Your Daily Danish Cartoons Update

* A Danish lawyer was shot yesterday in Moscow, probably the most alarming development concerning ongoing protests and strong political reaction over the publication of cartoons by Denmark's Jyllands-Posten paper last Fall. Scotsman.com has a brief report and a fine summary of yesterday's rash of protests and the protest-related injuries and death. There are still brand-new eruptions as the hours pass, such as news that Nigerian assembly members burned Danish flags this morning. Cotabato City seems to be the choice for measuring how far abroad the protests have spread. There were even protests in North America: peaceful demonstrations in Halifax and Philadelphia, both because of papers reprinting the original cartoons.

* Meanwhile, a paper in Iran threatens to turn the whole affair into a Norm MacDonald movie by announcing a Holocaust cartoon contest. Johnny Ryan, your country needs you.

* Amazingly, there's more: in a "please take us seriously" move no doubt suggested by Bizarro Imam No. 1, they're renaming Danishes now.

* Although coverage of the fiscal issues involved appears to have intensified, there's little in the way of qualitative changes to the economic boycotts story. Add Danish shipping companies to the list of those who might suffer boycotts in the days to come. Dairy giant Arla continues to get the bulk of attention as far as the impact on individual companies. The Malaysian Star has a nice summary article about general economic outcomes using Arla as a springboard, while Bloomberg.com looks at what companies might gain at the expense of boycotted Danish firms.

* Cartoonists are starting to make their opinions felt on the matter. Austrailian cartoonists are split. The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, expected to release their own statement shortly, have linked to some cartoonist opinion pieces on their site. Tom Scott, once tried for blasphemy, offers up his opinion on top of this New Zealand round-up. If you're brave, you can dive into the related thread at TCJ.com.

* President Bush called Denmark PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen with a show of support; the Bush State Department had days earlier come out on the side of responsible speech. Finally, a crisis perfect for Ronald Reagan's legendary comics page reading skills, two decades too late.

* Reader Er Lern Loh writes with with "Just an update on the situation here in Malaysia." Apparently, the paper The Sarawak Tribune fired its editor and issued a pair of front-page apolgies after the offending cartoons were published there. The editor disputes reports from the Tribune that he had quit in order to assume responsiblity, or that he was the sole agent responsible for the cartoons' publication. A version of the story can be found here. Loh says as a result the newspaper is threatened with having its license revoked. Thanks, Er Lern.

* In the still-too-small resonable reaction department, many Danish Muslims want the violence and protesting to stop.
 
posted 5:48 am PST | Permalink
 

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