Walkin' Away

Sorry folks, but heading off on a long adventure (without internet), so time to sign off.

I hope HP and S&A were helpful, and made you think.

That was my goal.

Cheers.



"Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks!" - Porky Pig

"The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity" - Winston Churchill

Has the Iranian Revolution 2.0 had an impact on you? Or are you more interested in what was on sale at Wal-Mart this weekend?

"The revolution is your legacy. To protest against lies and fraud is your right. Be hopeful that you will get your right and do not allow others who want to provoke your anger to prevail."

- Mir Hossein Mousavi, June 21, 2009

We tried to warn the Latvians that their economy was overheating, that their "Baltic Tiger" was simply a Ponzi Scheme. They didn't listen.

And now the lives of their citizens are ruined.

It didn't have to be.

Maybe next time they won't listen to realtors and developers and bankers.

And next time British dentists call up to buy 2-bedroom flats sight-unseen, just drop the call.

Latvians shell-shocked, resigned to economic pain

Schoolteacher Daila Klinstone has seen half her income disappear in Latvia's budget cuts. But she is more shell-shocked than angry and says she will not take to the streets in protest.

Teachers, hospital workers and pensioners are taking the heaviest blows in Latvia's battle to avert national bankruptcy. The health minister has quit rather than impose the latest cuts - the 'easy path' according to Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis [ID:nLH629470].

"I have three children... all of whom I have to support on my salary that'll be 124 lats ($245.9)," said Klinstone, a 47-year-old physics and chemistry teacher in Riga.

"I have no idea how we'll survive."

This is the kind of intelligent political debate I want to see. Not the hate porn O'Reilly and Hannity serve up day after day after day after day.

Calm. Rational. Intelligent. Civil.

The only thing missing is a woman.

Two rich white men debating abortion is like two Hungarians debating Ethiopian fiscal policy.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 3
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Andrew Sullivan nails it. "Iranians are now leading the rest of us."

"I wrote a couple weeks back that something is happening in Iran. But it is not the only place where something is happening. The rejection of al Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan; the ground-up election of Obama in America; and now the rising up of Iranians for freedom and civility with their neighbors: these are the green shoots of recovery from 9/11 and its wake.

Empowered by new information technology, chastened by the apocalyptic conflicts of the last few years, determined to shift course away from civilizational warfare, the people of many countries are grasping for a new order and a new peace.

It will not be easy; and it will not be short. But it is the only path worth taking.

And these Iranians are now leading the rest of us."

- Andrew Sullivan, June 20, 2009

China had an easy time with it. They let them gather in one place, then they mowed them down with their tanks. In Iran, not so easy.

Why?

Because the freedom fighters are EVERYWHERE.

This is what a hero looks like

"I also know that Iran’s women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on. I’ve seen them get beaten and return to the fray. “Why are you sitting there?” one shouted at a couple of men perched on the sidewalk on Saturday. “Get up! Get up!”

Another green-eyed woman, Mahin, aged 52, staggered into an alley clutching her face and in tears. Then, against the urging of those around her, she limped back into the crowd moving west toward Freedom Square. Cries of “Death to the dictator!” and “We want liberty!” accompanied her."

- Roger Cohen, NYT, June 20, 2009

Death to the Ayatollah.

Few against many. And eventually, the many will (hopefully) kill the few.

It is over. The evil despotic regime in Iran has fallen. They may not know it now. Or maybe they do. But they will be swinging from ropes soon.

[WARNING - GRAPHIC, AS REAL REVOLUTIONS ARE]



Very soon.

Very soon.

The despots are in their last days.

It hath been foretold.

These citizens are done with their leadership. The trust has completely and irretrievably dissipated, and the fear, although present, is not sufficient, especially as it becomes more clear the army will remain on the sidelines. And the mullahs have opened all the playbooks on repression and crowd control simultaneously; it's a smorgasboard attempt at blocking the rising tide of resentment; if you'll recall, that's called the mullah's-ass-on-a-pressure-cooker-lid-to-retard-fulmination rule. If things look bad with the pressure cooker, piling more mullahs on the lid will only result in a more spectacular finish.

If the Warsaw Ghetto uprising had been broadcast to the entire world, Hitler's demise most surely would have come several years sooner. The mullahs have no way out. They are, essentially, fucked. It's now only a matter of time. And Iran's negotiations on their nuclear program? Suspended indefinitely due to lack of credibility; nobody will believe anything they say now.

TICK, TOCK, MOTHERF*****...

I wish the Iranian revolutionaries had guns

[WARNING - GRAPHIC VIDEO]





This is not the time for peaceful protest, as the Ayatollah's thugs shoot people in the streets like dogs.

This is a revolution. This is war.

And revolutionaries, when being fired upon by despots, need guns. Not slogans. Not chants. Not rocks.

They need to decapitate this evil regime.

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice"

"The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples' belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."

-President Barack Obama, June 20, 2009

This is how morally corrupt and ruthless totalitarian dictatorships treat their women

Put bags on them, treat them like dogs, and beat 'em.

The men of Iran who are not with the regime should take matters into their own hands.

The world is watching.

Latest Iranian Revolution 2.0 videos. Nice to see the Summer of Rage™ living up to its billing.

3pm GMT - Dramatic video out of Tehran as Ayatollah's thugs do his dirty work. Because Allah would of course want innocent protesters shot.

Shooting unarmed protesters, because they are afraid, and morally bankrupt.




And they fight them with rocks.

They shoot them in the street like dogs

"Where is this place where so many innocent people are trapped? This place is Iran."

For those of you that don't speak Farsi, the sign in front of Mr. Ayatollah says "I fear our young people, and I will now kill them and jail them"

Unless, of course, they can get him first.

1979. 1.0. 2009. 2.0.

"Of the two most significant events that impacted on the entire Middle East in the last two generations — the Arab loss in the June 1967 war and the Iranian Revolution in 1979 — the Iranian revolution has probably had wider and greater impact in the long run. Iran impacts on many parts of the region, because of its ideological influence and logistical support to Islamist movements in the Arab world, combined with its leadership of the “resistance front” of regional forces that defy and challenge the United States, Israel and conservative Arab regimes. If Iran once again sets the standard for mass political protest or even revolutionary change, the impact throughout the Middle East is likely to be enormous."

So, will you be spending your Saturday at Wal-Mart? Well, some people won't be. "Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed."

"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them.

I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."