throwing shoes and pies

Two days ago, an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at George Bush. It isn't a breaking news anymore, but still interesting. In my western eyes, it was a very funny way to protest. It had style. I mean, you can't kill or even harmfully hurt someone with a flying shoe but the message is still clear.The scene reminds me of the shoe toss' western pendant: The cream pie toss. A classic. One of the most popular pie attack hit Bill Gates right in his face:Unfortunately, for the journalist the show toss wasn't ironic or funny at all. An Iraqi friend of mine told me, that throwing one's shows at someone is the most humiliating gesture in the Arab world. However, a thousands of Arabs celebrated the event all over the world. The must have seen the humor in this action. And hey, suicide attacks aren't funny either. To me it is a progress, when these kinds of "unfunny" humour (shoe tosses, not suicide attacks) break the news.PS: As well noteworthy is the behaviour of Iraq's prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. He pretends to try to catch the second shoe, knowing that he won't (and may be don't want) to stop it. But in that way, he can be sure of George Bush friendship.