Slog - Comments on Get the Idea http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1 Utterly grim is this piece of news: A female owner of a radio station in Afghanistan has been shot dead. Zakia Zaki was shot seven times, including in the chest and head, as she slept with her 20-month-old son at her home north of Kabul, officials say... [T]he attackers were three men armed with pistols and rifles, who broke into Ms Zaki's house and got into the bedroom. An older son, aged three, was with her at the time of the attack, but none of her six children was injured. Zakia Zaki, was 35 years old and worked as a... Copyright 2008 Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:40:26 -0800 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:43:41 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by pablocjr Fucking savages...

]]> pablocjr http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736488 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736488 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:06:07 -0800 Comment by elswinger This is terribly sad news, but it is even sadder Charles, that you think the killers sparing the children makes this more terrifying than if they had just slaughtered the entire family.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736491 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736491 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:08:46 -0800 Comment by seattle98104 Hooray FREEDOM!!

AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!!

]]> seattle98104 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736493 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736493 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:11:24 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon @2:

it IS more terrifying to spare the children. they live with the terror of the experience. their terror, shame, and motherlessness serves as an example to other afgani women not to challenge the misogyny & ignorance of the taliban.

america needs to wake the fuck up & either
A. begin brutalizing the populace on a larger & more terrifying scale than the jihadis., or
B. accept that the islamic world is going backwards in time, both as a reaction to our blundering & its own monotheist prison of ignorance, & isolate ourselves from it.

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736506 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736506 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:26:46 -0800 Comment by Griff @4

There's always option C:

Try and empathize with the middle east in order to see what is causing this kind of thinking, and then shift public mindset in a more positive direction- i.e. shift away from religious extremism to a truly free thinking society. (The secret to winning public opinion is always through marketing.)

Then of course, we'd have to do the same ourselves...

]]> Griff http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736520 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736520 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:50:37 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Uh, marketing? Jesus.

The secret to moving away from extremism is economic development and security.

If only some rich Western nations could devote some time and effort to Afghanistan, instead of getting distracted by some other pipe dream practically before they started.

Charles is exactly correct on two points: they were killing an idea, not a person, and sparing the children is far more terrifying. It makes the point of the incident much more terrifyingly clear: don't have that idea. Don't think. That way the seed of terror is planted in everyone's mind. No one will ever think of anything else.

The Quran doesn't say anything about shooting women in the head and chest as they sleep. These thugs need to be destroyed, physically, intellectually, and culturally. I'm afraid though that the light has gone out for good in Afghanistan.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736564 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736564 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:38:49 -0800 Comment by Mo @2:
Don't be confused- the killers weren't 'sparing the children' -because they didn't care about the children, living or dead. Killing a woman who is lying asleep with two children, and not shooting the kids just means they weren't worth the bullets. Extra bonus points- now the children live in fear and learned the hard way not to step out of line.

]]> Mo http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736609 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736609 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:15:59 -0800 Comment by Fnarf It's an interesting technique. Quite different from the Mafia's style of killing you and your family and everyone you know. Probably more effective in the long run, though the Mafia wasn't trying to effect total mind control, just economic obedience.

Killing that radio station woman is more effective than killing thousands of random villagers, too. You are killing the very thing that moves you AWAY from the mind control, the idea of communication and knowledge. They attack schools, mostly; same thing. God doesn't want you to go to school; he wants you to memorize the Quran.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736629 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736629 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:26:47 -0800 Comment by adam smith Religion is nothing more than organized ignorance.

]]> adam smith http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736641 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736641 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:34:38 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon @5:

i agree with your idealism, but your option C is part of my option B.

it is not realistic to expect that, given our historically explicit identity as a christian nation, we can influence islam away from extremism towards an open mind. letting them develop their monotheism without our interference is, is fact, practicing empathy.

isolating ourselves from (as well as ceasing the funding of) a misogynist, medieval, intolerant monotheism is simply a sensible safety precaution.

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736892 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736892 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:06:04 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon oh, and yes, we should do the same thing ourselves.

but 70% of murka believes the bible is literally true, so don't hold your breath. this is generational change - you & i won't live to see reason & enlightenment triumph over faith & ignorance.

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736900 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c736900 News Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:09:27 -0800 Comment by stiletto The first thing that needs to happen to change a population like Afghanistan's or Saudi Arabia's is a wider spread of education, because as it is now, the most educated individuals are the ones holding the power and directing these actions. You can't expect a bunch of uneducated mindless thugs to grasp Machiavellian concepts. Think about every senseless act of insane murder perpitrated by a massive group of fucking stupid, angry people. The more you know the more options you have to question this level of psychotic group think.

]]> stiletto http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c737273 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c737273 News Thu, 07 Jun 2007 01:04:04 -0800 Comment by Bill MSN I NIIPET
MSN

]]> Bill http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c741181 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c741181 News Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:43:25 -0800 Comment by Bill MSN I NIIPET
MSN

]]> Bill http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c741182 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/sad_news_1#c741182 News Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:43:41 -0800