Latest from Iran (17 January): Setting Aside Diversions

2250 GMT: The Regime Sacrifices Mortazavi (on US Television). What a way to close the evening. In an interview on CNN tonight, Tehran University academic Seyed Mohammad Marandi effectively gave up former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi as the man responsible for the detainee abuses and deaths at Kahrizak Prison. We've got the video and a snap analysis.

NEW Latest Iran Video: Marandi on CNN on Detainee Abuses “Mortazavi to Blame” (17 January)
NEW Iran: The Ali-Mohammadi Case “A Political Assassination”
NEW Iran: The Ali-Mohammadi Funeral “The Stolen Coffin”
UPDATED Iran Video & Translation: Dr Etaat’s Opposition On State Media (14 January — Parts 3-5)
UPDATED Iran Video & Translation: Dr Etaat’s Opposition On State Media (14 January — Parts 1 and 2)
NEW Iran: The 15 Points of “The Secular Green Movement” (14 January)
Latest Iran News (16 January): Ripples

1945 GMT: Don't Look Now But.... Former 1st Vice President and Presidential ally Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai is handing out wisdom, according to Press TV: "The Islamic system's adherence to keep an 'unbreakable connection' between its legitimacy and popularity is the key to its survival."

Don't want to rain on this supremacy parade, Mr R-M, but given recent developments (see 1035 GMT and 1100 GMT), you want to think about your own survival before pronouncing on that of the Islamic Republic.

1935 GMT: Repent! Rah-e-Sabz reports supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi in Borujerd in western Iran are being summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence and asked to sign statements of repentance.

1845 GMT: Zia Nabavi, a "starred" (monitored) student and spokesman for the Right to Education Defense Council, has been given a 15-year jail term combined with 74 lashes. The sentence consists of ten years for association with the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO), three years for gathering and collusion to undermine national security; one year for spreading propaganda against the regime; one year for disturbing the public peace; and 74 lashes for antagonizing public opinion.

During his trial, Mr. Nabavi strenuously denied association with the MKO, saying he was being sentenced for the presence of a few of his family members at MKO’s Ashraf base in Iraq. According to Mr. Nabavi’s lawyer, the main charge was participation in a street march on June 15.

1802 GMT: A new website has been created by journalists and human rights activists to bring attention to the cases of less prominent post-election detainees.

1800 GMT: We've posted the video of the concluding part of Dr Javad Etaat's powerful criticism of the regime which was aired on Iranian state media this week.

1720 GMT: The files of 17 The files of 17 detained killed protesters have been sent by Tehran's Chief Prosecutor to the criminal court of Tehran.

1705 GMT: Two more members of the Freedom Movement of Iran, Solmaz Alimoradi and Farid Taheri, were arrested today. The regime has targeted the group with a series of arrests on and after Ashura (27 December).

(An activist is now reporting that four members were arrested, adding the names of Mamood Naimpoor and Khosro Ghashghai.)

1700 GMT: Oh, Mahmoud, You Crazy Guy. Who needs to worry about an internal crisis when you can do this to highlight the evil wrought by others upon Iran? "A task force assigned by Iran's president has begun their work in estimating the amount of damage inflicted on the Iranian nation during the Second World War."

1645 GMT: Targeting Mortazavi. Not a good omen for Saeed Mortazavi: Press TV's website headlines, "Ex-Tehran prosecutor should stand 'trial'". The article carries Mortazavi's denial that he was responsible for detainees abuses in Kahrizak Prison, taken from his comments to Fars News, but closes with this stinger:

Parviz Sorouri, the lawmaker who heads the panel, told Mehr News Agency that the report was "based on undeniable evidence and documents" gathered by his team. The lawmaker insisted a tribunal should be established to consider the panel's report. "Mr. Mortazavi should also present his evidence in this court," Sorouri said.

A total of 55 members of Parliament, led by Sorouri, have written to demand that Mortazavi be brought to court.

1445 GMT: Death Sentence Propaganda. We reported earlier (0823 GMT) that a Hossein Mahmoodi, who had supposedly been sentenced to death as "mohareb" (warrior against God), was the nephew of Hojatoleslam Jafar Montazeri, the head of Iran's Administrative Justice Court.

