Hell in the Islamic Republic

Roger Cohen, op-ed writer for The International Tribune and The New York Times, was one of the few journalists to be in and report from Teheran, Iran, on the upheaval following the obviously rigged election in Iran last year. It was graphic, and what happened in Teheran, tragic, to say the least.

In his latest column he writes about a regime which seems to be no better than the much-hated reign of the Shah some 40 years ago. However, he suggests that if we want to help the people of Iran that to isolate the country is going to achieve nothing - just to the contrary!

"If you believe that Iran is not eternally condemned to veer from a monarch’s to a theocrat’s repression, and that its centennial quest for pluralism is unquenchable, speak out about abuse but pursue engagement because isolation only serves the horror merchants. Shun the realist and idealist bravura for the gray area where things get done.

Iran is weaker now than before the election. Its renewed interest in Brazilian-Turkish mediated talks is worth skeptical consideration. If you believe Mohsen — in the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate — deserves a future."

Read this troubling piece, in full, here.

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#1 Prize for a bizarre story.....and lying!

No comment called for in this piece from CommonDreams: Another young black man: The strange sad case of 21-year-old Chavis Carter. Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas stopped him and two friends, found some marijuana, searched put Carter, then put him handcuffed behind his back into their patrol car, where they say he shot himself in the head with a gun they failed to find. The FBI is investigating. Police Chief Michael Yates, who stands behind his officers' story, says in an interview that the death is "definitely bizarre and defies logic at first glance." You think?

Mahler's Prodigal Son

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