ignorance and corporate compliance. . .

I don't know what is more disturbing, the fact that some idiot on FOX news complained about Rachel Ray's scarf in an online ad, or Dunkin Donuts succumbing to pressure to remove the ad.

Here is the story- in the ad Rachel appears as in the picture to the right. Michelle Malkin (a Fox news commentator) thought that this was a kiffihey, a middle eastern garment "popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage taking videos". What Ms Malkin fails to take note of is that such a garment is a "normal" and expected dress of the region. Much as we would never consider leaving the house without shoes on, men in this region would not leave the house without their kiffihey. They serve multiple purposes, to protect against sand and wind, heat and in the bad weather, cold. To assume that it is a symbol of terrorism is a giant leap, and quite naive.

To make matters worse, Dunkin donuts succumbed to the pressure of this person and pulled the ad. No wonder we are confused about all things middle eastern- we are so easily frightened of things we don't know.

If we were to apply her logic to terrorism then perhaps we should avoid images of men dressed in whatever Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nicols were wearing when they carried out the Oaklahoma City bombing. This two are home grown terrorists who carried out their attack in pants and tee shirts- do those images conjure up terrorism to you?
didn't think so.

Don't be afraid of what you don't know.