COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, March 02, 2012

The message we need to send Iran



Several years ago, a political leader from the war torn country of Lebanon observed that in his part of the world it is better to be respected than liked.

When it comes to Iran, the U.S. is neither.

On the contrary, Iran's leadership is hateful and disdainful of Western values and the United States. President Obama, time is running out. It is time to act unilaterally and decisively, and publicly support the democratic opposition in Iran.

Following Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, recent events further demonstrate the impotence of five years of UN Security Council Resolutions and the West’s economic sanctions to stop the Mullahs’ terrorist regime from achieving nuclear breakout:

- International monitors confirmed that Iran has begun enriching uranium at the new underground Fordo facility near Qom.

- An Iranian court sentenced a former U.S. soldier, Amir Mizaei Hekmati, to death on specious charges of spying for the CIA

- Mobs chanting “Death to America” accompanied the funeral procession of an Iranian nuclear scientist killed by a bomb as he was en route to his nefarious work.

Clearly, diplomatic engagement has failed to halt Tehran’s nuclear drive. Sanctions have been insufficient.

In this era of the Arab Spring it is time to support regime change in Iran, from within.

The Obama administration should support the democratic aspirations of the people of Iran and their most effective opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK).

Regrettably, and without justification, the State Department continues to maintain that MEK, a declared democratic ally, on its list of “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” (FTO) even though it meets none of the criteria.

The Clinton administration initially added MEK to the State Department’s blacklist in 1997 as part of a political ploy to appease Iran—this came at a time when the country was mistakenly thought to be moving towards moderation.


The mullahs, who hate and fear MEK as an existential threat, demanded that the group be listed as a precondition for potential negotiations with the U.S. Those negotiations never materialized and today the mullahs’ regime in Tehran is the world’s leading state-sponsor of terrorism, responsible for countless American deaths.

The unjust designation was maintained by subsequent administrations in an effort to persuade Iran to abandon their nuclear program.

Sadly, we now see the results of that failed policy: Iran is no closer to moderation, having recently plotted to assassinate, in full view of the world, the Saudi ambassador on U.S. soil; The IAEA warns that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are actually closer to fulfillment, and the failure to de-list MEK, absent any legal or factual basis, continues to stymie prospects for democratic change in Iran.

This folly has given Iran and its proxies a license to kill thousands of MEK members, including a massacre on April 8 of last year that killed or wounded hundreds of unarmed members of the MEK living in Camp Ashraf, Iraq—each and every one of whom was given written guarantees of protection by the U.S. government.

Now that U.S. troops have left Iraq, Iran is determined to extend its influence in the region and has justified its brutality by categorizing them as "terrorists."

Whatever way Tehran’s propagandists characterize MEK’s political prospects, culture, or history, it is clear to me that the defenseless Iranian dissidents at Camp Ashraf are committed to non-violent regime change and a democratic, nuclear-free Iranian future.

MEK has provided the West with valuable intelligence on the location of key Iranian nuclear sites and the organization poses no security threat whatsoever to the United States. Their charismatic leader, Madam Maryam Rajavi, whom I know and admire, embraces human rights for all, the same principles every American cherishes.

Courts throughout the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States have concluded that there is no legal justification maintain MEK on the foreign terrorist list.

Every one of the residents of Camp Ashraf was interviewed by the FBI and by U.S. military services and there has never been a scintilla of evidence anyone in that camp was motivated by, interested in, or capable of conducting acts of terrorism against this country. Remember, they surrendered all means of self-defense in exchange for America's promise to provide their safety and security.


Some100 members of Congress, in a bipartisan initiative, have called for MEK to be de-listed. The unfounded MEK designation only serves as a license to kill for both the Iraqi forces and the kangaroo courts in Iran, who regularly arrest, torture, and kill people on the basis of MEK affiliation.

It shames the State Department designation process that has wrongly maintained the blacklist for misguided political reasons. Consider this: the MEK is on the list -- the
Taliban
is not.

Nearly two years after a U.S. Court of Appeals found that the State Department violated MEK’s due process rights, and ordered a re-evaluation, Secretary of State Clinton is still “reviewing” the designation.

As an emboldened Iran moves ever-closer to nuclear breakout, MEK’s unfounded designation is a lynchpin in the critical test of wills between Iran and the West -- a test the Obama administration can ill afford to fail.

The designation has been and continues to be the single greatest obstacle to the United Nations efforts to resettle the residents in other countries. No country is anxious to welcome any member of a group the United States has designated as a terrorist organization.

