The Great Problem of Ignorance

Appearing at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC last week, former six-term congressman Rep. Jim Slattery (D-KS) said: “One of the great problems we have to overcome right now is ignorance, individuals in both countries have poor knowledge of each other."

Jim Slattery was making the speech at the Atlantic Council after being the first former US congressman who has visited Iran since 1979. It seems however that all his 'interaction' attempts with the Islamic Republic officials has done nothing to diminish his own ignorance of the ruling religious dictatorship in Iran.

Even before his visit to Iran, Slattery has been doing his best to "interact" with the Islamic Republic officials through the Abrahamic Dialogue interfaith initiative, yet astonishingly, it seems no amount of "interaction" is helping to reduce his sheer ignorance on the nature of the ruling theocracy in Iran.

The Kansas Democrat seems to think he has found a commonality with his counterparts in Iran, religion! “Religion is a big part of their life, just as it is in Kansas”  Slattery told the think tank audience. One would assume on the basis of this commonality he has discovered, he will in the near future, also initiate one of his "interaction" trips with the representatives of the Islamic State, as religion seems to be a big part of their life too.

"the one thing they [Islamic Republic officials] yearn for, is respect,” Jim Slattery, the former Democrat representative shared his new found wisdom with the Atlantic Council think tank. The mind boggles at the stupidity of these Western do-gooders and how easily they can be fooled. I wonder as part of his "interaction tour", whether the former Democrat Congressman, also attended one of the Friday Prayer sermons held across Iran, where the faithful are urged to chant "Death to America!" during every Friday prayer, perhaps he would then been wiser as to what was really meant by "yearning respect". 

All this stupidity and ignorance reminds me of a time when I, myself, met some of the US State Dept officials at the time of George Bush's presidency. I was told straight away by one of them that "the US foreign policy was not about regime change in Iran, instead it was about changing the behaviour of the regime", to which I replied "Ah thats good! and how do you intend to change their behaviour?" 
"We have a website!" The US State Dept official replied. I was shown a website in Persian which promoted democracy and civil society and I assume the hapless diplomat thought that eventually the Iranian ruling clergy will stumble on this wonderful website and find the benefits and advantages of democracy and in time it will lead to a change of their behaviour.
The only words I could find to say at the time was "Well, Good Luck!" and all I can say to the likes of Jim Slattery who attended a conference in Tehran on "combatting violence and extremism" is also "Well, Good Luck!". As I am sure if former Kansas Congressman was around at the time of Hitler, he may have also attended a conference organised by the Nazis on how to combat violence and extremism and came back and told his audience of well wishers, "All the Nazis yearn for is respect!"

Whose side are you on, you fools?

13th September, 2014. The Iranian national volleyball team is playing in Poland. Amongst the crowds, there is one female Iranian fan, who has not succumbed to the suppression of her national symbols by the Islamic Republic occupiers of Iran. Darya Safaei, as in all the other volleyball matches she attends to, is waving the true national flag of Iran - the green, white and red tri-colour with the historic Sun and Lion symbol in the middle, the true flag of her fatherland. She is also holding a poster of Ghoncheh Ghavami, the girl who was arrested in Iran after attempting to watch a volleyball match.

This is all too much for the Islamic Republic security agents. An intelligence agent of the regime who is leading the Islamic Republic supporters in the crowd, wearing their head scarves and waving their phoney flags, calls a spectator to tell Darya, if she does not bring her flag down, she will be severely dealt with and the stadium stewards will obey his command to remove her.

The dumb Polish officials then move in to obey the instructions handed to them by the Islamic Republic agent. Yet the steadfast Iranian lioness stands her ground and tells them "This is my flag! I will not move!". Another spectator, who unlike the mushy-brained stewards understands what is going on, tries to intervene and yells at the uniformed order-taker "Are you with the Islamic Republic?" 

Darya keeps telling the Polish stewards "That's my flag!" and the idiot steward pumped up on ignorance dares to tell her "No!" and again Darya is not intimidated and the Islamic Republic state TV is resigned to show images of the Sun and Lion flags during the match.

My blood boils when I watch these scenes and I feel ashamed I was not there to help Darya.  I feel ashamed that I was not in the stadium to wrap the steward's ID sling around his neck. I want to yell at these dumb Polish stadium stewards, "Whose fucking side are you on, you dumb asses? Have you forgotten what it was like when your own national symbols were suppressed by the Nazi and the Soviet occupiers?"

Question I asked at the Frontline Club in Jan 2014

Question I asked at the Frontline Club a year ago, on how the new oil exploration technology will change the supply and demand of oil and how it will effect Iran's economy:

The Cartoon that Resembled Ayatollah Khomeini

In 1990, a young 19 year old Iranian cartoonist by the name of Hasan Karimzadeh drew this cartoon which was published in a magazine called Farad.

The young cartoonist had intended to make a statement about the budget cuts in football and Iran's football players being at a disadvantage compared to their competitors. Instead his cartoon sparked the wrath of Islamic fanatics who thought the cartoon resembled Ayatollah Khomeini and the mob demanded the 19 year old to be executed.