Only one catch here: Hojatolislam Montazeri is saying he does not have a nephew named Hossein Mahmoodi.

So, if that is true, who is spreading the lie?

1420 GMT: Student activist Majid Dorri has received an 11-year jail sentence.

1328 GMT: Member of Parliament Ali Motahhari (see 1035 GMT) has called for Mir Hossein Mousavi to be allowed into debates on the post-election situation.

1325 GMT: The Mothers of Mourning Persist. A week after their protest was disrupted by 33 arrests, the Mothers of Mourning and their supporters gathered again in Laleh Park yesterday, chanting, "You can occupy Laleh Park, but not our country."

1205 GMT: Another Reformist Put Away. Opposition websites report that senior reformist and former member of Parliament Mohsen Safai Farahani has been sentenced to six years in jail.

1150 GMT: A Newspaper Offensive Against the Regime? If this is interpreted accurately, the "challenge within" to the regime seems to be moving up a notch.

Ayande News has published an analysis by a senior official which, painting a bleak picture of the post-election situation, indirectly blames misjudgments by the Supreme Leader and a disregard for Constitution in siding with “extremists and rogues”. The unnamed official asks where the regime is headed, given the gap between people and Ayatollah Khamenei and the stagnation of the regime and Government.

In Alef News, Mohammad Hassan Haeri Shirazi, the son of Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi, asks whether the intention is to establish an absolute Islamic state or a one-party regime. He criticises the Supreme Leader for manipulating elections, causing a deterioration of democracy and a move towards an oppressive regime.

1100 GMT: P.S. And Khabar Online also has this parting shot of news for Ahmadinejad aide Rahim-Mashai: Iranian state media kept him off TV screens during recent public appearances.

1035 GMT: Ahmadinejad's Buddy v. The Larijanis? We noted earlier (0800 GMT) that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's close ally Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai has been taking potshots at member of Parliament Ali Motahhari, the brother-in-law of Ali Larijani). Well, if true, here is another front in the battle, offered by Khabar Online (which, remember, is a publication connected with Ali Larijani):

In [a] gathering of the members of Ahmadinejad election headquarters held in the grand hall of [the] Interior Ministry, his backers chanted slogans against Mir Hossein Mousavi, opposition leader, as well as Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff and his top aide.

According to Khabar Online correspondent who exclusively reported on the issue, the event took place at 8 to 12 a.m. Friday and was attended by the officials of Ahmadinejad election headquarters. Among them officials from the provinces of Azerbaijan and Mazandaran made speeches and after a known cleric, Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi delivered the lecture, [the] Iranian President...made a speech.

During his speech, the government supporters shouted "Death to Mousavi!" But interestingly when the ceremony came to an end several attendants chanted slogans against Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's close aide: "Mashaei Shame on You! Leave Ahmadi Alone!" and "Ahmadi Replace Mashaei!" They began to shout when the attendants were leaving the hall.

0828 GMT: Not Me. Former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi has rejected the Parliamentary report that holds him accountable for the post-election abuses at Kahrizak Prison.

0823 GMT: The Death Penalty and the Regime. Amir Kabir Newsletter claims that Hossein Mahmoodi, the nephew of Hojatoleslam Jafar Montazeri, the head of Iran's Administrative Justice Court, is amongst a number of Ashura protesters who have been marked out for execution.

0817 GMT: Detention Update. As the regime tries to break protests with more arrests, there are claims that Eshrat Abad Prison could become a "second Kahrizak". Kahrizak Prison was site of post-election detainee abuses and at least three deaths before it was closed on the orders of the Supreme Leader.

0815 GMT: A "corrected" issue of the weekly newspaper Hemmat has been printed after the publication was banned, apparently for insulting Hashemi Rafsanjani.

0810 GMT: No "Mohareb". Amidst Government threats to try demonstrators for the crime of "mohareb" (war against God), more than 60 journalists and human rights activists have signed an open letter denouncing the threat.

