So this is a picture of some Pakistanis burning an effigy of George W. Bush as found on CNN.com. My first reaction to this picture was to look up 'effigy' on dictionary.com, finding the following: (1) A crude figure or dummy representing a hated person or group; (2) A likeness or image, especially of a person. This more or less confirmed the definition of effigy that I already had in mind, and so I have some comments.

First, this must qualify as a crude figure or dummy. Yet I take issue with that because the only crudeness about the dummy is that it looks nothing like Bush. If you're going to go through the trouble of making a dummy with two legs, two arms, a head, clothes, and a drawn face, why not try to make it look at least a little bit like the person intended? Seriously. If you want to burn something that looks like Bush, get a picture of the guy and burn that - don't waste a perfectfully good red shirt.

Second, last time I looked, Bush's face didn't look like a leopard.

Third, maybe you should step away from the burning dummy instead of trying to hold it up while it's on fire.

Something else that crossed my mind is that if they're really trying to be symbolic, why not burn an actual bush. I had only just thought of this when I realized that my not fly so well if they have any belief in the Old Testamant at all. I'm not up on my Islam, but I think they may be down with the OT. If so, a burning bush might be a bit sacrilegious...but surely not as bad as a cartoon.

While I don't really understand the whole Muslim culture, I'm not going to be totally insensitive to their feelings about the prophet Mohammed being depicted as a terrorist. I would have a problem with Jesus being depicted as something that he was not, especially something like a terrorist. However, most Christians I know wouldn't do what's being done in response to a cartoon published in some newspaper. Besides, if they're ticked because he was depicted as a terrorist, they're doing a real good job of shaking off that persona by burning things down and killing people.

Speaking of the Middle East, nothing says "screw you" like not eating, huh? Apparently Saddam Hussein and his cronies are on a hunger strike. I've never understood this. Do they think that this is really hurting anything? Is there anybody desperate for Saddam to eat lunch? Really? If I were the judge sitting over the Hussein trial, this is what I would say: "Whoop-dee-freaking-do, Saddam...you'll get hungry soon, trust me. If not, I guess you'll die."