Has Bart Simpson become so dangerous that Islamists want to kill him?

South Park: Funny, and fearless "South Park – We'd stand beside you if we weren't so scared." Bart Simpson's words – scrawled on the blackboard in the opening credits of last Sunday's The Simpsons – are looking mightily prophetic in the light of yesterday's huge, failed car bomb in Times Square.

Although details remain unclear, one possibility being investigated by police is that the bomb was placed near the New York headquarters of South Park's owners, Viacom, by angry Islamists in revenge for the cartoon series' irreverent treatment of their prophet Mohammed.

Earlier this year, South Park's co-creator Matt Stone defended the controversial episode as being a vital bastion in the battle for free speech: "Cartoonists, people who do satire - we're not in the army, we're never going to be f---ing drafted and this is our time to do the right thing."

Now, by the looks of it, Stone may have got just the fight he wanted. And there will no doubt be many who are wondering: couldn't this irresponsible, potty-mouthed troublemaker have been a bit more careful about the things he wished for?

It's not hard to see why some people might feel this way. For one thing, South Park's satire is the most gratuitously offensive in the history of television. For another, South Park is ugly to look at, unpleasant on the ear, badly drawn, execrably voiced, puerile, cynical, expletive-ridden, vulgar, trashy and almost entirely free of likeable or, indeed, psychologically plausible, characters.

Perhaps you have tried watching it on Comedy Central to see what all the fuss is about, but never got beyond the hideous, calculated-to-annoy theme tune. Perhaps, you've got a bit further, only to be left shocked, reeling and determined never to watch again, by one of any number of disgusting storylines: the one where Britney Spears has dramatically to alter her vocal technique having blown half her head off with a shotgun, maybe.

If so, then you've missed a treat.

Odd news from the world's worst man-made catastrophe, the United Nations

Because women always suffer the most in earthquakes, the United Nations has named the grrrl-powered Islamic Republic of Iran to its Commission on the Status of Women. The UN made the move after Iran withdrew its equally comic bid to join the UN Human Rights Council last week.

The UN made the move with little fanfare. Needless to say, liberal commenters in the west are too preoccupied with picking on the pope and making sure Comedy Central employees stay safe to take much interest. Thus it's left to the conservative media to spotlight Iran's record of government rape, stoning and whipping of wayward doxies. Here's Fox News:

The U.S. currently holds one of the 45 seats on the body, a position set to expire in 2012. The U.S. Mission to the U.N. did not return requests for comment on whether it actively opposed elevating Iran to the women's commission.

Iran's election comes just a week after one of its senior clerics declared that women who wear revealing clothing are to blame for earthquakes, a statement that created an international uproar — but little affected their bid to become an international arbiter of women's rights.

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," said the respected cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi.

National Review's Jay Nordlinger says by this point the joke has become pretty mainstream:

That is what the U.N. is for: the Kafkaesque.

Cartoonists, like comics, defy Islamic bullies

After Comedy Central cut a portion of a South Park episode following a death threat from a radical Muslim group, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris wanted to counter the fear. She has declared May 20th "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day."

Norris told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross that cartoonists are meant to challenge the lines of political correctness. "That's a cartoonist's job, to be non-PC."

Producers of South Park said Thursday that Comedy Central removed a speech about intimidation and fear from their show after a radical Muslim group warned that they could be killed for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

The group said it wasn't threatening South Park producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but it included a gruesome picture of Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker killed by a Muslim extremist in 2004, and said the producers could meet the same fate. The website posted the addresses of Comedy Central's New York office and the California production studio where South Park is made.

South Park mocks Prophet Muhammed just once

Now "South Park" can't even say the words "Prophet Muhammad."

After last week's episode of the Comedy Central series sparked a threat (and yes, it was certainly a threat) from a radical Islamic website, the network has cracked-down-for-their-own-good on creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone during last night's continuation of the show's storyline.

For those who missed the drama, the show's 200th episode last week mocked the one "celebrity" that the series has been largely unable to depict, the Prophet Muhammad, who was hidden from view in a bear costume. A U.S.-based website RevolutionMuslim.com then warned Parker and Stone they could end up like Theo Van Gogh (the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by Muslim extremists after depicting Muhammad on his show) and even posted the address of the show's production office. The site has since been shut down.

Last night, "South Park" continued the controversial Muhammad storyline, but with a key difference: every instance of the words "Prophet Muhammad" was bleeped out, making the episode practically incomprehensible, especially to anybody who missed the previous week.

The character of Muhammad was once again also hidden from view, covered by a large block labeled "censored."

A Comedy Central spokesperson confirmed it was the network's decision to bleep the words.

The Muhammad content is also not available on the South Park Studios website.

A message on the site states: "We do not have network approval to stream our original version of the show. We will bring you a version of [episode] 201 as soon as we can."