Gee; don't be Had by the media

After work we drove out to enjoy the sunset towards the coast, through areas most savaged by the tsunami. I was surprised by the number of homes that had been rebuilt in those places, although there are also a fair number of bare concrete plinths that show how powerful the water was to remove all traces of wall. Less surprised by the number of failed mangrove planting efforts on display. Over coffee this morning I learnt that Acehnese people believed the tsunami was God's punishment for doing something wrong, and it's likely this has led to the increase in religious fundamentalism in recent years.

We discussed the word jihad which is used too often out of context by most of the non-Muslim world. My colleague, who is less devout than most, described himself as taking part in the jihad in his daily duties to take care of his family and be a good citizen, and by the same definition that all his friends, his wife and his children are also jihadis. It was a good reminder of how a word's fair and proper definition can be distorted and this is dangerous when a word is seized upon by the media. And another good reminder of how misuse can lump 1.7 billion Muslims into one unfair group, and simultaneously piss off 1.7 billion Muslims through sheer ignorance.

Extra of Ribut (which means noisy in Indonesian), the most stoic, chilled and uncomplaining office driver you'd ever wish to meet. The latest joke is that he looks like one of the vice-governor candidates in the upcoming election so here he is with his boss displaying the evidence.