Unshackling the MEK from an unjust blacklist and living up to U.S. guarantees to protect the Iranian opposition at Camp Ashraf will send the mullahs’ terrorist regime in Tehran exactly the message it needs to hear:

The mullahs do not run foreign policy in the United States and America keeps its promises.

Tom Ridge

87 comments:

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  4. The sanctions have leaks:

    SINGAPORE, March 2 (Reuters) - An Iranian supertanker loaded with crude that traders had speculated Tehran was struggling to sell due to tightening sanctions is now moored at Shell's Singapore refinery to discharge its cargo, according to Reuters data and sources.

    India cancels Iran oil shipment due to sanctions, but an Italian refiner chartered a tanker to facilitate Iran crude imports - despite the E.U. embargo.

    Iran's election is the first major poll since 2009 vote turmoil, set to shape the political landscape for Ahmadinejad successor. Visiting foreign journalists covering the election in Tehran have all been sent back to their hotels and told to stay put.

    House votes unanimously to condemn Iran for death sentence of Christian pastor Nadarkhani. "Oh you bad, awful, naughty Iran."

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  5. US Credibility On the Line

    Every day I got a list of terrorists threats against the United States. I must tell, I don't recall ever seeing a reference to the MEK as an organization or a terrorist who allegedly belonged to MEK threatening the United States, its citizens, or its interest. I never saw it, any single day I served either in the White House. They do not belong on the list. They're not a terrorist organization. Take them off the list.

    Couple final thoughts if I might. Second issue at stake here is credibility. And there are a lot of credibility -- couple issues here and personalities and institutions I'm very concerned about.

    I've had the pleasure and the privilege of being in the company of Mrs. Rajavi on many, many occasions. I've been in the company of parents, of sons and daughters who have shown me pictures of those who have been killed by the Mullahs and Ahmadinejad. Those that have been in the Camp Ashraf, with a real personal connection. But I know how painfully difficult it was, I can only believe for Mrs. Rajavi and the leadership of the MEK to convince their colleagues and their friends and their relatives to go to Camp Liberty.

    So while we worry about the credibility of the U.N. and the United States, one of the greatest concerns I have is that Mrs. Rajavi relied on representations by others she wanted to believe in. And they breached faith with her. They gave her one set of photographs or they gave the leadership one set of photographs and they realized they were taken at another day and another time by another photographer. They made representations about the conditions at Camp Ashraf.

    I would simply hope to the extent that you have an ability to influence and talk to those and interact with those at Camp Ashraf and around the world, the support of the MEK, that they understand that many of us here are aware of the representations made to Mrs. Rajavi as well and we believed them, too.

    And they turned out to be false. A hoax. A cruel hoax. I was talking to the leadership the other day. They need about 120,000 liters of water a day for 400 people there; they got a quarter of that. Electricity on sometimes, off sometimes. People haven't showered in a week.

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  6. You think of that in terms of the second organization whose credibility is at stake and that's where US High Commission for Refugees founded in 1950.

    It twice winners for the Nobel Peace prize for the work they'd done globally. It's an extraordinary organization. But our appeal has to go out to them and the secretary general and the Tony Guterres. Representations were made that were wrong, and we're not about to spend a lot of time accusing people. Though somebody has to figure out why they were made and perhaps Professor Dershowitz is correct.

    Why did you say what you said when you knew it was wrong? But having said that, our appeal to them today, fix it. Take care of it now.

    You know who would be willing to do it for you, the residents of Camp Ashraf. Now, you made the decision to leave Camp Ashraf and for the Good Lord, I have no idea why. But if you're going to have them at Camp Liberty, look what they built the Camp Liberty. They can take care of themselves if you give them the tools to do it down there. Get out of their way, they'll fix it. (Applause.)

    Finally, you just can't pick up a newspaper, turn on a talk show or radio show and not talk about America's relationship with the Middle East and what's going on in the Middle East I remember talking to a political leader in the Middle East many years ago. There are three real problems in this part of the world. I said what are they, sir? He said, Iran, Iran and Iran. Absolutely correct.

    Isn't it fascinating to you that you've got Iran on one side and you've got Syria on the other. That's a nexus there. They're a surrogate. And in spite of all the public support we seem to be waning about the Arab spring. Very little -- no condemnation of Iran in '09, no condemnation of '11, fascinating.

    And we're still trying to figure out what we're going to do.

    I mean, we got a lot of the U.N. together because we were afraid what was going to happen in Benghazi, yet there's 6,000 Syrians been killed and we're still trying to figure out what we're going to do.

