GI Sues Michael Moore for $85 Million
There IS a God. This story just made my day. I would really love seeing Minuiteman Michael Moore sweating like a pig in Court. ;-)


With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff
For the story behind the story...
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 1:01 p.m.

A double-amputee veteran of the Iraq war is suing filmmaker Michael Moore for $85 million, claiming Moore used an old interview with the G.I. to make him appear anti-war in his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports America's invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie. Damon lost his arms when a Black Hawk helicopter exploded in front of him.

In the 2003 interview, which he did at Walter Reed Army Hospital for NBC News, he discussed only a new painkiller the military was using on wounded veterans, the New York Post reports.

"They took the clip because it was a gut-wrenching scene," Damon said. "They sandwiched it in. [Moore] was using me as ammunition."

According to the lawsuit filed in Suffolk County, Mass., Damon seems to "voice a complaint about the war effort" in the movie.

But he told the Post: "I was complaining about the pain I would've been having [if it weren't for the painkiller].”

Newsman Brian Williams ends the NBC clip by adding, "These men with catastrophic wounds are . . . completely behind the war effort," according to the lawsuit. That part wasn't shown in the Moore movie.

Damon’s lawyer Dennis Lynch said he delayed filing the lawsuit in a bid to settle the matter with Moore.


"We attempted to resolve the situation amicably with Mr. Moore [for a year] but he refused," he said.

Damon is asking for up to $75 million because of "loss of reputation, emotional distress, embarrassment, and personal humiliation."

I'd say this guy likes Michael Moore every bit as much as much as the ?South Park? creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and for similiar reasons.

The South Park Boys, rather than sue, used their Art to acheive a Reckoning in "Team America"

No Moore Michael
They reserve their harshest treatment, however, for ?Fahrenheit 9/11? filmmaker Michael Moore ? but their disdain is as much personal as political.

Stone, who is from Littleton, Colo., agreed to talk about his hometown and the infamous high-school shooting there for Moore?s anti-gun documentary ?Bowling for Columbine.?

?We have a very specific beef with Michael Moore,? Stone said. ?I did an interview, and he didn?t mischaracterize me or anything I said in the movie. But what he did do was put this cartoon right after me that made it look like we did that cartoon.?

Parker and Stone still harbor hard feelings about that sassy, anti-gun cartoon because they feel it was done in ?South Park? style. They believe the proximity to Stone?s interview misled some fans into thinking they had done the cartoon, even though Moore never said they did

For this slight, Moore?s punishment in ?Team America? is extreme: he?s depicted as a gibbering, overweight, hot-dog eating buffoon who straps explosives to his body to blow up the American do-gooders. The puppet was reportedly stuffed with ham when it blew

|

Burns: Representation Must be Fair
Amendment Demands Census Bureau Report to Congress on Problem of Apportionment, Solutions


May 23, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -
U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R – Mont.) today offered an amendment to the immigration bill based on his Fair and Accurate Representation Act (FARA) of 2006. The amendment will demand the U.S. Census Bureau to issue a thorough report to Congress detailing the impact of illegal immigration on the reapportionment of seats in the House of Representatives. The amendment also directs the Census Bureau to develop a method to effectively exclude illegal aliens from reapportionment counts.

“If we get started on this now, this broken system can be fixed by 2010 when apportionment next occurs,” said Senator Burns. “Illegal immigration affects our everyday lives in many ways, including our system of representation. Currently, U.S. Census data counts everyone, including illegal immigrants, and this amendment will require the Census Bureau to seriously review how damaging this is and what can be done now to fix it. Montana is growing and deserves a second House seat. We should not have our representation stolen by a broken system, and this amendment will provide the answers we need to fix this system.”

The FARA was introduced several weeks ago as a stand-alone bill and would restrict illegal immigrants from being counted during the congressional reapportionment process. Reapportionment is done every ten years and determines the number of Congressional districts proportionally granted to each state based on population trends.

A vote on Senator Burns’ amendment, #4124, is expected Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Senator Burns will continue fighting for his stand-alone bill to end the use of illegal immigrants for statistical data applied for Congressional representation.

If this effort is undertaken now, Senator Burns believes a more fair and accurate system will be in place for the 2010 Census.

Senator Burns served in the United States Marine Corps from 1955-1957 and is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

|

The 21st Century Paul Revere Ride of 2006
One if by land, two if by sea, and I on the opposite shore shall be updated to the 21at Century.

