Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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Published: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
* Blogging Political and Social issues
In a daily posting on her weblog, “on the shores of health”, Samieh compares the Seventh and Eight Majlis, and mentions the recent International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran briefly, believing, unlike some others , that the report is not positive but a negative one:
“The Seventh Majlis was in turmoil from the start. Candidates were disqualified and there were expectations at the beginning of the last Majlis that Khatami should fight the results of such an election! Whatever the fortunes of the Seventh Majlis—which seemingly was in agreement with the new [Ahmadinejad’s] government—were, it criticized the government loudly. I’ll never forget: at the inauguration of the Seventh Majlis, the Interior Minister at the time read a controversial report on the trends in the election. A report that, despite being a report, showed dissatisfaction with the way candidates were deemed as qualified to run for office.
Yesterday the Eighth Majlis was inaugurated, a Majlis that made whatever disqualifications or unfair elections took place in the past, look really good.
But here is an interesting point: it is customary, at the inauguration of the Majlis, for the current Interior Minister to give a report on the elections which he administered. But the minister who administered these elections was absent during the inauguration. He was not even invited to these ceremonies at which so many other officials were present.
…again a report was published by the IAEA. Some want to evaluate the report as a positive one, but insiders say the IAEA’s latest report was not a positive development for Iran.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
http://sahel-e-salamat.blogfa.com/post-555.aspx
In his weblog “age-old traditions,” Mehdi criticizes a government “public security plan,” carried out by the Islamic Republic’s law enforcement forces to control young people’s behavior, and asks what right do these “guardians of the fight against bad Hejab” [Islamic dress code] have to brand someone as “bad-Hejab” and take them away in a security vehicle?
He believes the government is “a master brander” of the citizenry.
“…if they load a person into their security vehicle, insulting him terribly, it leads the person to believe s/he has really committed a crime. It will cause the person to develop a bad reputation in society, and may even turn the person into someone who cannot be trusted in society, putting further distance between him and societal conventions.
The master branders, the government and the security forces with all their talk of law and order and appropriate public behavior, must pay a lot of attention to the explanations they give for their fight against inappropriate clothing. If they revisit the labels they put on people, they can play a large role in preventing discord and crime in society.
One can only conclude that the law enforcement forces treat people, who are not by nature criminals, in such a way only to ensure the survival of the government and themselves.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
http://rasmrozegar.blogfa.com/post-33.aspx
* Personal weblogs
In his weblog, “calendar of exile,” Farhad takes advantage of the speeches and opinions of several of Iran’s officials (Ahmadinejad, the Friday prayer leader of the [Northeastern holy city] of Mashhad, Friday prayer leader of [the Western] city of Urumieh, etc) on political and social issues to post a humorous questionnaire-style entry. For example:
“…first question: how do you evaluate Iran’s position in the world today?
Ahmadinejad: ‘Iran is the number one power in the world, the rest of the world is with us too, all but two or three countries…’
Mesbah: ‘to reach a goal, one must have good tools and use them well. To convert the world to Islam we need money and blood. In my opinion Iran is a tool and Islam is the goal.’
Elmol-Hadi: ‘there is no stronger system in the world than the Islamic Republic. If there were, it would have finished us already.”
Mullah Hassani: “those who say foreigners are more advanced than us are stupid….’
Question: What is the place of women [in Iran’s society] and what do you think of their condition in society?
Ahmadinejad: ‘In our society women are free and enjoy the highest level of freedom’
Mesbah: ‘women have to wear their Hejab correctly; we’re not really concerned with the rest of it…’
Elmol-Hadi: ‘there are two groups of women. The first group has solid character; they sit at home and take care of the home. The second group has improper Hejab, which in my opinion is worse than stealing or homicide and must be forcefully stopped.’
Mullah Hassani: ‘there are two groups of women. The first wear proper Hejab and must take care of their husbands. The second group has improper Hejab and they must go and die…’
Question: to what extend do you believe in people’s freedom and participation in [the country’s] affairs?
Ahmadinejad: ‘first of all, there is absolute freedom in Iran. Secondly, people get nauseous when they hear the word democracy, which is why they are always throwing up when they think about our government.’
Mesbah: ‘People are free to obey. Disagreeing with the Supreme Leader is equivalent to doubting the oneness of God.’
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