The American Muslim, a North American organization dedicated to the promotion of peace and justice, has come out in defense of free speech and specifically for Molly Norris, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The organization issued the following statement and is signed by over 80 individuals. A DEFENSE OF FREE SPEECH BY AMERICAN AND CANADIAN […]
Ever since it was reported that Molly Norris has had to move and change identities, the story has spread out through the internet and into the main stream media. What hasn’t spread is a chorus of support, or even outrage that in America – the birthplace of codified free speech – a cartoonist has had […]
Reuters reports that Gregorius Nekschot, the Dutch cartoonist arrested in 2008 for posting cartoons on his website that were deemed offensive by an Islamic group, will not be charged with a hate crime. . Nekschot, a pseudonym meaning ‘shot in the neck’ in Dutch, was arrested in May 2008 following an investigation that started in […]
Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard has come out against the US church that plans on burning the Koran on September 11. “Satire is provocation. Picasso painted the town of Guernica after it was destroyed by German bombers (in 1937),” Kurt Westergaard told the Die Welt daily in Germany, where he won an award last night. “Provocation […]
Daryl Cagle’s cartoon depicting the eagle on the Mexican flag shot dead in a stream of bullet holes has raised complaints from the Mexican community in and out of the United States. Daryl has appeared on CNN (see below) to discuss the cartoon and the reaction its received.
MSNBC editorial cartoonist Daryl Cagle’s has managed to upset many in Mexico with a recent Mexican Flag cartoon. At least two Mexican newspapers have published it on their front page. The cartoon in question depicts the eagle featured on the Mexican flag gunned down (the whole flag is bullet ridden). Regarding the controversy, he writes: […]
Via Tom Richmond’s blog is a story on Comics Beat detailing a heated exchange between famed MAD cartoonist Sergio Aragones and Comic book writer (and Harvey Award Keynote speaker) Mark Waid over free content – the topic of Mark’s speech. It was mostly pep talk, partly an entreaty “not to be afraid of the future […]
Randy Wicks, the cartoonist for “The Signal” (Santa Clarita, CA), until his untimely death in 1996, has had his life’s work in the city’s library, but the city has voted to secede from the Los Angeles County Library system and the Wicks family is wary of how the collection will be treated. The family wants […]
Pete Jackson has interviewed Molly Norris, the accidental creator of “Everyone Draw Mohammed Day.” He reports that she is under FBI protection after radical Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki placed her on a execution list. He also details how Molly has reached out to members of the Muslim community and has received a cold shoulder from […]
A recent paper in presented to the American Sociological Association suggests that female characters in the largest (most read) comic strips in America treat women characters more as props than leading characters. Conclusions in the report are based on studying Blondie, Beetle Bailey, Family Circus, Hagar, Garfield and Dilbert for one full year. An analysis […]
Last week’s Penny Arcade has upset several readers. The comic used the phrase, “every night we are raped to sleep by dickwolves” in the build-up of a joke (not about rape) but the its reference was enough for some in the blogosphere to point out their outrage. Penny Arcade creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik […]
A new Maziar Bijani has recently launched. New York Times blogger Robert Mackey reports that the site is sponsored by a nongovernmental cultural foundation and as of yesterday was bogged down due to traffic.
Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker has noted the recent fatwa issued against artist Molly Norris. Drawing or creating any likeness of the prophet, you may also recall, is against the rules among certain fundamentalists, though not all Muslims agree that such a prohibition exists. But even if it did, there would be no reason for […]
The teenager who hit a police officer during an attack on Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks has been fined 60 euros ($103US), 20 days community service and ordered to undergo a psychological assessment. Vilks was attacked last May during a lecture on the limits of free speech.
Dutch authorities are worried about a recent threat against the Danish soccer team or Dutch fans during this year’s World Cup in South Africa. The threat was uncovered in April after a terrorist suspect, Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani, was arrested in Iraq. Al-Qahtani allegedly claimed he and others had “discussed the possibility of taking revenge […]