The 21st Century Paul Revere Ride of 2006 is a summer-long cross-country motorcycle ride that will visit all state capitols to inform the public and their elected public servants of the severity of the illegal immigration crisis. The ride will began in Denver and will terminate in Washington, DC.

The ride is underway! Riders left Denver on May 29, 2006, after a successful rally. See photos of the team, their motorcycles and the rally.

“The 21st Century Paul Revere Ride has my whole-hearted support because it embodies the spirit of patriotism that brought America its independence in 1776. America’s sovereignty is threatened in 2006 not by British redcoats but by the elimination of our borders. It remains true today as in the past: vigilant citizens are our first line of defense. I applaud and salute the 21st Century Paul Revere Ride because its message needs to be heard all across the county, but especially it needs to be heard at the final destination of the ride, our nation’s capital. I wish I could join these patriots on their 48-state ride -- it would be more fun than my normal duties – but my prayers and best wishes go with them, for their safety and for their success.”

-- Rep. Tom Tancredo

HOSPITALITY: If you would like to ride for a day or state, meet the Paul Revere Riders and offer a cold one, offer your place as hospitality for an evening, contact us. We especially need a place to overnight near your state capital.

Print our flyer and distribute to motorcycle clubs, motorcycle shops, etc.

Tell your friends about the 21st Century Paul Revere Ride. Organize a rally when the ride comes through your city. See our route and schedule. Here are instructions on how to organize a rally. It's easy!

We are working in conjunction with NumbersUSA.com to inform the public and our elected public servants about the mass immigration crisis in America. We recommend you go to NumbersUSA.com and sign up to send free faxes to your elected officials.


**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

|

Maybe It's
NOT
Media Bias?


Maybe the Legacy Media is just,

Stuck On Stupid?



Corrections: For the Record

An article and a picture caption yesterday about the funeral of Sgt. Jose Gomez of Queens, who was killed on April 20 in Iraq, referred incorrectly to the Army representative who comforted his mother. She was a sergeant first class ? an enlisted woman, not an officer. The article also misstated the name of a service medal that a general presented to Sergeant Gomez's mother. It is a Purple Heart, not a Purple Star. In some copies, a picture of the coffin being carried out of a funeral home carried an erroneous credit. The photographer was Ozier Muhammad of The New York Times. (Go to Article)

You, more than anyone, understand the pain of the mother of Christ," the Rev. Thomas Healy said in Spanish to Maria Gomez, whose slender shoulders slumped into the Army officer seated to her right as her husband, Felix Jimenez, wrapped an arm around her. "We are all with you in your pain."

Now I ask you? Could anyone, except for a person who knows absolutely NOTHING about the military, mistake the person comforting this woman for an officer?.

I mean if your only contract with people in the Service had been TV shows, or Movies, you should know the difference between a Sergeant and an Officer.

Yesterday, church and state rose up, each in its ritualistic glory, to honor the brief life and sudden death of Sergeant Gomez. Father Healy tenderly anointed his coffin with incense, and gave the young man his final blessings. The ladies of Corona ? some in veils ? filled the pews. Army officers flanked the right side of the church, and a two-star general presented Mrs. Gomez with

the purple star

and bronze star that President Bush had authorized her son to receive.

Correction: May 12, 2006

An article and a picture caption yesterday about the funeral of Sgt. Jose Gomez of Queens, who was killed on April 20 in Iraq, referred incorrectly to the Army representative who comforted his mother. She was a sergeant first class ? an enlisted woman, not an officer. The article also misstated the name of a service medal that a general presented to Sergeant Gomez's mother. It is a Purple Heart, not a Purple Star. In some copies, a picture of the coffin being carried out of a funeral home carried an erroneous credit. The photographer was Ozier Muhammad of The New York Times.

One could almost excuse the Sergeant/Officer mistake but now really?


the purple star????

That is truly pathetic and the Mainstream Media keeps insisting that it is they who are more accurate due to their professionalism and editorial staff?

But again we are speaking of the New York Times, who used their power and prestige to cover up what was at the time one of the largest examples of genocide in the History of the World, even to the extent they ruined the reputations of journalists trying to get out the real truth.

Holodomor


It is obvious that the Grey Lady's penchant for Truth and Accuracy remains consistent.

In a similar vein Big Lizards in Deliberating On Mistakes
posits a question, is CNN deliberately misleading or merely woefully incompetent?