Karimzadeh was eventually sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, as well as 50 whip lashes and a financial fine. The magazine officials also received prison sentences, whip lashes and financial fines and the magazine was closed down.

And this saga of cartoons offending some people continues ...

"Islam Does Not Allow Killing"

There seems to be no end to the naivety of some simpletons in the West. Listening to the LBC radio talk show after the cold blooded terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris, I was dismayed to learn the penny has still not dropped for so many people here in UK.

One listener, who described herself as a homosexual teacher of religious studies at a school in London was more concerned about the imminent Islamophobic backlash on her "Muslim brothers and sisters" than the danger the Western civilisation faces right now from radical Islam. 

Another non-Muslim listener phoned and pretended she understood Islam better than the terrorists who carried out the attack, by saying "Islam does not allow the killing of another human being".

Honestly I know these people wish well but they really have not got a clue. They have not got a clue about Islam and they have not got a clue about where the real danger lies and they have not got a clue how to tackle this serious threat to the Western way of life that so many people have benefited from living under, since the second world war.

There is no Islamophobia in the UK. If there was, then there wouldn't be so many Muslims wanting to come to UK and instead we would be witnessing Muslims leaving UK in large numbers. British Muslims enjoy equal opportunity policies like others and are in all key employments, just take a look at who works in the Home Office and the many Muslim case workers in the Home Office who decide the fate of asylum seekers coming to this country.

Does the non-Muslim Westerner, who thinks she knows Islam better than these Muslim radicals and claims Islam does not allow the killing of another human being, really think any potential Muslim radical will be impressed by their ignorant assertions?

The fact is that Islam does allow killing and even encourages killing of infidels. A potential radical Muslim studying Islam in state authorised religious schools and madrassas up and down England will learn that up to 900 men of the Banu-Qurayza tribe were beheaded in one day and their women and children were sold as slaves by the direct orders of the prophet of Islam.  

The potential Muslim radical will also learn about the dissident poetess Asma Bint-Marwan, who was put to death by the direct orders of Mohammad for her poems which mocked the prophet and his followers.

Does the non-Muslim Westerner who knows nothing about the religion of Islam and its history really think he or she can impress the potential Muslim radicals more than what they will learn from reading the Islamic scriptures and from listening to the Imams preaching from mosques and madrassas throughout England?

It really is time to wake up for those who want to remain in a state of denial. The Western way of life is under real threat and the way to combat this threat is not to delude yourself by thinking Islam is a religion of peace and that Islam does not allow the killing of other human beings. You will impress no one by making such apologetic statements. 

The Missing $4.1 Bn from the National Development Fund

Rouhani's cabinet members at first flatly and explicitly denied the recent accusations by Iran's Majlis over the illegal withdrawal of $4.1 Bn from the National Development Fund. The row between the two bodies got so heated up that each side threatened the other with legal action.

What further added to the confusion and unclarity of the situation was the different and at times, conflicting statements by two of Iran's supervisory bodies, the Audit Institution  and the General Inspection Organisation.

The threats of legal action however, now seem to have subsided to reach a compromise instead, with the government no longer denying the withdrawal, as it did so explicitly to begin with, but claiming that the withdrawal from the fund did take place although it was not illegal. 

The government spokespersons now use words like"secret" and "special" to justify the legalities of the withdrawal without giving more specific details.

It is clear for Iran observers however that the government finances, after the falling price of oil, are in deep trouble. The entire budget of Rouhani's administration was based on two assumptions that sanctions will be lifted and the oil price will remain above $100 per barrel.

This "secret" and "special" withdrawal from the National Development Fund to make ends meet follows other recent unprecedented measures by the government to bring in much needed cash, such as the %30 rise in price of bread, conscripts being able to buy their National Service and IRGC affiliated companies including the holdings and foundations under the Supreme Leader's control having to pay taxes.

For more than three decades, the Islamic Republic's closed and uncompetitive economy has managed to survive on the huge windfalls of petro-Dollars, now it seems finally the good old days are over and unless some drastic changes take place, Iran's rule of theocracy  will face a similar collapse to that of the Soviet Union.

Iran Police Shoots Himself in the Foot

It was supposed to be a show of prowess in shooting skills by Iran's anti-terrorist special forces [NOPO]. To begin with, everything was going well. The balloons were going up and between the three of them, they were managing to shoot down the balloons with precision shooting and ease. 

Just when it was all about to finish well and the special forces were about to leave the crowds dazzled and overawed however, one of the special forces policemen, shoots himself in the foot!

In a way, very  symbolic of the Islamic Republic itself. On the surface it looks strong and invincible but given time, it will soon manage to shoot itself in the foot!

Still, the good thing is, no one in the crowd got hurt. Safety of the innocent bystanders not usually the top concern for the regime.

Link to the original video :

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1005167926166563&pnref=story