0800 GMT: Indeed, the important issue may not be just the Government's reaction to protests (see 0730 GMT) but to its challengers "within". Consider this provocative statement from President Ahmadinejad's ally and Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

No real shocker that Rahim-Mashai would trot out the line that American and Israeli denials of responsibility in the assassination of Professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi "are revealing". The intriguing passage, instead, is Rahim-Mashai's allegation that high-profile member of Parliament (and brother-in-law of Ali Larijani) Ali Motahhari has tried to diminish the offences of riot leaders with his criticisms of the Government. So Rahim-Mashai's assurance that legal prosecution is underway is not just a slap-down to the Green movement but to Mottahari.

0730 GMT: Two weeks to go until 11 days of celebration begin, marking the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution, and the political manoeuvring continues. Since the protest and counter-protest of Ashura (27 and 30 December), the public scenes have been less dramatic, but the chatter and preparations continue. Those preparations may be supported by the symbol of the death of Professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi this week: we have two pieces from Ahmad Shirzad on the "political assassination" and on the drama of Ali-Mohammadi's funeral.

Most of the Western media, however, is diverted today from these events. The Saturday talks of the "5+1" powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China) on Iran's nuclear programme were never going to produce any outcome, but just their occurrence is enough for reporters to fill up columns with the non-development. The Washington Post headlines, "Major powers reach no deal on new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program", while The New York Times tries to rescue a bit of significance, "6 Major Powers Move Closer to Considering More Iran Sanctions".

Inside Iran, the attention is on the Government's approach to protests. Prominent cleric and politician Mohammad Reyshahri has caused a stir by breaking from "hard-line" supporters of the regime, condemning extremism and neglect in dealing with post-election demonstrations.

Reyshahri --- Supervisor of Iranian Pilgrims, a former representative of the Supreme Leader and former Minister of Intelligence --- declared, “It is no accomplishment to turn a martyr’s family into supporters of a coup. Transforming coup organizers into martyrs is the real accomplishment.” He added, “We must manage things so that if someone supports Velayat-e Faghih (Supreme Leadership of an expert cleric) only 10 percent and is against it 90 percent, we add to that 10 percent rather than completely destroying that 10 percent.”

Comments

[Catherine]

RE 08:17 there are claims that Eshrat Abad Prison could become a “second Kahrizak”.

Is the Peykiran article new or old? Arshama and I were discussing Eshrat Abad 11-12 days ago in the comments of some thread. The EA search machine doesn't seem to search comments so I can't find the links we pointed to back then.

Here are two articles I can still find:
January 10, 2010
Elaheh, a 24 year-old woman, was killed in Eshratabad on January 7th.
According to a reliable source from inside Eshratabad Military Base (where many anti-government protesters are jailed), Elaheh was killed during interrogations as a result of head injury caused by breaking a chair on her head.
Continue reading: http://persian2english.com/?p=3896

and a mention at the beginning of an article on the nephew of the Head of Iran’s Administrative Justice Court being among those scheduled for execution (Jan 15)
http://persian2english.com/?p=4347
"Following the vast uproar during Ashura, a wave of terror was brought about by reports from government sources announcing 300 arrests while independent sources announced over 1500 arrests.

There are disturbing reports from Eshrat Abad Prison (which some believe is a new place of torture to take the place of Kahrizak) of inhumane treatment of female prisoners."

[Samuel]

Very interesting while the greenie supporters all rush to blame the Govt for Professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi's murder an article in Egypt's respected Al-Ahram (as quoted in Israel's Haaretz) puts the blame squarely on the Mossad.

I know, I know how could anyone not blame the Govt. since it is a well known fact that it is the source of most of this world's calamities ranging from drought in Africa to the recent cheating by France's national soccer squad in their defeat of Ireland's squad.

Egyptian paper: Mossad chief is 'Israel's superman'

By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Israel news, Mossad

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram claimed on Saturday that the head of Israel's Mossad, Meir Dagan, is "Israel's superman" for successfully thwarting the Iranian nuclear program.

The article in Al-Ahram, written by the paper's analyst for Palestinian affairs Ashraf Abu al-Haul, claimed that Dagan is the "brains" behind last week's assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142960.html

[Arshama]

Catherine,

The Peyke Iran article is indeed new and equal to the second article you quoted (Jan 15). Unfortunately it contains no additional data on this prison. I looked up all my maps and Google Earth without finding the exact location, perhaps somewhere NE of Tehran. Is there no one to have mercy on these forgotten protesters?