Here is what CNN reported:

Iran has a right to develop nuclear technology and the international community should drop its demands that Tehran prove it's not trying to build a nuclear weapon, Iraq's foreign minister said Friday....

"Iran doesn't claim that they want to obtain a nuclear weapon or a nuclear bomb, so there is no need that we ask them for any guarantee now," Hoshyar Zebari said after meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki.


But Omar listened to the audio, and he says this is completely wrong. He supplies his own translation:

We respect Iran's and every other nation's right to pursue nuclear technology for research purposes and peaceful use given they accept [giving] the internationally required guarantees that this will not lead to an armament race in the region?

This is almost the polar opposite of what CNN reported, raising the dilemma of whether we trust Omar of Iraq the Model -- or the scion of Ted Turner. (Silly question.)

If it turns out CNN mistakenly reported, out of sheer incompetence, the opposite of what Zebari said, they should fire the translator.

But if the mistranslation were deliberate, rewriting the official statements of Iraqi officials to hew more closely to what CNN would prefer they said, then -- well, then that's just the traditional MO of the mainstream media, isn't it?

"

|

The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration Roundup
A gathering of thoughts by those who are in this country legally.

Mexican Politico's Woo Hispanic Vote!!! from Red Hot Cuppa Politics
Both US -- and Mexican! -- politicians are scrambling for the fabled Hispanic vote by catering to illegal aliens in the USA.
There's something very, very screwey about Mexican politicians building a campaign around US Immigration policy.



What’s In the “Comprehensive Approach” To Illegal Immigration from The Uncooperative Blogger

An analysis of the Specter-Hagel S-2611 Immigration Bill

All these facts, except those with an *asterisk* are in the text of the legislation. Because it is long and cumbersome to read, we included links to articles and studies that summarize the legislation. If you have the time and patience to read the bill, click here. The Federation for American Immigration Reform has summarized the Amendments and the Bill in slightly less technical jargon. Click here for Amendments, and here for the main text (this text is a PDF chart comparing several competing bills, the Senate just passed the one labeled Specter-Hagel)

Notice that the figures below are based on a number of 12 million illegals when when, according to Bear Stern, the figure is actually more like 20,000 + million and some of us believe as high as 28,000 milli

Senator Jeff Sessions: Immigration Bill Is Worse Than You Think from The Uncooperative Blogger

MY new hero, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, offered a devastating analysis on the Senate immigration bill in a speech delivered on the Senate floor on Tuesday, May 23. Sessions pointed to outrageous parts of the bill that were hidden deep in its text. These include, for example, that the employers of illegal aliens would be given an amnesty for cheating on their taxes, and that under the terms of the law the government would for all practical purposes have to take an illegal alien's word for it that he has been in the country illegally long enough to qualify for an amnesty.

Sessions also pointed to some of the tremendous hidden costs of the bill, including the $500 billion in additional welfare payments it will cost American taxpayers in the period 10 to 20 years after its passage.

Senators who vote for the bill today cannot credibly claim later they were unaware of the elements and consequences that Sen. Session's outlined in this speech

those who do not learn from history from Organized Chaos

you know the rest. amnesty doesn't work. we tried this already in 1986. the INS(immigration and naturalization service) released a study on this back in 2000. guess what they found out? here are a few highlights (courtesy of the center for immigration studies).

Amnesties clearly do not solve the problem of illegal immigration. About 2.7 million people received lawful permanent residence ("green cards") in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a result of the amnesties contained in the Immigration Reform and Control Act(IRCA) of 1986. But these new INS figures show that by the beginning of 1997 those former illegal aliens had been entirely replaced by new illegal aliens, and that the unauthorized population again stood at more than 5 million, just as before the amnesty.

