It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Fighting tears, shah's son calls crisis a 'moment of truth'

page: 2
10
<< 1    3  4  5 >>

log in

join
share:

posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 08:04 PM
link   
Yeah, I thought of Huck Finn immediately. Has anyone contacted him?

Just something related to my business life, I know a lot of Iranians - many now as friends.

Most are visiting or recent immigrants, but some from the Shah days.

They seem to think the reinstallation of the Shah's son is a non-starter. Maybe something ceremonial, at best, but no cigar.

The big problem with what's happening now is despite the discontent, there really isn't a viable alternative being offered. Mousavi is the closest thing, and maybe that's enough. But the maze of governance set up by the ruling mullocracy is so intertwined with the religious structure, a major overthrow would entail a clerical revolt, as well.

Just a best guess, Khameini will step down or relived of his duties, and radical reforms will be announced by his successor.


Mike



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 08:26 PM
link   

Originally posted by mmiichael
Just something related to my business life, I know a lot of Iranians - many now as friends.

Most are visiting or recent immigrants, but some from the Shah days.

They seem to think the reinstallation of the Shah's son is a non-starter. Maybe something ceremonial, at best, but no cigar.


That's the same impression I get.

There's no way the Shah would be re-instated without a massive boost in public opinion. He would have to be shown as something approaching the messiah, frankly. A kind, caring person, who genuinely has Iran's best interests at heart. He'd also need to be coming in with huge popularity - something he isn't likely to get.

However. If it were possible to get a lot of people suddenly saying good things about him, people might start considering it. If a lot of random, everyday people started saying he might be good for Iran, a lot of other people might start thinking it too. Hypothetically, of course.

If - and this is all hypothetical, you understand - there were some way of getting the words of random people heard by a lot of other random people, it might be possible to get the Iranian public and Iranian expats to start considering the idea seriously. Perhaps even supporting it. And if it played out that Iranians in Tehran actually started backing the return of the Shah in public, then it'd be easier for a lot of other people to start doing the same.

If only there were some kind of international network in place, where people could voice their opinions on issues...

I am willing to bet that people are actively talking about the return of the Shah to replace the theocracy by the end of this week. Political commentators, perhaps the odd politician or two, and a few influencial members of the Iranian expat community. By the end of Friday, June 26th.

And it will be picked up - and probably justified by - anonymous tweets and unverified internet reports.



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 08:32 PM
link   

Originally posted by mmiichael


Yeah, I thought of Huck Finn immediately. Has anyone contacted him?

Just something related to my business life, I know a lot of Iranians - many now as friends.

Most are visiting or recent immigrants, but some from the Shah days.

They seem to think the reinstallation of the Shah's son is a non-starter. Maybe something ceremonial, at best, but no cigar.

The big problem with what's happening now is despite the discontent, there really isn't a viable alternative being offered. Mousavi is the closest thing, and maybe that's enough. But the maze of governance set up by the ruling mullocracy is so intertwined with the religious structure, a major overthrow would entail a clerical revolt, as well.

Just a best guess, Khameini will step down or relived of his duties, and radical reforms will be announced by his successor.


Mike




Hi mmichael I haven't tried to contact HuckFin but I couldn't help but think of his pretty outrageous claims that the Shah's son is the Anti-Christ bent on ruling the world.

I don't see the Shah's son being any kind of alternative at this point for the Iranian people either, unless enough discontent and confusion can be sewed into the ruling council of the Mullahs and he reenters Iran as some type of 'nuetral' intermidiary with the 'just the good' of the people at heart.

If Mousavi is not a CIA puppet I don't know if it would be a good idea to back him over there as he has a lot broader range of support from the Veterans of the Iran/Iraq war than does Ahmadenijad whose own involvement in the Iran/Iraq war is seen as minimal.

In otherwords Mousavi would stand a better chance at glavanizing the armed forces into a protracted struggle with Western powers that Ahmedinejad would.

This luncheon at the Press Club in Washington D.C. for the Shah's son though is definately an attempt to introduce him onto the stage and to start reabilitating the Shah's battered image in the History Books.

It all looks very suspicious to me! Very!

Thanks for posting.



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 08:45 PM
link   
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler
 


S/F and kudos for posting the story as well as pulling together the excellent background information.

