Prepared to be amazed. The video game halftime show entails themes from:
Pong
Tetris
Mortal Kombat
Pokemon
The Legend of Zelda
Mario Bros. Theme
Mario Underground Theme
Super Mario Theme
Mario Water Theme
that this blog is still against the occupation in Palestine.
And if you missed it the first time I posted it, here it is again… my cousin praying, or at least trying to imitate my grandfather.
I’m getting a little tired of candidates talking about change. Has anyone noticed that candidates always talk about change in the campaigns? And I’m not talking about just the candidates for the ’08 elections, but I’m talking about the candidates in all presidential elections. Just look it up… ANYWHERE, and each of the candidates talk about… you guessed it, CHANGE. In other words, you’re not a real choice unless you talk about change, even though the corporate elite that run DC render the talk of change as, of course, just talk.
As for Obama winning Iowa, I hear some people think that him winning one state attests to the improved status of the regular black person and of America’s tolerance of black people. Are you kidding? One rich guy who had the financial support and economic opportunities to go to good schools growing up thereby enabling him to get a proper education that eventually took him to Harvard Law speaks volumes not of the status of black people in this country, but of one man named Obama only and how money can buy you endless opportunities to make a better life for youself. Him winning one state does not change the fact that black people live in some of the most neglected neighborhoods in this country and are without the same economic and educational opportunities as people like Obama. Furthermore, Obama winning doesn’t change the fact that the US still systematically discriminates against black people in many arenas, even in the legal system.
In any case, in this two-party system (some call it a two-party dictatorship but I wouldn’t go that far), I’m still without a real choice for a candidate, at least one that actually stands a chance and has the ability to afflict change. What are your thoughts on the ’08 elections?
“Persepolis” and “The Kite Runner” are nominated for best foreign film! I’m excited even though Christian Bale wasn’t nominated for his performances in “Rescue Dawn” or “3:10 to Yuma.” As for the two nominated films, I love both of them but I must say, both were heart wrenching. Usually the nominations and winners are indicators as to what will pan out with the Oscars so these are the movies I need to see by then:
“Michael Clayton”
“The Great Debaters”
“Charlie Wilson’s War”
and “No Country for Old Men” which everyone who has seen it tells me it’s great. Have you seen any of them? What did you think?
Here’s the list of the nominations. The ceremony takes place this Sunday the 13th… can’t wait until the Oscar nods… I’m a loser I know…
1. To tell fellow Iranians, “hey, if I’m not embarrassed about being Iranian, nor should you be.”
2. We are Iranians from Iran, not from “Persia” – the Greek name for Iran.
In other words, I made the shirt to promote the Iranian identity in the diaspora.
See the t-shirt for yourself at www.iranrepresent.com.
is always an interesting experience. I’ve been here for about 2 weeks and am in my last week before I have to go back to school. First off, I can’t believe I ever considered winter here as cold. Boston is cold. OC’s winter is weak sauce.
Besides the weather, I always notice things that many people who live here probably don’t notice since it’s the norm to them. I have to give a disclaimer here as not all OC Iranians fit this stereotype and I am grossly generalizing when I say there is a lack of individuality here and a lot of conformity. I mean, when a trend hits here it hits hard! For instance, one time I came back and many kids were then riding pretty much the same BMW as their friends. Another time, they all bought motorcycles on the side. And then they all got tattoos, or bought a dog and took it with them to 13 bedar (and all the girls brought their new cats). Then, of course, all the boys began to spike up their hair. Then came the drugs; first many of the boys were doing steroids then they moved up together to cocaine. And the funniest trend for all gherti Iranian boys in OC was the little mustache thingy below their bottom lip (and above the chin). Don’t get me wrong, OC is home for me and I love it here, but I just can’t help but notice the conformity and I must say, it’s a little overwhelming and conflicting, especially since I know that many of these Iranians are about so much more than they present.
BBC News: “This gives the entire site a value of some £7.5bn ($15bn), almost as much as the value of Ford Motors and an extraordinary achievement for a company that has only been in existence under four years.”
I’ll be honest, Facebook has been a great way to organize events through student groups, get in touch with old friends, and read interesting articles.
“‘If I were a Muslim I would let you know,’ Barack Obama has said, and I believe him. In fact, he is a practicing Christian, a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ. He is not now a Muslim. But was he ever a Muslim or seen by others as a Muslim?”
“The candidate for president of the United States has delivered two principal statements in reply. His campaign website carries a statement dated Nov. 12 with the headline, ‘Barack Obama Is Not and Has Never Been a Muslim,’ followed by: Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.’
[It’s as if he has to deny ever being Muslim so as to safeguard his political career: “No no, please, don’t mistake me for one of those… I’m NOT a Muslim… you can still vote for me.” Imagine if they accused him of having a Jewish background as if that were a bad thing… there would be an uproar with accusations of anti-semitism everywhere. Of course, the same standard is not applied to Islam and people attack candidates for their perceived Islamic background as legitimate smear campaigns.]
