In Iran
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At the height of the hostage crisis in 80 I had a number of Iranian friends in San Diego. They all said the same.
One of my colleagues, and friends, a guy named Rahim, was beside himself.
Yeah, he called himself Persian as well.
Slightly off-topic: I dated a girl who said she was of Assyrian ancestry. Gawd was she gorgeous...
Slightly off-topic: I dated a girl who said she was of Assyrian ancestry. Gawd was she gorgeous...
An Iranian ex-pat in her late 20's worked for us a couple of years ago. Oh boy. My Russian friend introduced himself to her by saying "You look like my wife!". It wasn't clear whether he meant his current one or his next one.
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I played golf with one of those hostages this morning.
This was only 10 days ago.
He went into the hospital on Friday with a heart attack. He came home on Sunday, doing well. He died in his sleep this morning.
He was a 24 year old Navy petty officer when he was taken hostage in Iran.
Remember the "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" campaign that was popular during the crisis? There were yellow ribbons in just about every town square in the country. Sam told me that when he got home, he received a personal phone call from Tony Orlando who sang the song for him over the phone, nice story.
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I played golf with one of those hostages this morning.
This was only 10 days ago.
He went into the hospital on Friday with a heart attack. He came home on Sunday, doing well. He died in his sleep this morning.
He was a 24 year old Navy petty officer when he was taken hostage in Iran.
Remember the "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" campaign that was popular during the crisis? There were yellow ribbons in just about every town square in the country. Sam told me that when he got home, he received a personal phone call from Tony Orlando who sang the song for him over the phone, nice story.
@Copper Wow. That is too bad.
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Three weeks after antigovernment protests erupted across Iran—sparked by the death of a woman detained for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code—the movement has proved more durable than previous challenges to Tehran’s leaders and could pose a continuing threat.
Students across the country rallied outside universities on Sunday, chanting slogans including “death to the dictator,” and schoolgirls marched in the streets of Tehran waving their veils in the air, a gesture that has become a central expression of dissent. The governor of Kurdistan province on Sunday ordered universities closed, likely to avoid more protests. Stores across the country stayed closed as part of a widening strike of shopkeepers.
The demonstrations are unlikely to topple the government, at least in the short term, activists and political analysts said. But the deep disaffection they represent and the fact that they target a key pillar of the Islamic Republic and its foundational ideology make them a significant test.
Since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman taken into custody by Iran’s morality police in September, protesters who initially focused on women’s rights have broadened their aims, calling for more freedom in life and politics and the ouster of the country’s Islamic leadership.
At the heart of the protests is the Islamic head covering, or hijab, which has been mandatory for Iranian women since 1983, four years after the Islamic Revolution that brought the Islamic clerics to power.
“This moment is significant because it has unleashed the potential for longer-lasting civil disobedience,” said Narges Bajoghli, a Johns Hopkins University anthropologist who studies Iran. “Given that half the population must veil, this issue cuts across class, ethnicity and social position.”
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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The problem?
Don't kill yourself without taking a half-dozen bastards with you.
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Three weeks after antigovernment protests erupted across Iran—sparked by the death of a woman detained for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code—the movement has proved more durable than previous challenges to Tehran’s leaders and could pose a continuing threat.
Students across the country rallied outside universities on Sunday, chanting slogans including “death to the dictator,” and schoolgirls marched in the streets of Tehran waving their veils in the air, a gesture that has become a central expression of dissent. The governor of Kurdistan province on Sunday ordered universities closed, likely to avoid more protests. Stores across the country stayed closed as part of a widening strike of shopkeepers.
The demonstrations are unlikely to topple the government, at least in the short term, activists and political analysts said. But the deep disaffection they represent and the fact that they target a key pillar of the Islamic Republic and its foundational ideology make them a significant test.
Since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman taken into custody by Iran’s morality police in September, protesters who initially focused on women’s rights have broadened their aims, calling for more freedom in life and politics and the ouster of the country’s Islamic leadership.
At the heart of the protests is the Islamic head covering, or hijab, which has been mandatory for Iranian women since 1983, four years after the Islamic Revolution that brought the Islamic clerics to power.
“This moment is significant because it has unleashed the potential for longer-lasting civil disobedience,” said Narges Bajoghli, a Johns Hopkins University anthropologist who studies Iran. “Given that half the population must veil, this issue cuts across class, ethnicity and social position.”
The demonstrations are unlikely to topple the government, at least in the short term, activists and political analysts said
Could surprise however. Who thought that Premier Ceaușescu would be drive from office. (Though I have read things that it really was not really a revolution, but a coup)
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The demonstrations are unlikely to topple the government, at least in the short term, activists and political analysts said
Could surprise however. Who thought that Premier Ceaușescu would be drive from office. (Though I have read things that it really was not really a revolution, but a coup)
All of the Warsaw Pact member states were tossing out their communists overlords at that time. Romania, the most Stalinist of them all after East Germany, was going to follow suit. When it came it was no surprise as it, along with Albania which was unique in it’s own Stalinist way, were among the very last hold outs.
What is happening in Iran now is very different.
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Romania is largely remembered more than the other former Warsaw Pact states because of the fate of the Ceausecus. .
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WHen Premier Ceaușescu gets booed from stage. The look on his face is "Oops - what is happen here??!!"
Link to video -
Gladwell talks about the fall of Ceausescu in "The Tipping Point."
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Now the oil workers are joining in, threatening to destroy what they built.
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Gladwell talks about the fall of Ceausescu in "The Tipping Point."
Gladwell talks about the fall of Ceausescu in "The Tipping Point."
That looks like an interesting book
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Gladwell talks about the fall of Ceausescu in "The Tipping Point."
That looks like an interesting book
@taiwan_girl it is. It's been years since I read it, so only a couple of anecdotes stick out in my memory, this being one of them.
It's very much "pop psychology" stuff, like much of his other stuff. Entertaining, nevertheless.
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Watched a news report on the Iran revolt this am that discussed at some length a state militia called Basij. They are they ones cracking protesters’ heads and other despicable criminal acts against dissenters.
Especially nasty bunch of fanatics:
https://www.voanews.com/amp/iran-s-basij-force-specialists-in-cracking-down-on-dissent-/6759796.html
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Iran has a citizenry that is very angry with their government and very tired of their repression. I think the mullahs never really stamped out the westernization of the country. I really hope this rids the country of these medieval bastards in power.