    At the end of the day you say, are we in this United States so concerned about our relationship with Iran that we don't send, in my judgment, the strongest signal. We're going to debate and talk about a nuclear strike. Everybody is worried whether Israel is gonna do it or we're going to help Israel do it.

    By the way, the U.N. has had four series of sanctions. We have had the MEK on the list since '97 or '99 because we thought we could negotiate, talk to them. How has that worked out? Long time ago, we said, put up a naval blockade, keep the oil out of Iran. They got a lot of nature resources but if you put the economy down if we can keep refined oil. We haven't even bothered trying that. So we have been talking to them and negotiating and hoping against hope. Some of the previous speakers have talked about it.

    This is Iran. Look at the history. They're responsible for killing American soldiers, by the way, in Afghanistan and Iraq. They're responsible for the assassination of President Hariri in Lebanon, by the way whose wife once told me, in our part of the world you'd be better respected than liked. I don't want to be liked by the Iranian government; I want to be loved by the Iranian people. (Applause.)

    MR. RIDGE: So we're going to try to figure out if sanctions will work, negotiations will work. We're going to be talking to the Israelis about doing this and that. A lot of things in the air I'll give you one positive, concrete thing that this government can do, Secretary Clinton, President Obama, everybody associated. One, immediate. Clarion call, signal. U.S., we stand by our word. We stand by our conviction for humanitarian. We stand by the people. We promise to provide for their safety and security. Mullahs, Ahmadinejad, we're going to de-list the MEK. Deal with it.

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  7. Whatever. Makes no difference to Clan, Rufii.

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  8. Tom Ridge may not know the whole story. Maybe we have a deal with Iran; "we don't delist the MEK, and you don't go in and kill'em all."

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  9. From a previous post:

    Timothy 2:9-15
    New International Version (NIV)
    9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
    11 A woman[a] should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[b] she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women[c] will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.


    ---------------

    No irony intended, why doesn’t this belong in the dustbin of useless artifacts?

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  10. It's a great quote to use in an argument with the wife, as I used to do. :)

    Besides, it's scripture, you can't fuck with it.
    :)

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  11. It's a great quote to use in an argument with the wife, as I used to do. :)

    Besides, it's scripture, you can't fuck with it.
    :)

    Used to really piss her off.

    :)

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  12. I will no longer try to defend the Holy Bible in front of this group. One needs to want to believe before they can believe. I have read all the recent comments regarding the Bible and believing in a higher almighty God.

    Those of you who must hold, see, and be proven to as to whether God exists or not will be wasting time. True believers believe by faith and faith only.

    1Timothy 2: 9-15, is often taken out of context and misused (as Bob does). The entire chapter and more are instructions on how to worship and how to act and dress while in the synagogue, not how to go to the mall.

    I am currently looking out of a hotel window at the front range of the Rockies in Denver. How can someone not believe in a higher power when looking at such a glorious spectacle, which I believe was created by a thought and then the breath of Almighty God.

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  13. I look at babies dying of hunger in Sudan, and ask, "Why would any "God" do that?"

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  14. I don't think God did. What have YOU done about it?

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  15. I had nothing to do with it. If God can build a mountain for your viewing pleasure, I'm sure he's more able than I to fix hunger, and disease in Africa (or Appalachia.)

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  16. I didn't ask you if you caused it I asked you what you are doing about it.

    Blaming God for starving children is a cop out.

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  17. As you said, Gag, it's all about Belief.

    And, I can't help but believe that All religions are giant scams.

    Poor people building nice houses for "good talkers."

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  18. Why would a give a God credit for making mountains without assigning him the blame for starving, diseased babies?

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  19. .

    Hey Sam, a few weeks back we were talking about hackers breaking into Stratfor and stealing files.

    Looks like it might have just been to get info to send to Wikileaks.

    E-mails released by WikiLeaks show Dow Chemical spied on activists over industrial accident in India


    .

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  20. Of course, I lobby for healthcare for poor Americans, and the "Religious" Right gives me holy hell. Go figure.

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  21. Once again you are confusing organized religion with believing in God. Most on this blog can't see the difference. 2 different things.

    Have a great day.

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  22. Now you're onto something. I Do have my "Deist" moments.

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  23. My point about 1 Tim 2 is, and has been, because we talked about it once long ago, is I don't think it was written by Paul, but by someone who was trying to undermine Paul's outlook.

    I was also using it in I hope a humorous way to try to suggest to Missy Tse-Tse that she shut the fuck up.

