On understanding Iran

The Islamic republic is a paranoid state, especially when dealing with the west and with Sunni Islam.America's CIA overthrew the Mossadegh government in the 50's and that hasn't been forgotten. America aided the Shah in his repression. Ameica condoned Saddam's war with Iran in the 80's turning a blind eye towards his use of WMD. While America tries to stop an Iranian nuclear program, it tacitly ignores the nuclear arsenal of Israel. To Iran' having nukes is security. The west meddles in Middle eastern politics, Iran dealt with British control of her oil industry, America's aims in dominating the Gulf, Russia' aspirations for a warm water port, to name a few. America is now miltarily active on the east and western borders of Iran and in the Gulf. India, Pakistan and Israel possess nukes, why shouldn't Iran? Iran sees herself from a historical perspective as the natural leader and hegemon in the Middle East. She has a 2,500 year old legacy of dominance in the region. For Iran, nukes are a deterrent and a status symbol of regional power. Iran is not going to surrender her nuclear program just because Obama. Bush or the UN want them to.
They don't trust the west(with good reason) and that is going to make real diplomacy difficult. It matters little whose in power when the smoke of the current crisis clears. Khamenei and Rafsanjani, Ahmedinejad and Moussavi, all are in favor of a nuclear Iran. Perhaps Iran just wants to have the ability to assemble one, if need be. Iran probably won't export nukes to terrorists, as of yet Iran has not given terrorists any of her chemical weapons.
As the revolution changes generations and rhetoric, one hopes Iran will become a willing partner working towards stabilty in the region. Accepting that is the only thing that will probably work for America in the long run. It certainly has its advantages. America needs Iran,s help to stabilize both Iraq and Afghanistan

Be Still

" Be still and know that I am god."Eckhart Tolle calls it the stillness of the presence of the Now. that "us" who we think we are, is illusion. In the end, there is the stillness and unity of all creation. We humans, endowed with thought, have entered a world where the now is unimportant. Its either about what happened to me, or whats going to happen to me.Content and form. Yet in the Now is god. Baba RamDass entitiled his great spiritual guide "Be here Now" AA said," Yesterday is history, tomorow is a mystery, the now is a gift of god, thats why they call it the present. We weave our individual dramas and we weave our collective dramas(religion, nationhood etc.) We want more, we want completeness, yet we ignore the now and chase the completeness into the future. Look at people who "have made it" They don't think they've made it. The list is long, Michael Jackson, Gov. Sanford, Britney Spears, Bernie Madoff to name a few, who by our social standards made it. But they still weren't complete. Put this into collective form and you get war, chaos, discord, envirnmental degradation as we collectively seek more, never getting to where we want to go.
Eckhart Tolle asks us to look at a flower and after we obseve the beauty, the sensual experiences, we can see the perfect stillness, the spaciousness, the emptiness that it is. There, in that perfect stillness resides god, formless,nameless,unexplainable but eternally still.

From CNN: Pretty much the way it is

By John DeVore




(The Frisky) -- So, let's talk infidelity. Many ladies want to know why it is men cheat.
Men cheat for variety of reason and biology is one of them, writer says.

