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Kicking with Shoes

Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi's farewell gift to George Bush last Sunday certainly went far beyond the old kicking metaphor championed by Richard Nixon in 1962.¹ Not only is al-Zaidi now a national hero in Arabic nations,² but his shoe-throwing skills (and Bush's ducking skills) have spawned some very interesting Internet games. Among the most popular of these is Sock and Awe, a Flash-based game that has already generated at least 46 million shoe tosses.³

Let's hope the US government doesn't start requiring us to take our shoes off before boarding at airport security.

1.  See Nixon: The Vice President. After losing the California gubernatorial campaign to Edmund G "Pat" Brown, Sr, he told reporters: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."
2.  "In Iraqi's Shoe-Hurling Protest, Arabs Find a Hero. (It's Not Bush)" in New York Times, December 15, 2008; "Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker," BBC News, December 15, 2008. See also "Dodging shoes, Bush makes final Iraq visit," International Herald Tribune, December 15, 2008.
3.  See "Iraq shoe-thrower inspires Bush-bashing Web games," Reuters, December 17, 2008; see also "Bush shoe throwing game sold on eBay," Reuters, December 19, 2008.

Rapture and the Efficacy of Prayer

Now that the semester is over and I have some time for myself again, I was able to drive my mother to the optician to have her eyeglasses replaced. On the way back from the store, I had to slow down to look at a pile of clothes in the middle of the oncoming lane. It was a crumpled pair of pants and a shirt. I thought for a moment that the clothes had blown out of the back of a pickup truck, but I guess that wasn't what had happened at all. A motorist stopped on the other side of the road was gesturing out the window of his car and shouting, "Someone's been raptured! It's happened! It's really happened! It really works!"

So, too, with prayer. With news yesterday that the Cheney-Bush administration is going to make a portion of the TARP billions available specifically for the American automakers General Motors and Chrysler, it is apparent that those fervent prayers at Detroit's Greater Grace Temple last Sunday are really being answered.

Local car dealerships had dontated 3 hybrid SUVs for the Sunday service. Rev Charles Ellis said he and other Detroit ministers "would pray and fast until Congress voted on a bailout for Detroit's embattled automakers."¹

1.  "SUVs at altar, Detroit church prays for a bailout," Reuters, December 8, 2008.

Closing the Distance on Sky

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued an executive order requiring furloughs for all state worker, beginning in February and lasting until June 2010.¹ The Seattle Times is making 500 managers and non-union workers take a week off without pay.² In November the newspaper announced staff cuts of up to 150 workers. Dave Demerjian, writing in Wired, argues that it's now time to raise the gas tax.³ The Cheney-Bush administration is going to use $17.4 billion of the TARP funds for the benefit of General Motors and Chrysler. "Under the White House plan, the companies are required to extract enough financial concessions from workers, suppliers, dealers and other stakeholders to demonstrate their long-term viability by the end of March."⁴ Henry Paulson wants Congress to release the rest of the $700 billion. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve set its funds rate at zero to 0.25 percent, down from a historic low of 1 percent.⁵ The investment banking division of Wachovia is going to reduce bonuses for its estimated 4,600 employees by at least 90 percent.⁶ Congress is getting a 2.8 percent pay raise in January, bringing legislator salaries from $169,300 to over $174,000.⁷

1.  "Schwarzenegger Orders Unpaid Leave for State Workers," Bloomberg.com, December 19, 2008.
2.  "500 workers at Seattle Times to take week unpaid ," Seattle Times, December 19, 2008.
3.  "It's Time to Raise the Gas Tax," Wired News, December 18, 2008.
4.  "US Throws Lifeline to Detroit," Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2008.
5.  "Fed reduces benchmark rate to as low as zero ," AP, December 16, 2008.
6.  "Wachovia Reported to Cut Bonuses by 90% or More," New York Times, December 19, 2008.
7.  "Congress gets raises as others get boot," Watertown Daily Times, December 19, 2008.