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  24. The entire chapter and more are instructions on how to worship and how to act and dress while in the synagogue, not how to go to the mall.


    This is a creative and strong orthodox misreading.

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  25. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women[c] will be saved through childbearing


    Saved through childbearing??

    What has this to do with how to behave in a synagogue?

    Sounds rather that she doesn't have to go to synagogue, to be saved, but rather the maternity ward.

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  26. Saved through childbearing??


    Missy Tse-Tse the lesbo is.....d o o m e d.

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  27. There was no shortage of women leaders in the First Century church. Likely, many more ministered than are mentioned in our biblical text. Romans 16:1-16 clearly indicates the importance of the ministries in which women were involved. Don Williams in his book, The Apostle Paul and Women in the Church, (Regal Books, 1977, 41-47), makes the following observations about the women leaders mentioned in this passage.

    Phoebe is officially recommended and endorsed in the position of "deacon" or "minister" (v.1,2). The word used is in the masculine form and is the same word used in 1 Cor. 3:5 when the Apostle Paul speaks of himself and of Apollos, and in 1 Tim. 4:6 of Timothy. There are no grounds then to distinguish between her and the male ministers. She was a minister in the church of Cenchreae. Paul asked the Christians at Rome to welcome her as a minister which indicates that her ministry extended beyond her own congregation. She is described as being a help to many, therefore, her ministry was fruitful. Paul states that she was of great assistance to him. It is likely that she was carrying Paul's letter to the Romans. Williams asserts that "there is no reason to suppose that Phoebe does not hold a ministerial office. She undoubtedly performs ministerial functions which are equally shared by Paul and others. Thus no sexual qualifications are made here for such ministry" (Williams, 43).

    Prisca or Priscilla (16:3-5) was in ministry along with her husband Aquila. They are called fellow-workers, a term of equality elsewhere used of Paul and Apollos (1Cor. 3:9). When the couple is mentioned in writing, Priscilla's name is listed first, indicating that she may have been the leader of the two.

    In Romans 16:7, Paul mentions two persons who labored faithfully with him--Andronicus and Junias (or in other translations, Junia, the feminine form of the name). The phrase "they are men of note," literally reads "they are of note." "Men" is absent in the Greek text, and is inserted by the translators. It is possible that this was a Jewish husband-wife team who were among the first believers to witness the risen Christ, for Paul states of them, "they are of note among the apostles." Williams believes that "only an extra-Biblical assumption that a woman could not be an apostle keeps most commentators from reading Junias as Junia" (Williams, 45).

    Other women mentioned in Romans 16 who served as co-laborers in Paul's ministry were Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, the mother of Rufus, Persis, Julia, and the sister of Nereus. The Acts of the Apostles records the ministries of Dorcas, Lydia, and the four daughters of Phillip who prophesied or preached. The Apostle Paul clearly utilized women's God-given leadership skills and gifts for ministry. Alvin John Schmidt in Veiled and Silenced states that "the apostolic church was very relevant to the women in that it gave them unparalleled freedom and released them from centuries of cultural oppression. That is why women were so extensively and intensively involved in the life of the apostolic church" (Schmidt, 219).
    With the examples of women who served with Paul in leading the developing churches, why would he say that he did not permit women to teach or have authority over men in 1 Timothy 2? Or, how could the same person who wrote words of gratitude to eight or nine women in his Roman's letter, say so emphatically in the letter to the Corinthian church that women were to be silent in the churches and were not allowed to speak (1 Cor. 14:34)? Either Paul was the victim of a personality disorder or there is more than meets the eye in these several short verses of biblical text.

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  28. Gag wrote:

    "True believers believe by faith and faith only."

    That sounds about right to me!

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  29. Or, like All Politicians Conmen, and Hustlers, Paul said what his, particular (to That day,) audience wanted to hear.

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  30. People pick and choose what they want to have faith in. Ash, do stop at every green light or do you have faith the other side is red?

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  31. Is faith that simple, that it is simply a matter of choice? I think it goes deeper than that.

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  32. With respect to your question about the stop light, yes I do believe that the other 'side' of the green is red. This knowledge is gleaned from experience with stop lights and understanding what the deseigners of stop lights built into them. I don't have a lot of faith that because the light is green my safe passage through the intersection is guaranteed and I regularly scan an approaching intersection for cars that can cause me harm.

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  33. Ash said...

    Gag wrote:

    "True believers believe by faith and faith only."

    That sounds about right to me!



