From the Associated Press: “A Sudanese court convicted a British teacher Thursday of insulting Islam for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad and sentenced her to 15 days in prison, avoiding a heavier punishment of 40 lashes. The teacher wept in court, insisting she never meant to offend.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/sudan_british_teacher

In a class of seven year olds in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, the children take turns taking the bear home and then recording what he did. The children decided to name him Muhammad. But some parents were offended and the teacher was hauled into court and speedily convicted of insulting Islam. She’ll be deported after her 15 days in prison.

Why is it that Islam is so easily insulted? A teddy bear? Muhammad is a very common name in Muslim countries, I believe second only to Osama in popularity.  

Hello everyone. Welcome to my new blog. 

Why a blog you ask? For many reasons. The first is that this will provide us with a great way to communicate. I’m all about talking to people - can’t you tell? I love interacting with listeners, so I want to hear your thoughts and ideas. Another reason is that over the years, I’ve come to realize that some of the best conversation happens after the interview is over. Here’s what I mean: I record the interview, thank the guest, then stop the tape. We move away from the mics, and all of a sudden, the conversation really gets interesting, (e.g. “Ya, I’ve been getting death threats”, etc). So, this blog will allow me to share some of those nuggets with you.

Lastly, we’ll be “decommissioning” our monthly e-newsletter. For those of you who have grown emotionally attached to it, my apologies. I hope you’ll enjoy this blog as much and check back often.