And here's what you want to hear, straight from the talk-hole of the testosterone enabled: men cheat because we are faithless, miserable dogs.
We are backstabbing, silver tongued two-faces who stalk any smooth pair of getaway sticks in a short black cocktail dress that happens to saunter into our lusty field of vision.
Men are horny wolves in fluffy sheep's clothing who delight in looking into your eyes and lying. Breaking hearts is our middle name. Why, at any given moment, while you're gabbing to your girlfriends about flowers purchased, omelettes made, sweet words whispered, we're picturing the nearest woman under the age of 25 in a sheer bikini, riding a mechanical bull.
We are just hopelessly addicted to that "new car smell." We love to make you miserable in our pursuit of total hotness, your fickle happiness not our concern.
And that's just part of it. If you want to blame someone for our cheating ways, blame evolution! We are hardwired to hunt, and to share our wicked cool genetic code with a world that demands that we do! The universe conspires to compel us to pursue that which retreats.
See, we cheat because we're cavemen, and our half-gorilla brains demand we spread as much of our seed over as much fertile ground as possible to make sure that our little caveboys have the chance to grow up and do likewise. And we do this quickly, mind you, because you never know when a woolly mammoth will shish kabob us on one of their mighty tusks. It's not our fault. It's biology, genetics, science! How can you question science? Without it, the curling iron would never have been invented!
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Here's another reason men run around behind the backs of their doting, self-sacrificing, noble girlfriends and wives -- you don't adore us enough.
When Spartan warriors returned home from victorious campaigns, do you think their women greeted them with eye-rolls and shrugs? They were venerated supremely, celebrated for days upon days! Love was made to them, olives were pitted and fed to them, their wives could not get enough of their dangerous tales of adventure and carnage! Tales told over and over and over again.
And, at the end of each of these nights, as the mighty victors, now satiated and spent, drifted off to sleep, their ladyfolk would purr into their ears, "OMG, you are totally awesome." The Frisky: Nine signs he's a cheater
If you don't pat us on the back and tell us we're special, we will find someone who will, and that person, who will pat us on the back and tell us we're special will be, nineteen years old.
How could I forget this other important reason why men cheat -- we're addicted to sex!
It's not our fault we drool for hours over porn while you sleep. It's a diagnosable affliction, and while many of us probably don't really need to see a shrink to legitimately diagnose it, or to even go to rehab, you have to understand that it's beyond our control. We can't help ourselves.
Pity the booty junkie. And don't take our word for it -- actual relationship experts on television confirm that some, if not most, men are hooked on sleeping with as many women as they can. This in no way enables us to justify bad behavior and to escape responsibility for our actions. This is just a true fact, that men can become addicted to getting whatever it is they want without consequence.
Surely, as the more emotionally developed and sensitive gender, you can't negatively judge someone wrestling with such a malady. That would be cruel. The Frisky: In 21st Century what's considered cheating?
Get the point?
The truth is that men cheat for the same reason women cheat. And cheat you do.
There isn't a word for a women whose husband cheats on her. But the English language gives us a word for a man whose wife runs around on him. That word is "cuckold," and there are few names as limp and pitiful sounding as "cuckold." Maybe "smoosh."
Women can be faithless, and for centuries, they've done their fair share of tasting forbidden fruit. Literature is full of the sorrow women have caused: Menelaus laid siege to Troy because Helen ran away with another man. Othello smothered his beloved because he believed her to have cheated on him. Even frat boy romantic comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was all based around that Kristen Bell, from "Veronica Mars," cheating on that funny fat dude. The Frisky: Once a cheater, always a cheater?
Plenty of blame to go around; it would be unfair to savage one gender so the other can enjoy the dismal pleasures of pointless victimization. But there is a reason people, men and women, cheat. The Frisky: Should you out a cheater?
And here's the fable part.
A dog was carrying a bone over a bridge. Looking down at the water under the bridge, the dog saw his reflection, which looked to the dog to be a bigger dog, carrying a bigger bone. Wanting the bigger bone he saw in the water, the dog barked and dropped his bone into the river. Stupid dog loses his bone.
We cheat because we're tempted to risk what we have for the promise of something that isn't, probably never was, and definitely won't last.
So... everyone is capable of cheating. We are our very own villain and that is a true fact. Makes us human, I suppose. The choice.
Ah well. It's a risk we all have to take, trusting the other person even though they could cheat. But without risk, there is no reward.

Republicans.. the moral and religious polestar of nation!

Need i say more. Of course theres the congressman caught foot tapping for male action in in a public restroom. For religious strength and leadership we have the likes of Jimmy Swaggart and Ted Haggard. Mark Sanford and John Ensign held major power positions in the senate and party. Looks like the party of moral values is crumbling away. I'm not saying that Democrats,Libertarians,Populists(John Edwards) or Communists don't engage in hanky panky. Clinton took it to the Oval Office. But Edwards and Clinton didn't preach moral strength like our republican friends do. Whose next? My bet is Haley Barbour. A man that ugly has to use prostitutes or maybe he'll just hold up McDonalds and steal a couple of hundred Big Macs.

This will upset Rush so much, he'll have to pop a few dozen oxycontins to be able to continue to preach his vile crap.

And..the culprit is...........Great Britain

Interesting turn of events in Iran,Brits have been "identified" as behind the protests. What does this mean? It means, for the Brits, that they are pulling out families and dependants from their embassy. It also means that America, The Great Satan, is NOT the culprit. Iran needs to blame the west for this unrest, rather than take any responsibility for a fixed election. Apparently there is a need to have things as they are, governmentally, anyway. Yet, with all Ahmedinejad's anti USA and Israel rhetoric, Iran places the blame on the Brits. Great scapegoat. Supporters of America in Iraq and of Israel(some would say they partially responsible for the Arab-Israeli crisis, due to their handling of the post WW I Palestinian mandate). But Israeli jets have Iranian grid coordinates in their computers. America has troops and weapons on either side of Iran and a navy in the gulf. Khamenei and his henchmen are afraid. And, to all you Republicans that think Obama is not standing up for democracy, he has diplomatically managed not to have the American name attached(so far) to this unrest, thus keeping the door open for dialogue. Good move, Barack!

Note: File picture does not represent anything going on in Iran presently, these are Pakistani muslims.