In fact, the new INS estimates show that the 1986 amnesty almost certainly increased illegal immigration, as the relatives of newly legalized illegals came to the United States to join their family members. The flow of illegals grew dramatically during the years of the amnesty to more than 800,000 a year, before dropping back down to around 500,000 a year.

shouldn't we take this into consideration when thinking about the consequences of a second amnesty for even more illegals? we shouldn't reward them or the employers that hire them for breaking the law. we should care more about protecting the rights and the jobs of american citizens than we do about taking care of those unfortunate souls whoare citizens of a corrupt socialist government. border enforcement should be a priority, but we also need to destroy incentives for employers and illegals to break the law. that's the only way to significantly reduce illegal immigration. that's where the senate bill fails to deliver the goods.

here are some important facts to know(from the heritage study):


**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

|

Carnival of Liberty 47
Carnival of Liberty 47 is up at New Worldman, organized (in the sense that anything with libertarian tendencies is "organized") like the Indianapolis 500, complete with pictures of selected drivers, all of them Danica Patrick

Get thee hence to New World Man and the Greatest Spectacle in Liberty Blogging! The 47th Carnival of Liberty is organized like the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race -- its official name -- held each Sunday before Memorial Day. (Did you know that in 1919, the first race after the Great War, the race was called The Liberty Sweepstakes?) With luck, this week's CoL is half as exciting as Sunday's Indy 500. Read to the end to discover our editor's choice post drinking milk in the winner's circle!

|

My Name is Dan
And I Am
An American

Hi Dan!

I feel like making a virtual confession to Erik Svane's virtual self help group.



Americans Anonymous


Keep Your Hopes Up, Americans Overseas, Help Is Available!
"Hello, my name is Eric, and I'm an American."
"HELLO, ERIC!"
"I used to be embarrassed to admit I carried a U.S. passport, for fear of what smug and self-righteous foreigners would carp to me about my country, and ashamed in turn about the embarrassment. These dark secrets led to feelings of guilt and to an evil circle from which I couldn't escape. That's when I discovered AA (Americans Anonymous)…” More…


The reason I feel like this virtual meaning is because yesterday I had an American "Slip".

It was Memorial Day, I got to thinking about what we should remember, what we should be grateful for and that lead inevitably to being an American, what that means and entails.

As everyone know America is an Idea, therefore being an American is not just a Disease of Geography but of the Mind.

Images floated through my mind Apple Pie, Mom. Iwo Jima, and also those epithets hurled at Americans and at last my thoughts centered on the ONE slur that seems to be directed at us with the most venom.

McDonald's!


Yes, often it seems that the word America is immediately followed with a rancorous gritting of the teeth and a spewing of the epithet McDonalds. as THE epitome of Yankee Imperialist Cultural Aggression, The Golden Arches of Infamy?

Not that any American gunship has ever steamed into a foreign harbor to force the inhabitants to give McDonald's their custom. In fact it seems that the people themselves seem to desire it, otherwise there would be no McDonald's in other lands.

Maybe that is what causes the Elite Intelligentsia of those countries so much ire?

In any event, I felt a sudden and overwhelming compulsion to do something symbolic, SO

I went to McDonalds and ordered a

Quar- No make that a DOUBLE Quaterpounder with CHEESE and Fries and a COKE.

And--- I SUPERSIZED IT!

It taseted GOOD too!

I ENJOYED it!
Technorati Tags:McDonald's

|

Some Have Forgotten
One of the Universal Truths is that Humans tend to forget unpleasant things.

Some of us have forgotten a few unpleasant but vital truths.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

From the days a General named Washington helped give birth to a New Nation and refused to be crowned it's King.

To a Later General named Jackson who swore,

“The British Shall Not Sleep Upon Our Soil To Night

To a much later General named Grant who also saved the Union and who marched his troops into Washington after Lincoln's assassination to uphold the Constitutional Succession,

The Military of the United States has NEVER failed in its duty to the Nation.

Our Civilian Political Leaders may have, The Public and the Politicians may have failed the Military, betrayed them and treated them shabbily, but the Military has never failed to uphold their Oath.

I, _________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

But some of US have forgotten and failed THEM.

Board has plan to oust ROTC from S.F. schools

The San Francisco Board of Education appears poised to kick the military's Junior ROTC programs out of the city's public schools.

In February, Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval appeared on Fox's "Hannity and Colmes" show and said, "The United States should not have a military. All in all, we would be in much, much, much better shape."

Had the Military not done their duty about 60 years ago Mr(?) Sandoval might be speaking Japanese. But he and his ilk never think of things like that.

Fortunately San Fransisco is only a small perverted portion of this Great Nation.
I should not paint the whole City with the same brush, but their elected officials do leave a foul taste in the mouth
Let US remember with respect and with gratitude the sacrifices made over the years by those in Uniform.


Memorial Day


by Edgar A. Guest (1881-1959)


The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead to-day,
Is not a rose wreath, white and red,
In memory of the blood they shed;
It is to stand beside each mound,
Each couch of consecrated ground,
And pledge ourselves as warriors true
Unto the work they died to do.