    Sounds suspiciously like Luther, to me.

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  34. Hillary does an extremely ugly "Palin Wink."tm

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  35. .

    Why Are America's Healthcare Costs So High?

    There is a simple reason health care in the United States costs more than it does anywhere else: The prices are higher.

    That may sound obvious. But it is, in fact, key to understanding one of the most pressing problems facing our economy. In 2009, Americans spent $7,960 per person on health care. Our neighbors in Canada spent $4,808. The Germans spent $4,218. The French, $3,978. If we had the per person costs of any of those countries, America’s deficits would vanish. Workers would have much more money in their pockets. Our economy would grow more quickly, as our exports would be more competitive...



    The Cost of Healthcare

    .

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  36. The deficits would vanish? How, by forcing Americans to give the difference in cost to the Gov?

    How about the current account deficit - would that vanish too?

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  37. .

    The deficits would vanish? How, by forcing Americans to give the difference in cost to the Gov?

    How about the current account deficit - would that vanish too?



    Goods points.

    (At least after I looked at it closer.)

    Not sure where they came up with the statement or what assumptions it was based on.

    Looking at Medicare/Medicaid, that is about $800 billion for 2012. If you go on the costs per person cited for the various countries, half the cost (as noted) would save about $400 billion a year, not enough to cover the current annual deficit of $1.3 trillion (?).

    However, once you start projecting out, the cost of Medicare/Medicaid escalates from the point of being 23% of the current budget to about 60% in the out years. There you are talking some big bucks, and a major factor in any future deficits.

    Not sure what your first comment meant (giving the difference to the government?). Just being cynical or something different?

    .

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  38. It is the government, the Federal primarily, that most moan about when they talk of the deficit. When the statement is made that "If we had the per person costs of any of those countries, America’s deficits would vanish." one wonders how changing the cost of health care would narrow the federal goverments deficit given that Americans do not pay the feds for their health care.

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  39. I am sorry I was thinking of health costs in general and not just the governments share of it through Medicare and Medicaid. Up here in Canada we suffer with thinking the US system is private...

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  40. .

    While most Americans buy their own insurance, the government spends significant amounts on healthcare. The $800 billion I mentioned for 2012 represented what it will pay for Medicare/Medicaid. That's about 84% of the nearly a trillion dollars the government spends each year on healthcare. In 2012, that represents about 23% of the total budget.

    I've seen projections where that 23% will end up going to over 60%, thus the crisis. While cutting the cost per person in half wouldn't even cut the deficit in half today, in the future, if some of these projections are right, it could eliminate the deficit.

    If health costs were also cut in half for those Americans not on Medicare/Medicaid, it would provide a big jolt to disposable income, GDP, and growth.

    The problem of course is that to get those savings the government would have to get involved in a meaningful way. Right now it isn't. Obamacare is a farce. It merely mandates that more people are covered but has no mechanisms for driving costs down. We are not serious. This is obvious from the fact that we keep putting off the doc-fix, Obama has granted companies hundreds of waivers, big Pharma was able to bribe their way out of true cost cutting, the government is not allowed to negotiate with providers, etc. etc. etc.

    It's all a scam. Interesting article but you are unlikely to see much change in the USA. Pharma and Healthcare are too big, too much money and too many people, and it's getting bigger not smaller.

    .

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  41. I need to declare an interest here - I have Iranian family connections within and outside of Iran, though I'm not Iranian myself…but there are some very foolish comments on this blog about Iran. They seem to come from “Occupation” who seems to have his own agenda. They are ridiculous and racists.

    There's a huge Iranian diaspora, some of whom left during the Pahlavi regime, some who left during and after the 1979 revolution. When you talk to them about the current situation you tend to find a polarized view - 'the Shah's people' tend to have left after 1979 and took their money out of the country with them (I think of them as being akin to the Cuban expats who make lots of noise in Florida). They want the US to intervene, and harbor dreams of returning and reclaiming their former privileged status. The others tend to be intellectuals and leftists who departed once the revolution became 'Islamic' (after 'the west' brought Khomeini back from Paris and put him in place). They would like to see a secular pluralist democracy. Both want to see an end to the Islamic Republic but for different reasons.

    Iran is much, much more than the current illiterate goons who run the place - I hope the blog reflects this diversity - don't let the current regime define the terms of the conversation. Do not listen to the haters.

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  42. Gag: I will no longer try to defend the Holy Bible in front of this group.

