That Smith

I’ve been following two stories since my first class started this morning around 9:00am. The latest shenanigans of Middle Eastern Muslims and the ongoing overthrow of Thailand’s parliament.

If you’ve been living under a rock the past week then you probably don’t know about Islam’s new enemy: Pope Benedict XVI.

The Pope angered Muslims this time be commenting at a German lecture on how their religion stinks of violence and irrationality. Since then Islamic gunmen have kidnapped and killed a Catholic nun; demanded an apology; received an apology; demanded a stronger apology; and now, in Turkey, are calling for his arrest when he visits late November.

Now I ask, doesn’t all this just prove his point?

I don’t want to come off sounding anti-Islamic because I personally know and respect many rational Muslim students. I just think the Middle Eastern ones need to learn the word irony.

A little more to the East, the Thai military took control of the country this morning (Tuesday evening in Thailand).

Tanks rolled into Bangkok while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited the UN in New York City. According to the Wall Street Journal, “an announcement on Thai television declared that a ‘Council of Administrative Reform’ with King Bhumibol as head of state had seized power in Bangkok and nearby provinces without any resistance.”

Nice.