A nice window into the meat & bones of what's at play here.




posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 08:52 PM
link   

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler

Originally posted by Hastobemoretolife
Now I can agree with FredT, it really is starting to sound like this might be of American making.

If the regime kills Mousavi then the plot will thicken even more.


This is so suspicious and the way that CNN is desribing the Shah's ouster from power? Wow! Big ones, really big ones, that's all I can say.



I noticed a dramatic decrease in serious tension with Iran since last year's nuclear inquisition. Since then it's been alot of posturing and feather ruffling for the cameras, press and to keep appearances. Meanwhile in the background a plot has been afoot and put into action.

This completely reminds me what happened to Hugo Chavez and his vilification by western media.

For those not up to speed on Hugo Chavez or what really happened to him and why the western media portray him in a negative way; may I suggest watching the powers that be, at work caught on film...the video runs 1hr 20min or so and is well worth the watch.

Google Video Link


Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état. It's a unique document about political muscle and an extraordinary portrait of the man The Wall Street Journal credits with making Venezuela "Washington‚s biggest Latin American headache after the old standby, Cuba."

video.google.com...





[edit on 22-6-2009 by warrenb]



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 08:59 PM
link   

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
I haven't tried to contact HuckFin but I couldn't help but think of his pretty outrageous claims that the Shah's son is the Anti-Christ bent on ruling the world.

I don't see the Shah's son being any kind of alternative at this point for the Iranian people either, unless enough discontent and confusion can be sewed into the ruling council of the Mullahs and he reenters Iran as some type of 'nuetral' intermidiary with the 'just the good' of the people at heart.


Hi Proto,

If the Shah's son is the Anti-Christ, he'll have to wait another day, it looks like.

Just going through a load of emails and linked articles, but here's the quick summary from what I'm being told.

No Revolution. The Western press has been quick to interview English-speaking Ipod generation students and professionals. But they represent a small minority in Tehran. They can start a confrontation, but unless they are joined in beyond the capital and by some major class component, say industrial workers, it's another Tiananmen Square, not a Russian Revolution.

Iran is said to be primarily urban now, but that covers a lot of towns, some with only a few thousand, and still relatively backward cities in remote provinces. These people are strongly supportive of Mr A, who they see as a saviour protector.

Mr A probably did win the popular vote, bu likely there was voting fraud with enormous ballot-stuffing to ensure the outcome.

Surprising to most, Mr A is not a sycophant of the Ayatollahs, as portrayed.
He opposes the privilege and corruption of the ruling elite, and has a great concern that Rafsanjani et al would suck up to the Americans and British to enhance their continued wealth, rather than remain true to the Islamic principles.

Much more to it than that. But in the internal power struggle, the kids in the street are just pawns that the competing factions will try to use to reassert their dominance.

I'll post a link somewhere on this.

Mike



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 09:01 PM
link   

Originally posted by warrenb
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler
 


S/F and kudos for posting the story as well as pulling together the excellent background information.

A nice window into the meat & bones of what's at play here.





Thanks friend. There certainly is bound to be a lot more than meets the eye on the surface in a situation like this and people should always review the facts of the matters before rushing to any conclusions.

Irna.com the Iranian Governments official News Agency and Website for News has been down now for 7 days.

No one can tell me the Iranian Government doesn't want to issue it's own propoganda and would have any reason to do that. The only thing that makes sense is the West not wanting anyone to hear anything but their version of events and that's never a good sign, especially when the photos really don't match the captions they are being tagged with.

I fear we here in America are being sold a bill of cheap shoddy goods yet again.

Thanks for posting.



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 09:10 PM
link   
reply to post by mmiichael
 


Thanks for the excellent synopsis mmichael and sharing what your friends have to say.

My understanding is very similiar to yours in that it's not a class oriented revolution but simply a hope by the larglely unemployed youth that Mousavi would improve their economic plight with greater effectiveness than Ahmadenijad did during his first term.

Vote rigging has taken place but was it Ahmadenijad who rigged the vote in his favor, or Mousavi who rigged the vote in Ahmadenijad's favor and then declared early victory himself knowing his best shot at gaining the office would be to call the results into question and appearing to be a victim of it, or was it old elements of the SAVAK with a little help from the CIA or MI6 or the MOSSAD?

That the regime is now supposedly stating there was an excessive number of ballots compared to the number of voters kind of makes it seem more likely some other form of tampering took place that wasn't sanctioned by the Ayatollahs?

