Inter-Faith Relationships - Islam - Iran - Economics - Politics - Ahmadinejad - Khameini - South Africa

It has been a very busy week-end. There is of course Burma and the fact that Jim Webb got to see the Pro-Democracy Leader and the Chief Thug who runs Burma today. There is the burning debate over healthcare that dominated the airwaves over the week-end on U.S Sunday Talk Show Circuit. There was of course Afghanistan and the upcoming election. And last, but no tleast, there is of course Iran.

Here was a sampling of the debate over healthcare:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

As I listened to this broadcast, I was laughing as I saw Rachel Maddow go after Dick Armey in a big way. She did quite a job to expose the extent of the hyprocacy that has gone on behind the attempt to derail healthcare reform. I also continue to be very surprised at Chuck Grassley's pronoucements about "pulling the plug on grandma". Not withstanding the "joke of the day", the fact does remain that healthcare reform will be substantially watered down and the only ones winning will end up being the Insurance companies. This is an unfortunate tragedy, especially in light of all the misnformation about the British National Health Service and the Canadian Health Service which was used as a strawman by organizations like American For Prosperity and others. Healthcare will continue to be a privilege, not a right until such time as the courage is mustered to overcome it.

Moving on to halfway around the world, there is Afghanistan. I wrote on the attack in Kabul near the US Embassy and ISAF headquarters. It shows the extent of the reach of the Taliban. Elections are on Thursday. I would be keen to see who wins. As for Iran, The new Government is slated to be announced. But the repression continues. Mehdi Karoubi's Paper, Eteemad Meli, has been temporarily suspended by Tehran's Prosecutor. The question that has to be asked from the Government is this: What are they afraid of? Why can't they tolerate any opposition? The formal rollout of the Government on Wednesday should be quite a show in the Parliament, though.

As I write this, South Africa is marking Jacob Zuma's 100 Days in Office. I have had my doubts and have written about it. There are profound challenges that Mr. Zuma has to deal with. South Africa is important because it is the key country is Africa and as goes South Africa, so goes the continent. Between Crime and the continued challenges with the economy, it remains to be seen as to what he will navigate through the challenges of the global financial crisis. There is of course the continued instability in Southern Russia. A suicide bomber attacked a Police Station in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia. So, this facade of stability that Putin worked so hard to create continues to be shattered by the day. As the new work day began, there was some good news: Japan has emerged from its' recession. Earlier, Germany and France emerged from their recession as well. But it is still very early to break out the champagne, though.

There was also another piece of news that is quite bothersome. An analysis of banknotes in Washington D.C. shows that 95% of all the currency have had some traces of Cocaine. If this is not an indicement of the scourge of drugs in America, I don't know what is. China had the lowest: 12%.

This was just the week-end. I can't wait to see what the week has in store.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Mike Pouraryan - Category: Hamid Karzai, Taliban, Al Qaeda, NATO, Germany, Inter-Faith Relationships, Islam, Iran, Economics, Politics, Ahmadinejad, Khameini, Barack Obama, South Africa, african national congress

Email this Post to a Friend

The Dawn of a New Day in Iran

June 21st 2009 05:42

: What will happen now?

A new day is beginning in Tehran. The stories of the brutality are just sickening. I just received word from one person whose intergrity is beyond reproach. At a hospital in Tehran, the number of people with broken bones and bodies were too much to count. There were also five persons confirmed dead at the same hospital. Another eyewitness tells of wanting to help an old woman who was beaten by the regime's goons and was threatened to be shot if he did not move on. Such is the state of things in Iran right now.

Khameini made a conscious decision to shoot his way to preservation. This decision has betrayed the very Constitution he fought for, the beliefs that he has as a clergy for the sake of power. He and his side kick, idiotnejad, view their right to govern as "divine". That "divine" right was gone forever when they decided to shoot on people who only wanted to speak up for their rights. They seem to forget one little factor: The people of Iran.

Mousavi came out with his declaration that he is prepared to die. I continued to truly wonder why this man decided to come back. I listened to his thoughts to truly understand him. This is one of three clips that truly moved me:

Although the clip is in Farsi, the truth was told. The people's desparation truly came out. Mousavi became a symbol of this need for change. I was a bit disappointed when Mr. Obama came out and said that there is not much change between Mousavi and Idiotnejad. Although I understand the diplomatic tightrope, the need to speak up is now. Mr. Obama seems to understand it now with the warning given to the Iranian Regime. I do wonder if he or his staff had bothered listening to these videos that sought to introduce Mr. Mousavi to back to the Iranian Nation. Mousavi, in one of his narrations, talks about how the will of the Majlis (the Parliament) was subverted by idiotnejad. This reminded me of the Bush Years when Mr. Bush signed over 700 signing statements disregarding portions of the law that the Congress had passed. In another one of these clips, Mousavi directly attacks idiotnejad for disregarding the advise of the Professional Diplomatic Staff to go to Switerzland to make that idiotic speech that prompted a massive walkout at the UN Human Rights Conference. Mousavi directly challenged the so-called President and his master to explain what was done with 300 Billion Dollars of Oil Revenue that was just spent with nothing to show for it. In one of his clips, there is a voice-over from Ayatollah Khomeini where he reminds all Government Ministers of their profound responsibility to insure that they take care of the people. Khameini, the loyal student, has betrayed even this. How can he expect to claim the mantle of Khomeini?

In his Friday sermon, Khameini accused Mousavi and others of lying about the record of Idiotnejad's Government. Yet, he is the one who lied. He betrayed the very principles that he is supposed to uphold. I wrote about it and directly laid out certain key questions that the ruling clique in Tehran seem to not want to answer. If the regime in fact succeeds in shooting its' way to short term preservation, there remains but one choice: Isolation. It can work, because history does show that the will of the International Community can work. It took a long time in Zimbabwe partly because the Chinese were one of the Butcher Mugabe's long-time Supporters. But change did occur. Iran is not Zimbabwe. The young are crying out for a better life. The World has to take notice and must have the strength to deal with this rogue regime that has shown its true colors.

As the day begins in Tehran, there is one key question for me right now: What will Rafsanjani do?

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]