Iran Government Legitimacy

Iran Government Legitimacy

Two quotes from this article give a fair comparison of the relative positions of the EU and Iran.

"Obviously the regime is trying to preserve its position by very harsh repression," said Carl Bildt, Sweden's foreign minister, whose country takes over the EU's rotating presidency on 1 July. "But that cannot hide the fact that this is a weakened regime. It has lost legitimacy both internally and externally."

and

On Friday a senior cleric, Ahmed Khatami, lashed out at Britain in a televised sermon. "In this unrest, Britons have behaved very mischievously and it is fair to add the slogan of 'down with England' to the slogan of 'down with USA,'" he said. He also called for the execution of what he called "rioters' leaders". The previous week Khamenei had criticised Britain as the "most evil" country.

Taking prisoners from hospitals

Taking prisoners from hospitals

The Basaji - the Iranian military secret police are taking prisoners of protesters following their treatment in hospitals.

We have heard on Twitter that PersianKiwi has been taken prisoner by the Government.

More here - article continued with the most disturbing Tweet stream from PersianKiwi...

North Korea

North Korea

Is North Korea so insecure that it believes that it needs to threaten the United States in order to maintain its independence? The answer is most probably yes.

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Iran Demonstrations

Iran Demonstrations

Live Feed (or video of a live feed) from the Iran Election demostrations. Also see: Article: The Dictator

The above article contains predictions. It was published 12 hours before this appeared (on my screen at least): UPDATE NY Times

The demonstrations in Iran show the Iranian people have an emerging confidence. The corrupt establishment has shaken the illusion that they have the interests of the people at stake.

Fair democratic election must be internally perceived as such, and when it isn’t - economic health becomes impossible.

Regardless of what the West thinks could or should happen - Iran’s government is now perceived by it’s own people as cheating and lying and committing acts of sinful cowardice.

It has damaged the theocratic authenticity it relies upon.

New Zealand Most Peaceful Country

New Zealand Most Peaceful Country

New Zealand has been voted the Most Peaceful Country in the world on Vision of Humanity by an Australian think tank, the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Last week, thousands of Aucklanders marched in a 100% peaceful demonstration of political unity with the Maori people who retain a seat of sovereignty over this nation, undivided but cooperating.

Link

Vision of Humanity site

Images of Maori Hikoi (march) in Auckland

State of Denial

State of Denial

Irate passengers disagree with being held on board ship in quarantine claiming "this is not what we paid for" and calling it some kind of disgrace. They were let ashore and then the motel they were staying in asked them to move as they were "not a quarantine facility".

If the swine flu had mutated into a more deadly form already and not spread over most of America (far far worse), this kind of behaviour would be deadly and very unpatriotic. No human has the right to infect others therefore a maritime state of quarantine is not something that a mere tourists commercial or even freedom can trump and letting these passengers ashore abrogates everyone else's human right.

Stupid idiots.

Predicting the next 100 years

Predicting the next 100 years

There is a Stratfor article going around the the mainstream media predicting that America will remain the major superpower in the world ultimately due to geo-politics.

Predictions rely upon assumptions which are not definite, it all rather depends upon what individuals chose to do. “Disturbing” Trends represent just a few of those decisions - as they start to show their ugly signs. Predicting the future is not so much a science, as an art and if one is to be very good at it then you need to consider more than one side of the coin.

Military dominance only has so much value.

More/...

P - the disease we can not talk about

P - the disease we can not talk about

P - the drug - its use and manufacture is criminal in most democracies as it should be. The Western meme, “The War on Drugs” is a poor model of how to combat what is a contagion of deliberate disease that quickly spirals into addiction. Catching it early is not as good as prevention but if prevention fails, then catching it early is vital.

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Sustainabilty

Sustainabilty

Excerpt of article, found here.

...humanity is more like a total organism that infected the Earth, and She (Earth is female, apparently) is about to strike back, big time. There was Lovelock's Gaia theory (and all that stuff Disturbing Trends has rabbited on about for years against the hum drum of stupid wars). The distraction of downtown demolition, emotional election drama and The Presidential Puppy are all very good and all, but what good old gunslingers seem to forget is that aura of fate that arises when doom talk starts.

God, I think I miss Sarah Palin. She was less logical than Thatcher at her most odious. That insane logic that gets us through wars, the ability to use gravitas and effect - that is really the quality that we look for in leaders. Nixon had it. NZ's own Robert Muldoon was popular even as he lunged at our economy with 70s era economic malaise madness. Tawdry effect with no ammo. Blair had it. Palin fills the heart with that confidence that Mummy will come home with a bear in her teeth. Joan of Arc had it. That glare that made you realise that it did not matter, you were their enemy anyway, no matter what you did, they would attack you. Snakes that only exist to menace in nightmares briefly have it too, but the thought of Palin's America still looms on some tattered horizon.

The future is no longer in our own hands, we are inevitably doomed by our own denial and inevitable love of a leader who can frighten others. This possibly brief period of "rational" leadership is only real change if our behaviour changes with it. One is perpetually hopeful as each generation of activist becomes more authentic than the last. The same mistakes will be made over and over again but if inspiration can guide us to radically change our approach to ecology and sustainability, humanity has more than a chance.

Complete article, found here.