My old friends in the SAVAK were grinning like Cheshire cats today and keeping their usual outspoken opinions about what goes on in Iran very low key.

No wonder the Iranian youths are starving to death, to darn many cooks stirring the pot for anything left to be put on the table!

Excellent post mmichael thanks for contributing.



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 09:16 PM
link   
reply to post by warrenb
 


Thanks for posting the video warrenb, I am going to enjoy watching that later on this evening.

Hugo sure gives as good as he gets, I loved the heating oil program for poor Americans.

I live in Miami and even some of Castro's oldest foes here are now saying in regards to the economic crisis and the political state in America and the world that "Fidel predicted it would come to this" and are actually wondering outloud if maybe Fidel was right in his determination to rid Cuba of American influence and class struggle.

To see die hard 70 year old Republican Conservative Cuban Americans say and ask that outloud amongst themselves is quite a thing to see!



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 09:25 PM
link   
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler
 


I've been thinking that all these supposed "photoshoped" Iranian government images we see online, are they nothing more than planted western propaganda tools.

Boggles the mind



[edit on 22-6-2009 by warrenb]



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 09:33 PM
link   

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
No wonder the Iranian youths are starving to death, to darn many cooks stirring the pot for anything left to be put on the table!


Agree with your analysis Proto. The oil money seems to go everywhere except into the hands of the people.

The joke among emigre' Iranians is that all the brainpower has fled. And believe me, a lot of family fortunes too.

I kind of admire a country trying to run on an ideal, as wonky as it may be.
But the Islamic Revolution just ain't workin'. Too bad, because Iran, after Lebanon, is about the most civilized place in the Middle East.

The Shiites are sort of like what the Communists were a century ago, opposing rampant Capitalism. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates are rough analogies to America and Europe.

Forgetting the religious bafflegab, Iran is positioned to become a significant economic and cultural player on the world stage, if given the opportunity.
Because of their location and resources, the Americans could be having an even better simpatico with Iran than they do with the despotic Sunni regimes.

But the bad blood from recent history still flows.

On an optimistic note, if Iran and Iraq can find civil common ground, sharing a Shiite demographic, we might see a new equilibrium develop.
Both have to focus on modernization and social reform. Widespread education, industrialization, trade and commerce.

This non-starter Revolution is fizzling right now, but maybe will be a wake-up call to the powers that be, that they've got tens of millions of hungry mouths to feed. Instead of playing fantasy empire building, looking after the day to day business of running a country with an increasingly dissatisfied population is in order.


Mike



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 09:46 PM
link   

Originally posted by warrenb
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler
 


I've been thinking that all these supposed "photoshoped" Iranian government images we see online, are nothing more than planted western propaganda tools.

Boggles the mind



It's looking like the Powers that Be have put a lot of time and effort and thought into this.

Neither Obama or Grover Cleveland would go to the National Press Club when invited but the Shah's son makes an appearance to speak with all this going down?

Some of the guys posting on these threads including this one have classic disinformation agent tactics and styles, and the whole thing is being portrayed in the press to garner emotional responses not intellectual ones.

This really does appear to be something in the works for a good long while and to tell you the truth it would not surprise me if it's Amadenijad that the West is ultimately backing. He's the one who goes around greeting talk show hosts like Larry King with a Master Mason's handshake and turned up the rhetoric on Israel.

Ultimately he could end up being the one who suggests some one like the Shah's son who would be presumably neutral since he's not involved in the election as the one to 'arbitrate' and straighten it out, since the Mullahs have been tainted by the whole process of irregularities and Mousavi and the other candidates all have a vested interest too.

It would be hard for the other candidates to buck such a suggestion without looking like they wanted to hijack the process and the elections for themselves.

It would get the Ayatollahs off the hook and distance themselves from the scandal too would be such a 'reasonable' gesture, it would seem unreasonable for the opposition candidates to turn it down.

Ahmadenijad has occupied a march larger role on the world's stage than a poorly armed nation with andequated weapons and only modest oil reserves deserves.

I have thought for a good while that Ahmadenijad is the Powers that Be's guy, and I am still not prepared to give up on that notion.

His real role all along could have been to pave the way for the return of the Peacock Throne?



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 09:57 PM
link   

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
His real role all along could have been to pave the way for the return of the Peacock Throne?