[Samuel]

A separate articles in the same Israeli paper Haaretz also conclude that Israel is probably responsible for the assassination.

ANALYSIS / Iran scientist likely killed by opponents of nuclear program

By Yossi Melman

"The possibility that Western, or even Israeli, spy agencies are behind the latest assassination is supported by precedent. According to foreign news reports, Israel acted in a similar fashion during the 1960s against German scientists working to develop missiles in Egypt, and during the 1970s against various scientists. These included Egyptians and the Canadian scientist Gerald Bull who worked on Iraq's nuclear and missile projects under Saddam Hussein.

His colleagues at Tehran University claim that Mohammadi was not connected whatsoever with Iran's nuclear program. However, precedent shows that Iranian universities, especially the chemistry and physics departments, have served as a front for Iran's nuclear program. They have purchased and hid equipment, and their professors and experts have served as consultants for the program.

Reports have increased in recent years about attempts by Western espionage agencies to harm Iranian scientists; there have even been a few reports about Iranian scientists who died under mysterious circumstances. In one case, a scientist died at home, ostensibly of suffocation from a gas space heater."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142310.html

[Catherine]

Arshama,
Check out the links to Eshratabad in this table - you have to scroll down a bit to find them. Which one is the most likely place? Each link opens a page with maps, coordinates and other information:
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/a/96/E/s/

[naj]

If Mossad is SO STUPID to assassinate a "quantum/String" physicist, instead of a nuclear one, then it is a tiger paper!

Considering that Israel produces highly educated people out of its military system, i am sure their agents would run a quick search on the research fields of people they wanna take out!

Now, this is not to say that Israel and its best ally, Ahmadinejad, wouldn't mind killing two birds with one stone. Of course, both Israel and Ahmadinejad-backing IRGC seem to be capable of staging protracted bomb-the-innocent street-fights to advance their agenda: PREVENT peace and democracy for the "children of the lesser god"!

[Samuel]

"If Mossad is SO STUPID to assassinate a “quantum/String” physicist, instead of a nuclear one, then it is a tiger paper!"

A few years ago the Mossad assasinated some innocent arab waiter in Europe when they were going after the leaders of Black September so YES sometimes they are that stupid. That however is not even the issue here.

If the Israelis want to intimidate "Nuclear Scientists" they surely know that the Govt. has greatly increased security around such individuals. The victim here could simply be a "soft target" an easy hit with which to send a message that the Mossad can strike anywhere even in Tehran.

The Israilis really enjoy sending such messages. In 2006 they bombed 100% residential buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut with no military value whatsoever. They did it just to show they could do it.

It is interesting that two separate articles in AL-Ahram and Haaretz reach the same conclusion.

[Catherine]

I saw this first in a short report from Malaysia News.Net, Israel assassinating Iranian nuclear operatives says Egyptian newspaper. I'm glad now to see two longer articles. What I find most interesting about them is how the majority of the readers coincide in rejecting the claims made that Israel was behind the hit.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142960.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142310.html

[Doug]

     This game playing is giving me a headache. Each in their own way, in some aspect, seems like a fool -- seems as though everyone is wrong. Some irritants: Chants as verbal attack and conditioning agents, insults and innuendo, rationalizing evil moves, and political maneuvering.
     In a game where both sides know all the possible moves, doesn't that lead to a draw, or a guaranteed win for whomever gets to move first (or second, depending on the game), or does it require a catastrophic event that breaks the rules of the game? The regime thinks they know the "rules of revolution".
     Along the roads to catastrophe (as debated here on the subject of nonviolence), what are the factors that would compel enforcers to fire on crowds? Both sides speculate on when to act and when to bluff. But again, if the information becomes known to everyone, does that lead to draw/stalemate or catastrophe?
     Do enforcers in a weakened regime always acquire empathy or do they become desensitized to violence or pathologically sadistic?
     What's most disturbing is that what seems missing from the matrix of game-playing is the dimensions of empathy and spirituality.
     Lack of communication and propaganda lead to derangement and insanity, a lack of humanity?
     Is there always a win-win solution or is death and catastrophe to some extent always required?
     Walking through the jungle of non-communication, a hungry wild animal inevitably attacks ... and then? Can one communicate with a wild animal that runs on instinct?
     The problem seems to be that the mathematical* models of utopia leave out key factors. The predictions of various models always seem to be just wrong. War on poverty: failure. War for peace: failure. Religion† promoting morality: failure. *(Not necessarily formal math. Utopians/radicals use it in the sense that they use logic and rules implicitly)
†In the sense that it becomes corrupted by fallible people. But let's not debate particular religions please, as it becomes a hysterical set of non-productive diatribes.

