I read that in Arabic culture, showing the bottom of your shoe to another man is an insult. Throwing a shoe is a huge insult.

Now beating your wife for not being obedient enough is perfectly acceptable.:-)
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thay are bear skins and thay just palice ones she was ununiformed ones also
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they are stone cold:-)
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did you just say she has uninformed ones?:-)
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It's a good thing our president has Jedi reflexes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB60PmtrVRE
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If he would have tried that a few years ago, He wouldn't have seen the sun set.
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Didn't do so well this time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afp9H...eature=related
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I would have eaten that pie before any stuck to my face. :-)

Seriously, though, ya gotta love Canada....they hit their politicians with pies instead of shooting at them. I like it.

Imagine, we could have had Abe Lincoln around another 20 years if John Wilkes Booth had a blueberry pie instead of a gun.
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there maybe some reassigned SS after this
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I'm thinking sometime in the past Bush must have played competitive dodgeball, The boy had some quick moves.

I recorded this last night, and laughed everytime I saw it... whether you love or hate Bush, the look on his face was pricless. I think Bush was even humored by it, when you watch the tape, as the SS was coming towards Bush to protect him, he puts his arm out to stop them he was not worried one bit.

BUSH Dodgeball MVP of 2008
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Well, I suppose if you were walking around in a place where there might be dog piles, refuse, rotting offal piles, and who knows what, you might have something offensive on the bottom of your shoe and yeah, showing it to someone might have a reaction. Personally, I don't want to visit or live in places with garbage, dog crap, or other vile stuff so common you might step in it. I really can't think of anything else that might form some rational basis for the whole "bottom of the shoe insult" thing. I find it amusing though.

As far as throwing your shoe as a common insult, or to be so common as to have some relevance or tradition? :-):-) That's just plain funny.


Scene: Two guys facing off......

Guy 1: shows the bottom of his shoe to guy two.

Guy 2: gets his panties in a bunch

Guy 1: sneers and shows the other shoe sole to Guy 2.

Guy 2: starts shaking uncontrollably, pops a vein in his forehead, bugs eyes. Takes off shoe and throws it at Guy 1.

Guy 1: dodges Shoe 1 from Guy 2.

Guy 2: Gets redder in the face. Removes Shoe 2, and missiles it at Guy 1.


Guy 1: smiles, because that is what he has been waiting for. Chases down Moron Boy 2 in bare feet and beats the ever loving stuffing out of him, catching him easily because he was dumb enough to throw both shoes at Guy 1, and can't run through garbage strewn street without puncturing his tender extremities on sharp detritus.
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This is mostly what I've heard about the insult-factor associated with shoes, soles in Islam: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-the-shoe.html

"The shoe is such an offensive symbol that it is seen as culturally rude to cross an ankle over a knee and display the sole of the shoe while talking to another person.

"The shoe is also considered unclean in the Muslim faith and believers must remove them before prayers.

"Wearing shoes in mosques is forbidden.
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I think it would have been much different if it had happened in the U.S. I think the last thing Bush wanted for U.S. image is to have the SS beating the pulp out of an Iraqi journalist for throwing a shoe. :-)
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I didn't say anything about unnecessary force and I agree that they shouldn't beat him to a pulp. I also don't feel that geography should affect how you react when protecting the President.

The SS is a very professional organization and they shouldn't be beating people to a pulp without justification, such as the suspect resisting them. We definitely don't want the reputation of schoolyard bullies.

I feel they should have reacted much faster though and used the force necessary to subdue the aggressor until they gained control of the situation (which they did on the subdue part).

The first action of throwing a shoe is a sign of violence, whose to say what else he had on him. Luckily the second thing he threw was only his other shoe.

I think the part that really concerned me is that they didn't remove the President from a volatile situation like they should be trained to do. They left him standing there only to be protected by another country's Prime Minister. The SS is trained to act instinctively and protect the President from harm at ALL costs, even if it puts them in danger. I just feel they failed to react appropriately. :-)
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Wasn't trying to take an adversarial position, just offering the possibility of political reasons for the restraint. I agree with much of what you say. :-)
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