    That's probably the best plan. After all, even some of the Chosen People who are supposed to safeguard the Word of the LORD to be a light unto the Gentiles call for burning sons and daughters of Mecca in the nuclear fire; which God commanded not, neither came it into His heart.

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  43. Wasp said...
    Gag: I will no longer try to defend the Holy Bible in front of this group.

    That's probably the best plan. After all, even some of the Chosen People who are supposed to safeguard the Word of the LORD to be a light unto the Gentiles call for burning sons and daughters of Mecca in the nuclear fire; which God commanded not, neither came it into His heart.



    You are a witch.

    You are a self confessed liar

    You are evil

    Your speech is misdirectling, distorting and quite rankly proves my point that you are pile of fecal mass.

    Congrats Our Lady of Perpetual Lies...

    You dont let us down for a moment.

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  44. the current illiterate goons who run the place - I hope the blog reflects this diversity

    We do, indeed, it is a monument of pride to us.


    The trouble is, Petrak, with the mullahs. They keep saying they are going to kill us, after getting rid of the Jews by wiping them off the map. And, moreover, they not only run Iran, but are developing weapons to do that very thing. This doesn't sit well, and reading about, say, Iran efforts to procure missile launch sites in Venezuela, makes us uneasy. Hence the defensive rhetoric of some here.

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  45. Well I;m on my way to the AIPAC meeting.

    Obama is speaking tomorrow should be interesting.

    I remember last year clearly and his speech then.

    It's a shame you folks dont get to see what I do..

    Oh wait you can!

    Visit AIPAC.org

    Rather than lecture us on what people think AIPAC says, stands for and believes, go to the website, listen to the speakers and form opinion based on fact rather than fear, blood libels and or nonsense.

    It's still considered an American RIGHT to petition our government, this year over 14,000 AMERICANS, will pay their own way to express themselves to their elected representatives.

    AIPAC's membership is made up of tens of thousands of Americans!

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  46. petrak said...
    I need to declare an interest here - I have Iranian family connections within and outside of Iran, though I'm not Iranian myself…but there are some very foolish comments on this blog about Iran. They seem to come from “Occupation” who seems to have his own agenda. They are ridiculous and racists.


    Welcome petrak! My ridiculous and racist points of view are allowed to be expressed, since this is still America for the time being. I notice you do not list what is racist or ridiculous.

    petrak: There's a huge Iranian diaspora, some of whom left during the Pahlavi regime, some who left during and after the 1979 revolution. When you talk to them about the current situation you tend to find a polarized view - 'the Shah's people' tend to have left after 1979 and took their money out of the country with them (I think of them as being akin to the Cuban expats who make lots of noise in Florida). They want the US to intervene, and harbor dreams of returning and reclaiming their former privileged status. The others tend to be intellectuals and leftists who departed once the revolution became 'Islamic' (after 'the west' brought Khomeini back from Paris and put him in place). They would like to see a secular pluralist democracy. Both want to see an end to the Islamic Republic but for different reasons.

    OK, so what?

    petrak: Iran is much, much more than the current illiterate goons who run the place - I hope the blog reflects this diversity - don't let the current regime define the terms of the conversation. Do not listen to the haters.



    Petrak,

    The illiterate goons you speak of have spent 10's of billions of dollars funding, supplying and training Hezbollah and Syria and others in terrorism. Those goons are responsible for the murders of tens of thousands of innocents not to mention the thousands of Americans who fought in Iraq that were killed or wounded by iranians ied's.

    It's the goons that call for the genocide of Israel.

    So when the attack occurs on Iran? you can be sure that Israel, if it is her that does the attack, will not attempt mass murder, but will point their weapons at control and command of the revolutionary guard and the goons nuclear programs.

    Unlike the goons and their arabs counterparts, Israel does not target civilians.

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  47. .

    'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.



    Vets feel abandoned after secret drug experiments


    Army Uses Soldiers as Guinea Pigs


    "Uncle Sam Wants You" or at least your body.

    They're all dicks.

    .

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  48. .

    Japanese researchers build a gun capable of stopping speakers in mid-sentence.

    How to Build a Speech-Jamming Gun


    Now, if we only had one for blog posts.

    .

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  49. WiO said:

    Visit AIPAC.org

    Deuce, I think some spam ended up on the blog again.

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  50. Sounds suspiciously like Luther, to me.

    Jesus didn’t die so we could have religion. He died so we could have a deep, intimate, personal relationship with God.

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  51. Wasp said...
    WiO said:

    Visit AIPAC.org

    Deuce, I think some spam ended up on the blog again.