A man to watch

Ayatullah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. We know Rafsanjani as Ahmedinejad's predecessor as president. He has been portrayed as moderate to liberal, which means different things in Iran than it does in the West. Rafsanjani condemned the 1991 Gulf war and refused to lift the fatwa imposed by Khomeini on Salman Rushdie. He is a mutjahid(Islamic scholar) and holds its highest rank, Ayatullah. So if he gains power, you will not see the appearance of Playboy magazine and liquor stores opening in the bazaars. Rafsanjani's power lies in his chairmanship of an 86 man body called the Assembly of Experts. This group decides who will be the next Supreme Leader of the nation. They also have the power to depose a Supreme Leader, which is where I expect we will see some action. He is also holder of the chairmanship of a body called the Expediency Discemment Council, which resolves disputes between the Majlis(elected legislature) and the Council of Guardians(which deals with constitutional and electoral matters)
As Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei has backed the election of Ahmedinejad and is presently escalating the repression of dissent, many members of the Iranian government feel uncomfortable with that, and look to Rafsanjani to lead them out of this mess. He has already called for a meeting of the Assembly of Experts, but whether he has the votes to oust Khamenei is unknown. Rafsanjani has always had the support of the bazaaris(read yesterdays post). He favors a free market econony and dialogue with America. Watch for this sign: if the bazaaris decide to strike and close the shops, then we are headed towards what might become a revolution of sorts.
Little will really change internationally. Iran has become a regional power in the area and will want to exercise that power. She is active in Iraq and already siphons off quite a bit of Iraqi oil. The Arabs see Iran as wanting to spread the Shia version of Islam, and that frightens them. America needs Iran as a working partner in Iraq and in Afghanistan for American policy to succeed, yet has to be able to temper any Iranian imperialist aspirations to consol the Saudis and other gulf/oil states.
Here are some quotes from Rafsanjani to give you an idea of his political philosophy"


If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything. However, it will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality. Of course, you can see that the Americans have kept their eyes peeled and they are carefully looking for even the slightest hint that technological advances are being made by an independent Islamic country. If an independent Islamic country is thinking about acquiring other kinds of weaponry, then they will do their utmost to prevent it from acquiring them. Well, that is something that almost the entire world is discussing right now. (December 2001)[26]
If the Americans attack Iran, the world will change. …They will not dare to make such a mistake (2004)[27]
We are not bothering anyone, but we have acquired nuclear expertise and we want to benefit from it to improve our life.
You need diplomacy and not slogans. This is the place for wisdom, the place for seeking windows that will take you to the objective. (2005)[28]
We want all the Palestinians back in their homeland, and then there can be a fair referendum for people to choose the form of state they want. Whoever gets the majority can rule. (2005)[29]
There is no doubt that America is a superpower of the world and we cannot ignore them. I think that Americans should gradually begin to adopt positive behavior rather than doing evil. They should not expect an immediate reaction in return for their positive measures. It will take time.[30]
I believe the main solution [referring to the nuclear issue] is to gain the trust of Europe and America and to remove their concerns over the peaceful nature of our nuclear industry and to assure them that there will never be a diversion to military use.[31]
Europe resolved a great problem – the problem of the Zionist danger. The Zionists, who constituted a strong political party in Europe, caused much disorder there. Since they had a lot of property and controlled an empire of propaganda, they made the European governments helpless. What Hitler and the German Nazis did to the Jews of Europe at that time was partly due to these circumstances with the Jews. They wanted to expel the Zionists from Europe because they always were a pain in the neck for the governments there. This is how this calamity fell upon the Muslims, especially the Palestinians, and you all know this history, more or less.[...]The first goal was to save Europe from the evil of Zionism, and in this, they have been relatively successful. [32]
Look, as long as we can enrich uranium and master the fuel cycle, we don’t need anything else. Our neighbors will be able to draw the proper conclusions.[33]

The quotes were taken from Wikipedia

WHAT DO THE BAZAARIS THINK??

I have been, like many, following recent events in Iran with interest. Anyone who is following this can be confused by the serpentine channels of power within the Islamic government. In the final analysis, this really isn't about Moussavi and Ahmedinejad, its about a power struggle within the ranks of the Ayatullahs that run Iran. Between Ali Khamenei and Ayatullah Rafsanjani. The students are carrying the torch of this dissent. The military and conservative mullahs are reacting. Ayatullah Khamenei said yesterday in essence, that the election was an expression of divine will. As Iran's Supreme Leader and, according to the dictates set up by Ayatullah Ruhallah Khomeini, he is as infallible as a medieval pope. Apparently the masses reject this. This is a big crack in the theocracy. We have heard from the Mullahs, both sides, as they too are divided. We have heard from the students and intellectuals. The poor and under educated are manipulated by religious dogma and hatred to side with the government( Gee, just like in America!) The military stands ready. But what do the bazaaris think.? Bazaaris in Iranina society are the middle class shop owners from the bazaars and the rich merchants that rose from this class. In 1979 they were frimly behind Khomeini, but that is probably changing. Iran's economy is challenged today. Money is spent on a nuclear weapons program, financing Hamas and Hezbollah and little trickles down to the bazaars. Ahmedinijed promised economic reform but it didn't happen. Average Iranians must fear direct confrontation with Israel, who will nuke their weapons program without a second thought. They also fear war with America. Remember it was just 20 years ago that Iran was engaged with a long and bloody war with Saddam Hussein. Most bazaaris are old enough to remember those days. Where will they throw their power too? Whatever happens, Irans Islamic Revolution is finished, maybe not today, but in the final analysis the theocracy as we see it will fall. Who knows what will replace it?