Hadn't considered that angle. Very interesting indeed. What would Israel's benefit be in this arrangement though, seeing as how they fluff their feathers at Iran almost weekly? Could it be that instead of media coverage for the plight of the Palestinians being brought to prime time, we are instead being force fed an elaborate puppet show. We see the odd MSM piece here and there but it only gets 5 minutes of fame and quickly vanishes from the social collective mind. Of course I'm jumping to wild conclusions but I can't phantom the reasons for such an elaborate ruse.

I'm all ears on theories



Israel to jump-start its settlement expansion
It's stuff like this that people won't remember tomorrow or next week



Whereas this:
Revolutionary Guards commander defies Khamenei's orders to use force on protesters
Will stay in the news and propagate itself

Just a thought but if some Iranian sites are offline/inaccessible then how are others from the same country able to be online? Not sure about the technology in that aspect, how would that work?

Or is it simply that the accessible sites are covert western propaganda tools, again used simply to create the news and views as required...news on demand.



[edit on 22-6-2009 by warrenb]



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 10:07 PM
link   
reply to post by mmiichael
 





The joke among emigre' Iranians is that all the brainpower has fled. And believe me, a lot of family fortunes too.


I grew up partially in the Washington D.C. suburbs and the Iranian wealth there was staggering.

I moved to Los Angeles towards the ending half of my teens to strike it out on my own and eventually ended up in the Travel Business as a young adult.

I once had an Iranian Geologist working for Arco Petroleum who dressed and looked like a pauper come in and book and pay for a round the world cruise on Royal Caribean in cash for the owners suite, that in 1988 was 345,000.00 dollars for the roughly six month cruise. He gave me a 5,000.00 dollar cash tip ( yes that's right IRS you get to go back seven years to collect na na na boo boo) for booking it and no one tips Travel Agents!

Eventually I ended up securing the business of a large contingent of Persian rug traders who were all mostly retired SAVAK still traveling in and out of Iran as simple rug merchants.

Iran has been bled dry since the 50's of it's brightest minds and biggest fortunes and the Islamic Revolution has simply not enriched the peasantry to the point they peasantry hoped.

In fact the attempt to do so might have been what has truly done them in, take a person off his hamburger diet to feed him steak and he is going to love you, take away the steak and stick them back on a hamburger diet, well lets just say you better be able to make the world's best chilli to put on top of it!

Beirut was the Paris of the Middle East before the Civil War and if they could rid themselves of Syrian and Iranian political and economic influences they certainly could regain that distinction but sadly as long as you have economic loss and hardship because of the wide ranging wars and disturbances througout the Middle East it's always going to leave open that door to jump start capital being brought in by foreign political ellements which usually just ends up leading to the next rounds of strife.

Iran is actually a peaceful nation, Lebanon is too, but when you get situations where the Shia and the Sunni start distrustring one another and then throw in a couple other elements like the Druze and the Christians and the Palestinians into a place like Lebanon with Israel, Syria, and Iran all trying to micromanage it from a distance you have nothing but heartache.

I wish I had a solution to it, it's a shame that people who find some joy in spirituality have to then go along with the politics of the congregation.

By the way, I researched all about the order of nuns your dearly departed wive's relatives belonged to, what a fascinating history they had. They actually had one of their convent schools burned down by the protestants in Boston because they housewives had read a fictional account from a young woman who was going to become a nun at the convent that accused the order of kidnapping protestant women and converting them to catholicism. The protestant wives demanded the protestant town fathers do something about it.

It sure isn't just the Muslims who love to fight amongst each other!



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 10:22 PM
link   
and now this appears...

Video Proof: Ahmadinejad Asking for Voter Fraud From Council.

the ruse expands to new frontiers or does it?



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 10:23 PM
link   

Originally posted by warrenb

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
His real role all along could have been to pave the way for the return of the Peacock Throne?


Hadn't considered that angle. Very interesting indeed. What would Israel's benefit be in this arrangement though, seeing as how they fluff their feathers at Iran almost weekly? Could it be that instead of media coverage for the plight of the Palestinians being brought to prime time, we are instead being force fed an elaborate puppet show. We see the odd MSM piece here and there but it only gets 5 minutes of fame and quickly vanishes from the social collective mind. Of course I'm jumping to wild conclusions but I can't phantom the reasons for such an elaborate ruse.

