Feed a fever...
From the Wikipedia entry for fever:
An adaptive mechanism, fever is the body's reaction to pathogens; it attempts to raise core body temperature to levels that will speed up the actions of the immune system, and may also directly denature, debilitate, or kill the pathogen. Most fevers are caused by infections, and almost all infectious diseases can cause fever. When a patient has or is suspected of having a fever, that person's body temperature is measured using a thermometer. If successful in ridding the body of an invasive pathogen, fever is an important protective immune mechanism and should generally not be suppressed.
Sometimes, for various reasons, mild fevers are intentionally induced. Naturopath Paavo Airola claimed that, because cancer cells are known to die at lower temperatures than normal body cells, they can sometimes be fought with fevers.
That last point is contentious -- the evidence certainly does not support inducing fever as an effective means of treating cancer in the human body.
But there are many kinds of cancer:
Thousands chanted slogans and burned Danish flags in Pakistan and Iraq to protest Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on Tuesday.
Witness accounts, meanwhile, confirmed a report by Italy's envoy, who said the violence that killed 11 people in Benghazi, Libya, last week was the work of both Islamic radicals and anti-government forces.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Muslim anger over the cartoons was being exploited by radical Islamists and other interests.
"I think it is evident for everyone that this crisis is no longer about the 12 drawings in Jyllands-Posten," Fogh Rasmussen said. "It's about everything else and different agendas in the Muslim world. It's obvious that extremist circles exploit the situation."
One thing is clear -- the cartoon riots are certainly flushing the radicals out into the open. You just know intelligence agencies and domestic security forces everywhere are taking special care to identify the mob leaders and the provocateurs. To file the information away for a rainy day.
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Comments
Umm, Angry -- we KNOW this? The wish may be father to the thought.
Not that I don't hope along with you that they're taking pictures and writing down names.
Posted by: Jim Whyte at February 22, 2006 11:59 AM
Taking down names, and actually doing something about it are two different things.
What is disheartening is seeing the demonstrations of abject fear by the MSM of muslim retribution wrapped in suddenly chic arguments of tastefulness. Had western governments actually presented a solid front, very very few of these demonstrations would have occurred.
The cartoons are milder than smurfs on lythium. Has the Bush administration's response to these cartoons and French mobs been tit for tat?
Posted by: DaveO at February 22, 2006 12:19 PM
How many good and decent non-Muslim people in all the Western countries wish their media AND governments would just say something like:
"In Western Democracies, among the freedoms we cherish are Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech.
And they aren't just for that with which you agree. Those Freedoms would then be meaningless.
Many times Christians and Jews have been no less offended than many of you Muslims are today by things said or published. And these Christians and Jews haven't rioted, committed arson or any other crimes. They find peaceful, lawful democratic means to register their protests.
And, it's the Press's right to publish critiques, cartoons, whatever. If you can't accept that idea and these freedoms, you are living in the wrong country and should move to a Muslim nation.
We have welcomed you to our country and offer you equal opportunities. That does not mean we're going to change our democratic values or our laws to accommodate religious fanatics of any religion."
Posted by: Dave at February 22, 2006 02:00 PM
Way to go DAVE!!!!!!!!
Posted by: arnoldziffell at February 22, 2006 02:56 PM
Reading that definition of "fever", for some reason, made me think about "global warming".
I think the earth is trying to get rid of us.
Posted by: LynchMob at February 22, 2006 04:34 PM
LOL - Good one LynchMob.
Posted by: ferrethouse at February 22, 2006 05:22 PM
Politically correct zealotry is not, psychologically, that different from religious zealotry. I recall the 'angry' feminists tearing up copies of the Cools' Commission report because it stated some truths they did not like to hear.
Canada too, during the last three decades, has had its 'blasphemies' that anyone spoke at their peril. Let's examine Canada's own record before waxing self-righteously criticizing idiocy in other countries.
Posted by: brock at February 22, 2006 10:52 PM
Interesting juxtaposition Steve, but sorry, I don't get the connection between fever, as a basic tactic of a healthy immune system, and the fever of an angry mob of Islamic demonstrators.
It may be odd for some people to consider a fever to be a good thing, but that is the reality in the war against pathogens.
In the war against terror, the shoe is definitely on the other foot.
Posted by: Scott Merrithew at February 23, 2006 11:43 AM
Dave, while I completely agree with your comment, you directed it at the wrong people.
Muslims in Canada (and the U.S. as far as I know) have not rioted, committed arson, or other crimes. Fortunately that type of violence has only occurred in other parts of the world.
Muslims in North America seem to be much more reasonable, and understand that differences are permitted in the forum of public opinion.
Posted by: Scott Merrithew at February 23, 2006 12:17 PM
Hi Scott,
It's an imperfect metaphor, but what I'm trying to get at is that the initial take on the riots is that it would be better if they didn't happen. But look at it another way. The crazed activity is an opportunity to flush out the actors in these countries, something that would not have happened if we kept the patient cool and calm and comfortable.
It's a stretch, but not everything is "A" material.
Posted by: Steve Janke at February 23, 2006 03:14 PM
LOL - You're still the first blogger on my pick list.
Posted by: Scott Merrithew at February 23, 2006 10:15 PM
 
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