Is the world Orwellian? Kafka-esque? Just plain nutty?

Well, you may have heard a thing or two in the news about this Danish cartoonist who drew some pictures of Mohammed and that upset a Muslim or two. And then, just to remind the Muslims that we here in the decadent west enjoy a little something called Freedom of Speech, the heretofore dickless countries of Old Europe reprinted them willy nilly, inciting embassy burnings and the like.

Now our old friends in Iran are hitting back to teach us all a little lesson about Freedom of Speech.

That's right - they are holding a Holocaust cartoon contest to see if WE find THAT offensive. It's one of those things where you don't know if you should laugh or bomb their nuclear program into the stone age before it gets off the ground. Certainly there is some black humour in the story.

First, of course, is the blatant hypocrisy on display. Anyone who knows anything about the Arab/Muslim press knows that the most horrific, medieval, anti-semitic depcitions (in cartoons AND news stories) are virtually daily occurrences. To say it's the the pot calling the kettle black is a massive understatement. (And now, of course, it's the pot calling the kettle calling the skittle black - I think).

Plus you have to love that the AP article describes the Iranian president's opposition to Israel.Not the government, not the policies - just the country itself.

And who knew that Tehran actually had a museum for cartoons?

If you're reading this you probably have Internet access and enough smarts to understand why even fine, free countries like Canada and Germany have 'hate speech' legislation and so I won't prattle on about it. Just forget the serious part of it and enjoy a laugh or two. Might as well.

Oh - and I have no compunction about printing them there but techinical issues prevent me from doing that here - but this is a link.