    Dear Wasp...

    I say this as a light unto the world.

    Please do us all a favor?

    Do as you say you would do, ignore me.

    Do not respond to my posts that do not address you.

    Or as momma used to say, keep your nose out of other peoples business.

    Or as I would say if i could to you directly?

    Fuck off bitch.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Thanks to Our Perpetual Lady of Lies I shall provide a running posting of AIPAC's historic conference

    Rest assured that I will have great insightful comments!

    Thanks MR T, Wasp, Teresita and or ZENA...

    I shall post all sorts of fun Pro America/ Pro Israel things for the world to read and enjoy.

    BTW, question?

    Are you a man or a woman?

    we all saw the picture you posted and I am not sure...

    ReplyDelete
  53. WiO: I shall post all sorts of fun Pro America/ Pro Israel things for the world to read and enjoy.

    Kosher Spam. Who knew?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Wasp said...
    WiO: I shall post all sorts of fun Pro America/ Pro Israel things for the world to read and enjoy.

    Kosher Spam. Who knew?


    I'd argue that issues that deal with Iran are on topic.

    Might I suggest you take a class in blog etiquette?

    And would it not be considered spam to pretend to be a lesbian for years in this same very blog?

    ReplyDelete
  55. From our friends at Al Jeezera

    Obama 'in lockstep' with Israel on Iran issue


    Obama
    in lockstep WITH Israel concerning Iran

    ReplyDelete
  56. If Obama is in lock step with Israel over Iran, he will be a one termer. We will see after he gets his orders from Netanyahu this week. We already have a $20 neocon tax on a tank of gas. Wait til it goes to $50.

    ReplyDelete
  57. In an effort to move toward a non-nuclear world, which is a no-brainer, most countries have signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), by which they all basically try to promote the use of nuclear materials for peaceful purposes while halting the proliferation of nuclear materials for weapons. Iran is a member of this treaty. Israel is not. In fact, the most vociferous instigator of pummeling Iran and sanctioning it until it shrivels is the one country that refuses to admit they have nuclear weapons of their own or sign the NPT. And, might I add, no one is talking about bombing them. Israel, India, and Pakistan, for that matter, all have nuclear weapons and don't get sanctioned, but get just about all the military support they want from U.S. and the west. Talk about double standards.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Deuce said...
    If Obama is in lock step with Israel over Iran, he will be a one termer. We will see after he gets his orders from Netanyahu this week. We already have a $20 neocon tax on a tank of gas. Wait til it goes to $50.


    That was al jeezera's pov.

    If Obama was in lock step with Israel?

    Obama would have put into place biting sanctions 3 years ago.

    But being in lockstep doesnt mean even to the arabs that obama takes orders from bibi, it means they have the same goals.

    I doubt that.

    No doubt obama would not lose sleep over tel aviv being nuked.

    I doubt bibi shares that pov

    ReplyDelete
  59. How many coal fired electrical generating plants have been forced to close up Pennslyvania way? The count was about 7 last I heard. I hope you all have brown outs and black outs come November. Might, just might, put a little sense in your heads at election time when your electricity bill has quadrupled and you still can't watch Oprah.

    ReplyDelete
  60. We already have a $20 neocon tax on a tank of gas.

    ReplyDelete
  61. of that 110 dollars of a barrel we currently pay...

    just how much is do to the QE1,2,3,4,5, that the current fed has printed in worthless usa currency?

    last time we were in a world wide glut of oil and recession was bush 1... oil was going for 12-22 a barrel...

    now we export gasoline and we pay 110 a barrel...

    i bet if obama had America's energy as a real priority oil would be selling for no more than 45 a barrel.

    but you a an anti-american president what do you expect.

    Now if Iran gets bombed and tries to close the straits of hormez and oil shoots up to george bush 2 levels who is to say that after iran is destroyed and made into a wasteland that oil would not fall to well below 60 a barrel?

    after all all those dead iranians? they cant cause trouble if there are dead...

    ReplyDelete
  62. Anonymous at 1:23

    Blah, blah, blah...

    More equivalency bullshit.

    Must be the Rat.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Anonymous said...
    Anonymous at 1:23

    Blah, blah, blah...

    More equivalency bullshit.

    Must be the Rat.

    Sat Mar 03, 03:44:00 PM EST


    Rat's dead.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Deuce,

    any idea where the "Rat's dead" comment came from?

    ReplyDelete
  65. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Deuce,

    any idea where the "Rat's dead" comment came from?


