Tuesday, January 10, 2012

HTTP://WWW.FREEAMIR.ORG

"There's a plan for the Pentagon to cut almost half a trillion dollars from the military. The Pentagon plans to pay for future wars by divorcing Kobe Bryant." – Conan O'Brien
"The U.S. government is selling $30 billion worth of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. Yeah, it’s part of a new initiative called, 'Operation Regret This In Five Years.'" – Jimmy Fallon

If you are an American-born Iranian picked up and accused of spying in Tehran, you sure got a speedy trial, along with a state-appointed lawyer that you first met during the trial. Today the Iranian court sentenced you to death, could there really be any other verdict? Your family back in Michigan said you were there visiting your grandmother, and that should be easy to prove, just provide the airline tickets to whichever country you flew to before crossing into Iran. The bad part is that the CIA has gone silent about you since your arrest, not even a belligerent denial that they even knew of you.

Iran doesn't acknowledge dual citizenship, you are either Persian or not, and Amir Mirzai Hekmati was accused of the ambiguous crimes of being Corrupt on Earth, and waging war with God, who just happens in this case to be represented by God's best friend, Iran. Since the Iranian judiciary has never provided a list as to what consists of being Corrupt on Earth, it ends up meaning whatever they want it to, on a case by case basis. Now, the government has a pawn to use for any future negotiations. Politics gets ugly, too bad we are playing with a person's life...

There are mixed reports on how well sanctions are working on Iran. The problem is that we are trying to coerce them into being sensible, when they just end up digging their heels in deeper, like some teenage boy throwing a snit-fit. Even if they can't afford it and it will wreck their economy, Iran has identified their nuclear program with a macho sense of national pride, and their leaders will never give it up. Expect Israel to actually try to bomb the new facility built into the mountainside outside of Qom within the next three months.

Panicking, many Iranian citizens have made runs on their banks, pulling all of their money out and asking for dollars. This has caused the government to announce that it would no longer be dealing in dollars as a backup currency, and future deals with other countries will be done in rials and the currency of that country. China and Russia won't go along with the new sanctions, so they will step up trading with Iran under the guise of trying to influence them to cut down their nuclear program. But, if Iran insists on continuing, Russia and china will be glad to sell them parts and technology...

Politically in the Middle East, Iran isn't very happy with its friend, Turkey. Turkey won't go along and support the Syrian government in committing genocide on its citizens. But then, it looks like no other country besides Iraq is supporting Syria. The Arab League was embarrassed to watch the Syrian army shoot people while they were observing, and having their observers being intimidated and bullied around. Qatar is even saying that maybe they should ask NATO to step in, similar to what happened in Libya. That way, if things go terribly wrong, the US can be blamed... Hmmm, maybe there have been outside paid agitators trying to rouse the Syrian population...


Is it just me, that the Republican primary candidates talking points are so far removed from reality as to make them inconsequential? I doubt that any of them can relate to any of the actual problems that us peons have to deal with. I shudder to think any one of them at the helm, especially Rick Perry.

My nephew is a chef in austin, and he has worked at a restaurant that is popular among Texas politicians. He's served Lady Bird Johnson, George W Bush, and, of course, Rick Perry. His impression of the current governor is that not only is Rick Perry incredibly dumb, but he is a big time alcoholic, as well. That might be good for the ol'-boys that use him as their puppet in running the state, but won't work in Washington DC... unless you like the idea of having our country taken over by Texas oilmen again. More bewildering, is why does Texas elect stupid men as their governors? I know that the Texas educational system is really bad, and it pains me to see the results in my sister's grandchildren, who are bright and smart and talented, being dumbed down in the public schools...

No comments:

Post a Comment

Hi! Thanks for commenting. I always try to respond...