mon 15 dec 2008 01:29:38 — witte de withstraat
bush ducks shoe
on nederland een i saw a report of outgoing president bush's final visit to iraq. during a press conference one of the iraqi journalists threw a shoe at bush, which is supposed to be a really bad insult in the islamic world. the journalist had a good aim, but bush ducked the shoe with fair agility. then he smiled vaguely as the screaming offender was suppressed by security men.
then the anchorman turned our attention to the weather report from marion de hond, who is not a cartoon dog, but a human being. it has been cold around here lately, i even had to go dig out my fleece gloves with the mulligan's logo on them. marion, die geen hond is, said it's going to be cold monday too, but then it will get a bit less frosty as the week goes on.
[later]
the journalist who threw his shoes at bush turns out to be one muntadhar al-zaidi, who's been working for satellite tv station al-baghdadiya since 2005. one friday in november 2007, al-zaidi was kidnapped on his way to work by some gang in baghdad, held over the weekend, then released unharmed with no ransom being paid.
he is said to wear a size ten.