    Odds are, it didn't come from rat.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Quirk I was not confused.

    Ash asked where Rat was and I made a comment.

    Bob wrote this He went into hiding knowing the femme fatale was on the way.

    And you quoted my comment and said this:

    Just kidding, Mel, or have you had conversation with him?


    Unless you and Bob are one and the same, what were you "just kidding" about.

    ReplyDelete
  68. According to the EIA, the U.S. is using about 5.3 Million Fewer Barrels of Oil, and Petroleum Products than we were just a couple of years ago. High Global oil prices have very little to do with anything going on in the United States.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Oh, and the "rat's dead" comment, of course, came from, WiO.

    That was a no brainer.

    ReplyDelete
  70. .

    Just kidding, Mel, or have you had conversation with him?


    Unless you and Bob are one and the same, what were you "just kidding" about.




    My fault for the confusion, Mel.

    The question mark at the end of my post comment covered the entire comment.

    Worded better, it should have read, "Where you just kidding, Mel, or have you had conversation with him?"

    By the way, do you have some kind of sixth sense or women's intuition or something? I had that last post up for less than a minute before I took it down at Sat Mar 03, 04:47:00 PM EST.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  71. I think WiO said rat had been arrested but I may be wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  72. I think WiO said rat had been arrested but I may be wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  73. .

    "The moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus in the sense that both lack those properties that justify the attribution of a right to life to an individual."


    Interesting. A 'right to life' has to be justified.

    And who determines what 'those properties' that justify the right to life are? Evidently, the medical ethicists feel they should.

    One wonders what they would think if someone determined medical ethicists were all dicks and burdens on society, taken up valuable space and air yet contributing nothing in return, possessing none of 'those properties' that would justify them being allowed to live. Hmm.

    Doctors used to just use the Hippocratic Oath as a guide. Now we need medical ethicists?

    What the Hell is a Medical Ethicist

    Not a doctor, though it does require a bachelor degree. He has to take courses in medical law. So these are the guys we hire to help us make life and death decisions and determine ‘those properties’ that when attributed to a person ‘justifies’ his ‘right to life’.

    It’s a shit world and it gets shittier by the day.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  74. You guys are teasing me...

    telling me he's kicked the bucket....

    ReplyDelete
  75. OK, AIPAC update...

    Obama will speak to us tomorrow morning.

    We have been advised that it will take 2.5 hours to get thru security.

    American Jews foolishly voted for him 79% in the last election.

    I wonder how long security would be for a different demographic group? Let's say Catholics?

    5 hours?

    Or maybe Nascar fans?

    8 hours?

    We have been instructed no umbrellas, no laptops, no cameras....

    Obama kicking off the AIPAC policy plenary.

    2 times ago, he stated, just after getting the nomination of the democrat party, that Jerusalem should never be divided.

    It took all of 20 minutes after the speech for his peeps to correct and change that position.

    Last year?

    he spoke and was tense and terse.

    This year?

    we will see...

    and I will report.

    13,000 America citizens proudly doing their America right to petition the USA government of their viewpoints, peacefully and without shitting on tables or screams..

    How dare they...

    ReplyDelete
  76. Old Ebbit Grill still rules...

    great wings, great cowboy steak (rare), great bread and the butter was so smooth...

    The AIPAC village featured an ethanol nascar racing car...

    A water purification system....

    An Arrow missile...

    A Israeli upgraded Humvie that they are selling to the USA with proactive armor (amazing stuff)

    more to follow

    ReplyDelete
  77. Philadelphia police are investigating two homicides that occurred Friday night and Saturday morning, including the broad daylight shooting of a 53-year-old man, police said.

    The first murder happened shortly before midnight when a 37-year-old male was stabbed once in the chest in the area around 12th Street and Girard Avenue, police said.

    Friends of the victim rushed him to Hahnemann Hospital, where he died shortly after midnight, police said.

    On Saturday, police identified the victim as Lamont Wilson, of the 1700 block of North 6th Street in North Philadelphia.

    Investigators were still trying to determine the exact street location of the stabbing, police said.

    No arrests have been made, and no motive released.

    Then, around 9 a.m. this morning, police say a 53-year-old male was shot twice in the neck outside B & R Checking, a check-cashing store he owned in the 2600 block of Sterner St. in North Philadelphia.

    The victim, identified as Joel Blumer, of Holland, Bucks County, was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 9:18 a.m., police said. Investigators believe the motive was robbery; an undetermined amount of money was taken.

    Police have not made an arrest in the case.

    ReplyDelete