Shoe-thrower inspires games
A shoe-throwing incident at an Iraqi news conference with George W. Bush has inspired a spate of Internet games where the players hurl footwear at moving targets of the US president.
The games, which have mushroomed online and spread by e-mail, range from animations to cut-up footage of the now-infamous news briefing on Sunday when an Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at the president. Pelting someone with shoes is considered a grave insult in the Arab world.
One game, which appears on the site www.sockandawe.com - a pun on "shock and awe", the term used by US military officials to describe the initial air assault on Baghdad in 2003 - gives players 30 seconds to try to hit Bush with a shoe as many times as possible, with the score appearing in a corner of the screen. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki can be seen peeping over a lectern next to a dipping and diving Bush in the cartoon game.
Zaidi, who admitted his action in court on Tuesday, remains in custody pending an investigation by the judge.
Another game at http://bushbash.flashgressive.de, includes a leader board on which players can post their best scores.
An animated version - "a shoe at Bush?" - claims over 2.2 million direct hits since its Dec 15 start date.
Agencies
(China Daily 12/18/2008 page12)