Into God's valleys where they lie
At rest, beneath the open sky,
Triumphant now o'er every foe,
As living tributes let us go.
No wreath of rose or immortelles
Or spoken word or tolling bells
Will do to-day, unless we give
Our pledge that liberty shall live.

Our hearts must be the roses red
We place above our hero dead;
To-day beside their graves we must
Renew allegiance to their trust;
Must bare our heads and humbly say
We hold the Flag as dear as they,
And stand, as once they stood, to die
To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.

The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead to-day
Is not of speech or roses red,
But living, throbbing hearts instead,
That shall renew the pledge they sealed
With death upon the battlefield:
That freedom's flag shall bear no stain
And free men wear no tyrant's chain.

As usual Cox & Forkum capture the true spirit of


Memorial Day

|

The Open Trackback Alliance XXIX
For your listening pleasure while you browse

"Der er et yndigt land" (There Is A Lovely Land)

Words by: Adam Gottlob Oehlenschlager
Music by: Hans Ernst Kr?yer
Adopted: 1844

"Derer et yndigt land" was first performed for a large gathering of Danes in 1844, and became popular quickly with the Danish people. It was adopted later that year by the Danish government as a national anthem, but not the sole national anthem. This anthem is on equal status with "Kong Christian",which is both the national and royal anthem.

When the Danish anthem is usually performed or sung, the first verse is played in its entirety, then it is followed by the last four lines of the last verse. (This is true whether the lyrics are sung or not



Recentlty I have been posting music to Illustrate the Diversity of America, this week I have a different motive to express Solidarity with DENMARK

I maintain my Support of Denmark, and will later today, post links to and my thoughts about a Danish Editorial "We are being pissed upon by Per Nyholm "

I think I shall title my Post, "There is no "But" in "Freedom of Speech".




When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a Statement of Purpose
Now upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.

And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.

For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.

Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.

And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.

As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.

The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the

OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE

This week I also have shortened my usual introduction for a more inportant message.

In it's struggle for Freedom of Speech.

Sign the Petition NOW!

JEG opstille hos Danmark!

44162 Total Signatures 0:38 AM CST 22 May, 2006 We can do better pass the word~!

From Agora a call to Support the Manifesto online by signing another Petition, why not sign both?


MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
Created by Mark Jefferson on March 1st, 2006 at 5:42 pm AST

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all. "

Blogs that Trackback to this Post:

On Monday
A Homework Assignment: "long train of abuses" from third world county

Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)

|

From Behind the Quran Curtain



Iran to launch a new suicide bombers garrison on Thursday
Tehran, Iran, May 24 – Iran will launch a new suicide-bombers garrison on Thursday, according to the head of a group affiliated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Mohammad-Ali Samadi, spokesman for the Headquarters to Commemorate the Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement, a government-orchestrated campaign to recruit suicide bombers, told the state-run news agency Mehr on Tuesday that the group planned to officially announce the existence of the new garrison in a ceremony in Tehran’s largest cemetery on Thursday afternoon.

The new garrison will be named after Nader Mahdavi, an IRGC naval commander who died in a suicide attack on an American naval vessel in 1987, Samadi said.

The report said that more that 55,000 “volunteers for martyrdom-seeking operations” had been registered so far by the organisation, which also calls itself “Estesh’hadioun”, or martyrdom-seekers.

In February, the group launched a new recruitment drive for suicide bombers in Tehran to fight against “Global Blasphemy”.

The group was set up by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 2004. Those who join have three choices: To carry out suicide attacks against “the infidels occupying Iraq”, against Israel, or against Salman Rushdie.

Crackdown on women spreads to Iran’s provinces
Tehran, Iran, May 12 – Iranian security forces have extended their crackdown on “mal-veiled” women from Tehran to Iran’s other provinces.

The semi-official daily Jomhouri Islami quoted on Wednesday the head of the State Security Forces in the province of Gilan, northern Iran, as saying that 15 women had been arrested on charges of “mal-veiling”.

The women were all arrested in the provincial capital, Rasht, it said, adding that a number of other women had also received warnings that they would also be arrested if they breached the Islamic dress code.

The crackdown, which began in Tehran in mid-April, coincided with a call by Majlis (Parliament) deputies for the adoption of a bill to regulate women’s attire during the hot summer months.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, women in Iran have been forced to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise the shape of their bodies in public.

