I am so excited for Sarah and her family. I hope she can get the medical attetion she seriously needs, and that perhaps Iran will realize that to get the goodwill intentions they yearn for at the UN General Assembly, they will need to release ALL of the hikers.
THE HAIR MANDIR
Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua FattalLast week, when I heard that there were American hikers under Iranian custody, I got nervous. I'm still nervous. Isn't it sad the way that in these big International problems, somehow private citizens always get caught in the middle? I vote for former President Bill Clinton to go over and talk to Ahmadinejad about these hikers and getting them released. It worked with Kim Jong Il right? Speaking of which, the footage of Laura Ling and Euna Lee coming home, and seeing their families after so long, made me sob. Little Hana Lee would not let go of her mom. Good job Bill! I knew when I heard he was going to North Korea that he would be bringing the journalists home. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here for a slide show).
The following is the Huffington Post's article, released this morning, that the United States' government has confirmed that Iran does have the American's in custody. As if Iran/American relations couldn't get any more complicated..
.. Here's sending good vibes and prayers to Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal.
Hikers In Iranian Custody, Government Confirms
The Americans strayed into Iran while hiking in the mountains of Kurdish territory in neighboring Iraq.
President Barack Obama's national security adviser, James Jones, said that as of Sunday morning, the Iranian government has confirmed it has them in custody.
U.S. and Kurdish officials say the Americans accidentally entered Iran across the poorly marked border on July 31.
Reports from Iran have said Tehran was looking into whether the three were spying for the United States. But until Jones' comment, there had not been any official Iranian government confirmation that the three were in custody.
Jones spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press."
BBC will start showing a three part series on the history of Iran and the West. I want to watch this! Here's the information about the show, taken from the BBC's website here.
Read more...Iran and the West: From Khomeni to Ahmedinejad
(click here to listen to excerpt from website)
For the first time, the BBC tells the story of Iran's relationship with the West over the last 30 years - as seen by the key players and political insiders from both sides.
Marking the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, each programme focuses on a different decade in Iran's history.
Archive footage and interviews recreate the diplomatic tensions, false dawns and intricacies of political negotiations that have marked the relationship so far.
Programme one:
The inside story of the beginning of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
In 1979, Iran was ruled by a monarchy in the guise of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. But he was only just clinging to power following a succession of strikes and protests.
And waiting in exile was Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader with a long history of opposition to the Shah. When he returned to the country to be greeted by several million Iranians, the royal regime collapsed as guerrillas and rebel troops began to overwhelm the forces loyal to the Shah.
Not long afterwards, the US embassy in Iran was stormed by a group of students - triggering a hostage crisis that would dominate the last year in office of US President Jimmy Carter, ultimately ending in his downfall.
Iran and the West: From Khomeni to Ahmedinejad tells the inside story of all these dramatic events, from the people who were there at the time.
First broadcast 20 July 2009
In spite of all the reasons I hate China (see post:Made in China makes me Nauseous) .. there are a few reasons why I want to take a trip there someday.
The Great Wall of China
Modern Beijing
The Forbidden City
Giant Pandas at the Beijing Zoo
Golden Resources Shopping Mall
Let every nation known, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty. ~ President John F Kennedy
We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" ~ President Thomas Jefferson
C'mon United Nations! Do something!!
Nobel winner seeks U.N. human rights envoy for IranBy Daniel Bases
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday to appoint a personal envoy to investigate human rights abuses in Iran.
In a letter also signed by the rights groups International Federation for Human Rights and the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Ebadi asked Ban to appoint the envoy to look into abuses in Iran following June's disputed presidential election.
A spokesman for Ban said the letter had been received by his office. Ban currently is on a trip to Myanmar in a bid to get the military junta there to release all political prisoners and prepare for credible elections next year.
The letter said Ebadi, a human rights lawyer, had made the request to Ban directly in a telephone conversation on June 23, eleven days after Iran's election. The United Nations at the time disclosed the conversation but did not mention the request for a human rights envoy.
Ebadi was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights, in particular the rights of women and children.
Action by Iranian security forces against demonstrators who charged that the election had been rigged in favor of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drew condemnation from Western countries and from Ban. Iranian authorities said the vote was fair.
"We would like ... to reiterate our call upon you to name a Personal Envoy for Iran," the letter said.
"Such an envoy would benefit from your authority in the relations with the Iranian authorities, an authority which is denied to human rights groups from Iran or from abroad in the context of this active repression," the letter said.
The June 12 election pitted hard-liner Ahmadinejad against Mirhossein Mousavi. In the aftermath of the vote, which drew the most vigorous organized protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution, state media said 20 people died in violence.
Ebadi has called on Ahmadinejad to prosecute those who shot protesters and pay compensation to their families while also calling for fresh elections held with U.N. observers.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Will Dunham)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
I love it.
Photo courtesy of SChalice , twitpic.
Also, this OpEd column from the New York Times: The End of the Beginning, by Roger Cohen, is very interesting.
We now know the true identity of Neda, the woman who I posted the video of a few days ago, here. TIME Magazine has gathered a few pictures of her, and the protests around her death, in this photo essay. She was a beautiful Iranian woman.
