Saddam Impact
In April of 2002, a 12-meter (39 ft) tall statue was erected in Baghdad’s Firdos Square to honor former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on his 65th birthday. Fast forward one year and the scene in the square is quite different. In what Robert Fisk termed “the most staged photo opportunity since Iwo Jima”, a U.S. M88 armored recovery vehicle pulled down the statue using a chain wrapped around its neck. Images of the statue’s demise and dismemberment by hundreds of gleeful Iraqis flashed around the world via mass media and put an end to the dreamworld-like propaganda being pushed by “Baghdad Bob” (Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf), the rose colored glasses-wearing Iraqi Information Minister.
Being Very Very Bad In Hyderabad
According to the website Telugu People, “Telangana activists destroy the statues of famous Telugu personalities on Tank Bund after they went berserk during 2011’s Million March in Hyderabad.” While we won’t get into great detail (Google is your friend), suffice to say that simply being a statue of an inoffensive “personality” can be detrimental should one be mounted in the wrong place at the wrong time… yep, that’s gotta hurt.
Muffled
From 1963 through 1976, armies of 18 – 25 ft tall “Muffler Men” marched forth from International Fiberglass’s factory in Venice, California, to their appointed stations all across the United States and Canada. Gripping axes, hotdogs and yes, mufflers in their unfeeling plastic hands, one quickly learned never to mess with a Muffler Man. Even when junked, they still stand tall, ready to take on all comers… yet sadly, no one’s coming bar the odd urban explorer. The weathered example above stands guard over Cagle Salvage and Auto Crusher near Highway 69 between Summit and Oktaha, Oklahoma.