Penalties for disobeying the dress code are severe. Women caught flouting the code can receive lashes, jail sentences, and large fines.

Iran students protest over increased restrictions

TEHRAN, May 24 (Reuters) - Stone-throwing Iranian students fought police and Islamic vigilantes on Wednesday in protest against restrictions imposed by the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, witnesses said.

Students who covered their faces with scarves lit fires outside dormitories through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, photographs showed. By dawn the streets were littered with hundreds of stones they had thrown.

Deputy Tehran Governor Abdollah Roshan told the ISNA students news agency 40 policemen and four students had been injured. He said the police had arrested six people.

Senior student leader Abdollah Momeni said up to 2,000 students had gathered for the protest over the expulsion of some students and the way authorities had been handling critics.

He added 20 had been seized by Islamic vigilantes who broke into the dormitories.

"The main reason for the objections in recent days goes back to the limitations imposed on universities and political students after the new government came to power," Momeni said.

Religious conservative Ahmadinejad was inaugurated in August.

"Some active students have been expelled and some students face mass summons before disciplinary committees. We are also objecting to recent dealings with critical professors such as Ramin Jahanbegloo," he added.

Iran earlier this month said it had arrested philosopher Jahanbegloo on charges of espionage. He specialised in liberal political philosophy and worked extensively on developing understanding between Iran and the West.

Other student witnesses said the crowd had chanted "Down with despotism" and hurled stones at police cars outside the dormitories, breaking their windows.

Iran's last major nationwide student demonstrations were in 2003, when hundreds of students were arrested.

Iran’s ethnic protests show no sign of relent
Orumieh, Iran, May 25 – Anti-government protests and clashes erupted in dozens of towns and cities in north-west Iran on Thursday following a 100,000-strong rally in the city of Tabriz by enraged Azeris on Monday against the publication of an insulting cartoon in an official daily, eye-witnesses reported.

In the town of Marand, thousands took part in a violent demonstration chanting anti-government slogans, a dissident who requested anonymity told Iran Focus by telephone.

In nearby Orumieh, government forces opened fire on a rally by several thousand protesters near the local headquarters of the state broadcasting company on Wednesday, killing at least people, witnesses reported. Previously, the offices of the daily Iran, which published the cartoon, were set on fire in the city.

Protests also flared on Thursday in the cities of Zanjan and Ardebil which had been the scenes of mass rallies since Monday.

During Monday’s demonstration in Tabriz, angry Azeris poured in the streets, attacking state-owned buildings and banks. Police used teargas to disperse the protesters.

Dozens of state-buildings were also set on fire in several other towns.

Ethnic Azeris make up approximately 25 percent of Iran’s population.

If you are reading this, then you must be interested in the situation in Iran to have gotten to his point, through all of the above.

I would like to ask you then, the items so far? Do they make sense in the same Universe as this statement in the Washington Post?

Iran Requests Direct Talks on Nuclear Program

TEHRAN, May 23 -- Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats.

The eagerness for talks demonstrates a profound change in Iran's political orthodoxy, emphatically erasing a taboo against contact with Washington that has both defined and confined Tehran's public foreign policy for more than a quarter-century, they said.

Or, are our intellectual elite, once again practicing wishful thinking that will result in something like this

Ahmadinejad laughs off resolution

IRAN'S hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today brushed off a decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency to report his country to the UN Security Council as "funny" and labelled his country's enemies as "idiots".

"You can pass as many resolutions as you like and be happy about it, but you cannot stop the progress of the Iranian people... We thank God that our enemies are idiots," he was quoted as saying by Iranian news agencies.
The IAEA voted yesterday to report Iran to the UN Security Council amid fears the country is seeking nuclear weapons. Iran argues it only wants to generate electricity and has accused the West of trying to intimidate it.

"We don't need you. It is you who need the Iranian people. This is the funniest decision I've seen," said the austere president.

"They are angry at the Islamic Republic, because the Iranian people have reached the summit of science and technology."
And in a direct challenge to the West, he said: "You know you cannot do anything, because the era of domination and repression is over and we are no longer in the Middle Ages."

Iran has retaliated against the resolution, with Ahmadinejad ordering an end to snap IAEA inspections as well as the resumption of sensitive fuel cycle work

Tags:Iran

|