The most explosive film of the 1960s is now the most important film of 2004 – caption to the theatrical re-release. See the trailer here.
This is one of my favorite films and is one of the most influential movies ever made. It is available on DVD so privilege yourself to a viewing.
I feel as though the war in Iraq has become an accepted fact, that it is no longer an anomaly to be opposed, but the norm. It’s a news headline, if even that, no longer worth clicking on to read. The war is a scant dinner topic, if even that. Or it’s a bumper sticker, IF EVEN THAT. I’m not going to preach to the choir so I’ll just say this, the war is ongoing and by the time you finish reading this post, there’s a high likelihood that someone just got killed in Iraq. The security improvement that everyone is hailing isn’t really a big deal bc it has brought the monthly death toll to what it was a couple years ago, or to put it in one American general’s words (forgot his name), from extremely bad to very bad. So, while we celebrate the holidays, remember, the war is over… if you want it. (see the video)
Time Magazine’s cover story. See the cover page here.
In the first of many post-Annapolis failures, here we have Israel’s declaration to build more illegal settlements in occupied Arab East Jerusalem. I wonder if those who blame the Palestinians for the continuation of the conflict will remember these events. Probably not.
And here’s George Galloway punking someone over the idea of war with Iran. I don’t know much about Galloway so don’t think this is an endorsement of all his views, but you have to admit, he’s pretty on point (and funny) here.
Lastly, to liven up the mood, here’s what’s probably the most brilliant commercial ever!
So 16 American intelligence agencies have said that Iran most likely scrapped its weapons program in 2003. My dad called me yesterday and told me that he thought it was great news believing that the regimes may have made a back room deal to diffuse the crisis. I told him that the report wouldn’t change anything and that the war-regime in the US didn’t care about true, or in the case of Iraq, faulty intelligence. For the time being, I am right. And, of course, Israeli leaders are still trying to make the case for an American war against Iran, like they did with Iraq. The BBC reported that “Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak took issue with the report, saying Iran had probably restarted its suspected weapons programme.” How much do you want to bet that if Iran didn’t oppose Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing, Israeli officials wouldn’t be arguing for the necessity of an American attack on Iran?
So rejectionists like Benyamin Netanyahu and his right wing cheerleading bloggers have decided that the new conference is just another forum where Israel will offer one-sided concessions only to have them rejected by the warmongering Palestinians; that Israel offered the Palestinians 97% in Oslo and they rejected it, so why bother negotiating with them now? This is all just a narrative. There is no substance nor does it have any historical basis. I’m not going to sit here and simply say that the Palestinians got shafted by Israel and the US during the peace process, but I’m actually going to document how they were screwed:
“With Oslo II, the Gaza arrangement was extended to the West Bank in the form of Areas A, B, and C. Area A, which initially consisted of 7 major Palestinian towns, is under the total civilian and security control of the PA. Area B comprises the remaining Palestinian population centers (excluding some refugee camps) where civilian control resides with the PA and security control with Israel, which effectively places Area B under Israeli jurisdiction. Area C, which incorporates all Israeli settlements, “state lands,” and Israeli military bases, remains under the total control of Israel. By mid-2000, Area A comprised 17.2 percent and Area B 23.8 percent. In practical terms, therefore, by the time of the Camp David summit, Israel actually controlled almost 83 percent of the West Bank according to the terms of the Oslo agreement. Critically, all Palestinians in the West Bank presently live within six kilometers of Area C lands.
“Thus, while the absolute area under full or partial Palestinian control had increased, these areas were non-contiguous and remained isolated cantons separated by areas under the complete jurisdiction of Israel. Under this scenario, even if the Palestinians had been given authority over 90 to 95 percent of the West Bank – as allegedly proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak [and ignorant right-wing extremists] at Camp David II – they would have had five enclaves isolated from each other by several Israeli settlement blocs, along with highways, industrial infrastructure and army checkpoints. Additionally, many settlements are in the midst of these Palestinian enclaves themselves. Under Barak’s offer, therefore, the Palestinian state would consist of the northern, central, and southern West Bank enclaves, some isolated areas of East Jerusalem under autonomous or sovereign control by Palestinians, and at least two-thirds of the Gaza Strip.” (From Sara Roy’s Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, p. 239)
[In other words, Israel’s peace offer was nothing short of formalizing the occupation. Moreover, the offer was made while the illegal settler population had increased from 200,000 to 400,000 during Oslo. So you have to ask yourself, when extremists say that Israel offered 95% to the Palestinians and they rejected it, are they either ignorant or are they lying? The first is bad, but the latter is disgusting.]
