BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Don't get me wrong. I can't stand President Bush. But I think many Americans miss the point of what a massive insult shoes being thrown at him was in Iraqi culture. During a Sunday press conference in Baghdad, an angry Iraqi journa list hurled insults, and his shoes, at President Bush. According to the New York Times, "Hitting someone with a shoe is considered the supreme insult in Iraq." Why is that? Because they're so dirty. The degree of insult seems to be an idiosyncratic cultural development, as opposed to one that derives from clear textual sources. There's no particular mention in the Quran or any of the Hadith of shoe-throwing or debasement of enemies by exposing them to feet. And historical origins for the tradition are not easily found. However it started, Arabs—and perhaps Iraqis in particular—throw their shoes to indicate that the target is no better than dirt. The foot has special meaning in many societies. Most cultures see the act of subjecti...

THE LESSON OF THE DONKEY I don't usually pass these on, but my neighbor emailed this and I found it applies to so much going on in the world today (both personally & globally) that it felt appropriate for me to give it some bandwith: One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer...