People Wear Scarfs!

I was just telling a few friends that I hadn't posted on my blog this week because I had nothing interesting to rant about. I had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend and I've been staying busy at work, so nothing around struck me as blog-worthy.

Until last night.

So, I know lots of people in the world hate on Rachel Ray because she might be incredibly enthusiastic, but mostly because she's become a pop-culture icon and wildly successful by simply being herself: perky, quirky, and imperfect. She's not a classically trained chef, but we still love her food and recipes. Plus she landed a one-hour talk show, has a magazine, tons of cookbooks and two hit shows on the food network. Some people can't stand to watch people succeed, I guess.

I will unabashedly tell you that I LOVE Rachel Ray. Her ability to come up with easy recipes for complicated-sounding dishes facinates me. In fact, I think my culinary creativity has improved just by watching 30-minute meals every evening. Take THAT, haters!!!!!

But, I digress..........

Last night, I finally got around to reading the news online and saw that Rachel Ray was being accused of being a terrorist. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=4949437&page=1

Apparently, in one of her Dunkin Donuts ads, she was wearing a black and white paisley scarf around her neck. Immediately, someone was up in arms saying that it resembled a "keffiyeh" and that she was promoting Jihad. Dunkin Donuts pulled the add on May 24th, 2008.

The following quote was found on http://www.michellemalkin.com/:

"The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad. Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not so ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities and left-wing icons."

Dude, it's a SCARF!!!

People, black, white, red, yellow, green and blue, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Atheist, wear them. They are especially worn when it's cold. They come in various different color combinations, but black and white matches most outfits. And paisley is just a stylish design, altogether.

Anyway, I was slight disturbed and amused by this insinuation. Firstly, wearing a scarf does not NECESSARILY imply support of any religion or movement. Secondly, even if someone is Muslim and wears a scarf in any way, it does NOT mean they are a terrorist or support terrorist acts. Do we accuse children at birthday parties who wear pointy hats of being part of the KKK?

How do people get away with spreading such venom????