared for your children in a seemingly hostile environment so many miles away?  - Kara Jensen-Mackinnon

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