Not to sound like some kind of doom-monger, but what the hell is going on?

Double D hints at a stalling global economy...

Meanwhile, Loonytoongate continues:

Daniel Pipes:

The key issue at stake in the battle over the twelve Danish cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad is this: Will the West stand up for its customs and mores, including freedom of speech, or will Muslims impose their way of life on the West? Ultimately, there is no compromise: Westerners will either retain their civilization, including the right to insult and blaspheme, or not.

More hilarity, and a little perspective, from Iowahawk

Angry in the Great White North Gets it:

So I ask again, if you believe in free speech, if you believe that Church and State have distinct roles to play, and that they need to respect each other's authority, if you have spared any thought about the sort of world you want your kids to grow up in, and if you have ever wanted to poke an Islamic terrorist in the eye but figured you would never get the chance, then post a cartoon if you are a blogger.

State that the cartoon is offensive and in poor taste, if you find it so. Call it puerile and juvenile if you like. Misleading even. But if you have a blog, post a copy. Whatever your point of view, stand up and be counted against those who have not only have no interest in your point of view but would have your point of view silenced, violently if need be.

Another spot to see Cartoons

And because I am a believer in equal-opportunity offending, here are some offensive cartoons of a different stripe....sauce for the goose, I say... and yet for some reason, I don't recall any embassy burnings, boycotts or riots over these bad boys...

Though we continue to feed the crocodile, Captain Hook is finally getting what is coming to him. Now people are pissed that he wasn't investigated earlier.

Here is a scorecard of the spectrum of responses from the West.

NEVER FORGET

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO THINK AND SAY AND BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT

NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU

EVER


Cartoons here

One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.
Sir Winston Churchill