[Samuel]

Analysis from Egypt's Al-ahram explaining the weakness of the greenies. One should note that Al-ahram is far from being a pro-Iranian source. It seems that outside the west fewer folks are willing to fall for the greenie cult or its favorite pastime of connecting the dots between the present and 1979.

Key quote: "...against a regime that enjoys massive support among other strata of society, and this poses complications for the opposition's mission."

"However, the climate in Iran today cannot be compared with the massive revolutionary tide that prevailed in pre-1979 Iran. In his final years, the Shah had lost contact with the Iranian people, and the welfare and security of the regime rested solely upon a narrow class of business magnates and an even smaller coterie of senior army officers.

Today, supporters of the Iranian regime number in their millions, whether they are drawn by the Shia Islamist ideology of the regime, or have vested interests in it as state employees, who in themselves number in the millions. When the regime's proficiency in securing the satisfaction of broad segments of the populace by channeling a significant chunk of the country's huge oil revenues into subsidising essential goods is added, the dynamic in Iran today becomes even more apparent.

This is not a case of a regime that is isolated from its people and faces opponents who have massive popular support. Rather, it is the case of an opposition drawn from certain strata of society against a regime that enjoys massive support among other strata of society, and this poses complications for the opposition's mission.

Moreover, on top of its millions of supporters, the regime has another important asset to draw on, which is its military might as embodied in the Republican Guards. That the regime has not yet had to resort to this army in itself is significant and signifies that its dilemma has not yet reached the magnitude of an existential crisis."

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/981/re10.htm

[Arshama]

Catherine,

Thank you so much for all the links and news!
I got confused by the fact that there is an Eshrat Abad (Meydan-e Hosseini?) in the the SW part of Tehran and a garrison with the same name west of Tehran, near Karaj
(there is also a historical building from the Qajar time).
Here is an additional report from 2008, mentioning the "prison of sepah, security forces and artesh at Eshrat Abad and Heshmatiyeh" http://iranhotnews.blogfa.com/post-1650.aspx
Foreign human rights organisations are not allowed to enter the country, and Iranian human rights activists are in jail, so what should we do? An appeal to the UN? Or trying to convince influential newspapers to report on the subject. As far as I have learned, publishing is the most useful tool to put pressure on the authorities. Any suggestion is welcome...

[ange paris]

Arshama
I think that convincing the foreign newspapers to report on the subject is a very good idea; EA and Scott, josh Sharyar, and all the other readers, who knows anybody in media systeme of all over the world, have to use their relationships to spread this deep concern putting pressure on the regime; they don't want to loose the face and they will be ashamed and humiliated .

[ange paris]

Samuel
Don't speak all time about Isarel you are so boring, my god !! there is a lot of posts about Israel on EA, I don't understand why you are always commenting here ! anyhow, look at our people, in this video ! it's so amazing !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHxnWPRN9PI

[THE FLYING CARPET INSTITUTE]

Hello! I finished the translation!

http://theflyingcarpetinstitute.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/reformist-attacks-government-on-iran%E2%80%99s-state-owned-channel-3-part-iv/

and

http://theflyingcarpetinstitute.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/reformist-attacks-government-on-iran%E2%80%99s-state-owned-channel-3-part-v/

Jay E.

[gunni]

Arshama / Catherine
another source : Esharat-Abad prison located in Teheran, the article was written in october 2009 http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1399

ange paris
“You can occupy Laleh Park, but not our country.” ( EA 13.25 ) I love this "mourning mothers" - this ambassadors of humanity - like others - are clearly showing the cruelty of the regime - there is no human " face" anymore , which can be lost......