This is the account from TIME:
By some accounts of her life, Neda was not deeply involved in politics. At the time of her death, she was with her singing instructor. The two of them had ventured out to witness the protests, but after being caught in a clash with club-wielding forces, they chose to head home. When they stepped out of a car, the fatal shot was fired.I truly hope her death will not be in vain. Read more...
Neda, a woman shown in the video below, was protesting in Iran on Saturday, and was shot in the stomach. She died on the street, the man surrounding her, calling her name is her father. This story is sad. She was just protesting, for her right to vote, for her right to speak, but in Iran, these rights are not rights that are available to all. Her name, Neda, means "The Call" in Farsi, and after the emergence of this video, her name has been the battle cry of many on Twitter and Facebook. Today in Iran, they are planning to have a Mourning vigil for her. Click here for story about Neda from CNN.
The video's not pretty.. and is graphic, so view at your own risk.
Read more...
This video is pretty powerful. Its an Iranian woman reading a poem about the people of Iran, as the background is filled with Persians saying Allahu Akbar* into the night. I got this video from this website, which was recommended on Twitter by demi moore (@mrskutcher). There are more videos, that are also pretty awesome, posted onto YouTube by people inside of Iran, click the link above to watch them.
While I was looking at more of the Iran News I found this site, and thought it was kind of funny. It shows some cartoons / art that people have made concerning the craziness of all this. I loved this one, so thought I'd share.
I also added this to my blog. Many Iranians, and their Supporters are adding it as their photo on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
As soon as the Iranians started voting on Friday, I was anxious, you could feel that this election, wasn't like any other. And, folks, it hasn't been. It has been hard to even put a blog post together, because the different news reports were bringing in conflicting information, and new reports were coming in all the time. At first, many thought Moussavi was being held under house arrest, but this morning (picture above) he arrived among his supporters. I was excited!
I really believe the Elections were rigged. I do. When Christiane Amanpour from CNN was doing some "unofficial election polls" last week, it seemed obvious that Moussavi had won, and that Ahmadinejad was defeated. Then, they both announced their victories? And then no one saw the entire weekend. Today, it is being reported that he has met with Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that the Ayatollah ordered an investigation into the fraud claims. But we all know the Ayatollah's record, so I'll believe it when I see it.
Ashton Kutcher (aplusk) through Twitter has compared it to when Al Gore won against George Bush, and the country went a little nuts. I think that that is true, and a good way for us Americans to identify with the problem. (I was one of those people going nuts in 2000). But , I know it sounds trisk but our country is free.. their country is a country where the Iranian bloggers sites are shut down for days at a time, and where during the elections cell phone use was cut off, the supporters of Moussavi (and the other challengers) were not able to use general means for their campaigns, they could not use TV ads and such, instead they used a cell phone network, a-la-President Obama's campaign. Twitter and Facebook also have been down, and then put back up. So yes, Ashton, its similiar, but at least Mr. Gore had the right to fight for his "hanging chads" but does Mr. Moussavi have that same right? Without being killed? I sure hope so..
This is from Sunday's New York Times..
She was in tears like many women on the streets of Iran’s battered capital. “Throw away your pen and paper and come to our aid,” she said, pointing to my notebook. “There is no freedom here.”Ugh. So sad.
I like lists. I make them in my head when I'm not even really thinking about it. Then I scribble them down, and try to keep them somewhere so I remember what it was on this here day that I wanted to do.. but sometimes that doesn't work. So as long as I have had this blog, I have been sharing these goal and these many lists, with anyone that cares to read. Well now I found a list making website, where it makes it all pretty. Here is the link: Ta-da Lists. Here is the link to my lists, although I have only created one so far, I am sure there will be more to come: Life List (it's the same as below). I am sure I will add to the list.. and check things off, so if you have any suggestions, or you want to help me accomplish something from the list, I am game!
 | Visit all 50 States |
| Swim in the Atlantic Ocean |
| Swim in the Arctic Ocean |
| Swim in the Indian Ocean |
| Get my Masters - MSW / MPA Combined Degree |
| Get my Bachelor's in Social Work |
| Go Sky Diving |
| Work for UNICEF |
| Snorkel |
| Visit all 7 Continents |
| Get married & have Kids |
| See a Pro Football Game - Dallas Cowboys! |
| Travel somewhere to see the Olympics (London, 2012 anyone?) |
| Read all of the Barnes and Noble dubbed "Classics" |
| Volunteer at the Sundance Film Festival |
| Visit an International Disney resort |
| Go on a Cruise |
| Walk on the Great Wall of China |
| See the Sydney Opera House |
| Visit the Pyramids |
| See New York City |
| See a Show on Broadway |
| Work for the IRC (~ International Rescue Committee) |
 | Swim in the Pacific Ocean |
| Spend a Summer in Europe |
| See Big Ben in London |
| Visit the Roman Forum and the Colosseum |
| See Les Mis in London |
| Go to the top of The Eiffel Tower |
| Volunteer with the IRC (~ International Rescue Committee) |
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| 08/ 9/09 09:36 AM |
WASHINGTON — The White House says Iran has confirmed it has three American hikers in custody.