Game Changer

President Trump delivered his message this morning and it was precise and clear. Either you have already seen it or you can watch the video. This is my understanding of his message and some events surrounding it. It is a confirmation of my previous couple of posts. It only expands the narrative.

The U.S. & Iran Conflict

The U.S.-Iran Conflict was escalated today, by Iran sending some missiles into a few U.S. and allied bases in Iraq. It seems that President Trump is going to address the nation tonight. From his policy direction so far I am assuming that he will clarify his position further tonight. I will hold all my comments until I hear him.

Are Tensions Rising between the U.S. and Iran?

I am already seeing ridiculous signs of "hands off Iran!" and "No war with Iran" are going up all over the place by the leftists or like minded people. Maybe you could think of it this way:

Muslims are Liars!

A few months ago my wife, reserved an AirBnB for my travel to Brooklyn, New York. My son had planned to stay with me for this visit. We arrived at our destination relatively late at night. The host, Sahr, was a very pleasant dark skinned woman who showed us the place.

Alliances and Its Consequences (I)

Do you make a distinction between these two banners?

[The left banner is the Communist banner and the right banner is the Nazis banner. Originally I had the picture of the two banners here and I had to take it down. The reason for me taking these two pictures down is, when one searched my son's name these two banners would appear as if they were associated with his name and it was concerning to him. So for now imagine that you see these two banners being here. I will put the pictures back on once his concern has been alleviated or the Google indexing mechanism has overcome this issue. After imagining the two banners continue with reading the article. Assume you are seeing two banners a Communist banner and a Nazis banner.]

Perceptions of "Capitalism"

In this YouTube video Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, talks about how our perceptions are formed by the stories we have been immersed in. Although not a new idea, but his way of relating it to our attitudes toward capitalism is interesting. His conclusions which point to a middle of the road perception while healthier than the extremes, leftist and rightist, is incomplete. But the main point is his exposition of these three stories. It caught my attention to the way it relates to my previous post.

Link to Haidt's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOu_8yoqZoQ

Ephemeral Capitalism

Ephemeral means, lasting for a very short time. Am I coming to my past leftist sense thinking that “capitalism” is short lived. Therefore, it is Ephemeral!

Once There Was a Shah

I was seven when my father entered my life permanently. Before that he was an elusive figure who would appear for a day or few hours and then he was not there, with disappearances and durations that I could not keep count of and measure.

1953 Coup and Democracy in Iran

The month of August is the anniversary of the 1953 coup in Iran, the overthrow of the government of Mohammad Mossadegh, then premier of the country. This coup has been widely labeled as the “1953 CIA coup”. CIA stands for the Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S. Alternatively the 1953 coup has been called the “1953 CIA led coup”, a milder version. Mohammad Reza Shah which reinstated his rule through this coup and his supporters have called this event as the “Shah and People Uprising”.

American Myth

Semi woken a thought had me in its grip and uncontrollably began to utter these words: “Now I understand what it means. It is very simple. From now on I am an American. It does not matter that I am not a citizen. It would not matter even if I get denied citizenship. It would not matter if I am thrown out of this country or where I end up living in this world. I am an American! From this moment on I am an American!” Maureen’s voice woke my other senses, “OK! OK! Now go back to sleep!”

"Black Lives Matter", What is it?

"Black Lives Matter" (BLM) is a frivolous movement. This slogan is a leftist dream come true. It works as if it is designed to hide the actual racism in the U.S. instead of revealing it. BLM clouds the forward movement of the society to overcome racial distinctions as a political and social issue. BLM is the brainchild of the leftists in the U.S. and it camouflages their indirect complicity in the existing racism lurking in our law enforcement units. Obviously, I have a different view of this movement than what BLM propaganda portray itself to be. How do my assertions stack up against the reality?

Kurds and John McCain

I could not believe that I would come to agree with John McCain and I agree with his position on Kurds as outlined in his op-ed in the NY Times.

Can a Conservative Court Reject Anti-Abortion Laws

These days supporters of abortion rights have a nagging concern that the next Supreme Court appointment by Mr. Trump would create an opportunity for the majority "conservative" members to reverse the 1973 Roe vs. Wade (RvW) ruling. This reversal presumably could lay the groundwork for states to completely ban abortion or restrict it so severely that it would not be accessible anymore.

Cuban "Socialism"

The other day a good friend approached me and said, "I agree with all that you have said in your last post [Fidel Castro's Legacy], but you should not have called him an idiot, Fidel Castro was not an idiot."

Fidel Castro's Legacy

Most of my friends on FaceBook (FB) are socialists, who profess Marxist-Leninist concepts of communism. That is where I come from, we shared the same beliefs. We fought for a "classless" society, a society of plenty for all and we were for the suppression of any form of "exploitation". We shared these concepts and most of them yet believe in these ideas. This entire spectrum of my FB friends also come from small socialist groups from which they have been expelled or resigned from. They all attest to the authoritarian nature of their party leadership which expelled them. These comrades from the relative comfort of their retired life or near retirement in the U.S., freely mock and criticize their past leaders.

Trump, Clinton & Sanders

The silhouettes of the three candidates could point one to certain political possibilities. Are these names, Trump, Clinton and Sanders the outlines of a three party system? A right wing party searching for strong man politics, a center party trying to reconcile multitudes of interests by developing policies that has an eye to the future, and a left wing party raising socialist slogans for bringing down the rich. Are we witnessing a process of split in the well entrenched Democratic and Republican parties?

Women in Iran

Masih Alinejad often talks about her experiences growing up in Iran. On what it is being a woman in Iran. Her experiences is becoming more typical if it is not already typical. She talks about simple truths and that is powerful. Iranian regime is mortally afraid of these simple truths.

Dignity of Women

In my post in October 14, 2013 I wrote, "What if every Western country would assign a female ambassador to Iran who would introduce her credentials to the Iranian government, in Tehran, in her own traditional attire, dressed professionally as a female without any head cover or hijab, as a practical working woman." 

It seems that the french public is way ahead of the Western politicians. This is what the politicians in the West should push as part of lifting the economic restrictions on Iran. To read the whole story click on this link.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/02/air-france-stewardesses-mutiny-over-order-to-wear-headscarves/

Justice Scalia

Over the weekend Maureen, my wife, and I went to a gathering of some acquaintances. As we entered the house a jubilant outcry greeted us. "Scalia is dead, hurray!" Taken aback I paused for a moment and said "The man is dead! The man is dead! And he had a different view of the constitution!" I must have sounded like a party pooper because the commotion calmed down a bit. Maybe more than a bit!

Iranian Election

In a couple of weeks Islamic Republic in Iran will hold an "election" for the selection of the members of the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts. What these political bodies are is not really relevant as I will explain in a moment. So far the majority of the candidates for these two assemblies have been disqualified through a non transparent process. Qualified candidates are chosen by the status quo for the purpose of maintaining the rule of the existing clique of clergies and their tight circles of beneficiaries. Open discussion of issues and criticism of the system is suppressed by detention, long term imprisonment and death. Meanwhile the Islamic regime spends plenty of resources to convince the population that they should participate and cast their ballots, portraying the people's participation as "patriotic", "anti-enemy" and "anti-imperialist". Should one participate in this election? Is there any principles one could adopt or follow?