[Ali Khamenei]

     We can not lose face. We are the face of humanity, interpreter of scripture. Art is in the eye of the beholder, but this is not art. I hold humanity absolutely.
     I do not play games. As has been demonstrated, we are aware of Quantum physics and its proper place. As a Zionist scientist who was reluctant to accept quantum physics said, "God does not play dice." -- Einstein. And so it is that beyond science and reason, there are rules.
     I am the embodiment of scripture. I am the only one who hears God's plan for Iran correctly and I will lead you to paradise.
     The student may question the teacher for clarification. But the curriculum can not change. I set the rules for reaching truth. The velayat-e faqih is.
     There is no top-dog but Khamenei and Ahmadinejad is His messenger and changeling. America is God's enemy and I am God's darling.

[Arshama]

Ange Paris and Gunni,

Thanks for your support. I decided to collect all links and make a special edition on "Prisons in the IRI" on my blog.
This one is dedicated to less prominent Green prisoners: http://www.green-prisoners.com/
And here is an incomplete list of detention centers: http://iranrevolution.wordpress.com/detention-centers/

Perhaps we should ask the Guardian to report on Eshrat Abad. Soon after the first arrests they set up this page for the dead and detained:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2009/jun/29/iran-election-dead-detained

[ange paris]

I am sure that they want to be well seen from outside ; they are so proud and show-off ! if there is a negatif propaganda, they will bow ! do you remember when they were with 5+1, showing themself so civilized and heros of the world !! they mind their image, we have to have this" huge" negatif advertising on the iranian regime, told in all the media !

AK
che looss !!

[Doug]

A country run only on rules can't work. Free will and creativity require breaking rules. Diplomacy is an art but tact must have limits to distinguish it from deception? Expediency must not go beyond certain moral limits?

"The ends don't justify the means"

I do wonder why the regime wants to save face on the world stage if it is so confident of its moral superiority, like http://theflyingcarpetinstitute.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/reformist-attacks-governement-on-irans-state-owned-channel-3/" rel="nofollow">Etaat's remark that talk of a "soft revolution" implies a dictatorship.

[Catherine]

Arshama,
Good initiative. You should send the url of your blog page to:
http://www.iranhumanrights.org/contact-us/

[ange paris]

Doug
Actually, they are not confident of their superiority; they give this image to world stage but they are not !! for 30 years , they were not recognized and were "nothing"; with 5+1 they were around the same table, like children , very proud of themself, singing " we are the masters of the world"; they have this complex of inferiority and "saving face" is very iranian !! the sentence " bade jeloye mardom " have you surely heard coming from your mother or family.

[ange paris]

Arshama
Dastet dard nakone ! I agree with Catherine and Thank you for all of us .

[Catherine]

RE: 1150 GMT: A Newspaper Offensive Against the Regime? If this is interpreted accurately, the “challenge within” to the regime seems to be moving up a notch.

According to MikVerbrugge's tweets, Ayande is having a field day with the regime.
http://twitter.com/MikVerbrugge/status/7868082608
http://twitter.com/MikVerbrugge/status/7868139212

[Doug]

The Will of the People

Free will allows for a decision (however trivial or profound) to be made, NOT preordained by any rule or current status, and when implemented changes the world.

Einstein was reluctant to embrace quantum physics because it incorporated probability theory: the position of a particle given by a probability of being there and not a certainty. Does science seem like an art? Art can be reproduced like an experiment can be redone to verify the principles. It's even true that in a technical sense, a forger can be more skillful than the original artist. The forger follows the rules of brush stroke and pigment preparation etc. but isn't creative.

The structure of a country becomes defined like a painting. The dictator is a Grand Forger. The people must make new artwork.

[Barry]

Funny article for today

"The Islamic Solidarity Games have been canceled after a dispute between Arab countries and Iran over the name of the waterway dividing them."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583216,00.html

Get the funny??? :) ISLAMIC SOLIDARITY cancelled after dispute!! Ha Ha

What Islamic Solidarity? - I see none anywhere -only self interest.

Where are you Samuel? Looks like a bit of racism going on here - but who are the racists ? The Arabs or the Iranians???

Barry