I'm all ears on theories



Israel to jump-start its settlement expansion
It's stuff like this that people won't remember tomorrow or next week



Whereas this:
Revolutionary Guards commander defies Khamenei's orders to use force on protesters
Will stay in the news and propagate itself

Just a thought but if some Iranian sites are offline/inaccessible then how are others from the same country able to be online? Not sure about the technology in that aspect, how would that work?

Or is it simply that the accessible sites are covert western propaganda tools, again used simply to create the news and views as required...news on demand.



[edit on 22-6-2009 by warrenb]


Israel is a financial juggernaut that can make oil futures go up and down anytime they want to look cross eyed at the direction of oil wells.

The CIA was beside itself when Israeli independence occured, as evidenced by documents released under the Freedom of Information Act on the CIA's online Library.

Oil had been the most strategic commodity in winning World War II and they saw the Israeli nation as being a potentially very destabilizing influence in the region and a threat to the strategic oil supply as a result.

Basically the CIA treated Israel as a grave threat until the coup that swept the Peacock Throne back into power. The Asian not Arab Iranians living on the Asian Continent not the Middle East itself were considered our Ace in the Hole for ensuring an unterupted oil supply from any disruptions that might occur from Israel being in the Middle East. I lived through the two oil embargos and we would have been royally screwed had it not been for the Iranian oil. The Asian Persians and the Shah's regime were basically behind the scenes allies to the Zionist state as they had no vested interest in what was going on in the Middle East and didn't really care.

It's why the fall of the Shah was such a critical turning point for the U.S. in it's Arab relations. From that point on we started looking for ways to embrace friendlier regimes like the Saudis and the Emirates and to start negating questionable regimes like the Iraqis and Iranians by turning them against one another.

We have given Israel so much money they could have bought every Palestinian a Villa on Lake Geneva by now.

Nothing drives oil prices like conflict and the Israelis help fuel those conflicts.

We have hit peak oil and production everywhere is only going to continue to drop. Ultimately who ever strategically controls it all or the vast bulk of it is going to be in the dominant military position because they are going to be the power that can feed an oil hungry war machine.

Israel has helped drive that consolidation of Oil be 'feeling' threatened by various regimes. We have boots on the ground in the Emirates, in Saudi Arabia, in Iraq and can have a complete set of Franklin Mint Book Ends when we complete the horseshoe and take Iran.

Israel costs the powers that be a small fortune, but it's presence makes the powers that be a huge fortune, and that is primarily how, driving the unrest that leads to higher oil prices for fear of a disruptive war, and driving the political events that lead to military consolidation of oil rich states under American boots.

Think about it the Jews are in Diaspora for thousands of years and decide to go home to the Middle East when again exactly? Right after the first mechanized war that ran on oil. As Kelly Bundy would say, what a koinkidink!



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 10:26 PM
link   

Originally posted by warrenb
and now this appears...

Video Proof: Ahmadinejad Asking for Voter Fraud From Council.

the ruse expands to new frontiers or does it?



By the time the Media gets done with this, you will need a 'neutral' person like the Shah to conduct an 'in depth' fact finding investigation.

They are setting this up to go down that way.

My Mother worked right across from the Iranian Embassy on 16th and K Streets in 1979, and I even asked her tonight when talking to her on the phone, if her recolection of the Shah and the fall of Iran was anything like CNN stated in it's article today and she's the most straight laced non political person in the world and even she had to say...that's just nonsense!

They are reabilitating the Shah's son at this point in time for a reason.

Kelly Bundy might believe in Koinkidinks but I don't!



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 10:28 PM
link   
reply to post by HunkaHunka
 


exactly.
The Shah's sone is simply using this opportunity to push his family back into Iran, or at the least trying to clear his families name of any negative aura it may have in Iran.

This isnt an American operation.



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 10:41 PM
link   
reply to post by warrenb
 





Or is it simply that the accessible sites are covert western propaganda tools, again used simply to create the news and views as required...news on demand.


For instance the thread about the Republican Gaurd Commander comes from a UK tabloid that claims to have picked up the story from one of the lesser two opposition candidates web sites.

The Iranian Government's site is down but the opposition candidates all manage to keep their sites up and running.

Now there are two things going on right now in what appears to be a lot of political jockeying going on over there at the moment.

A council elects the Supreme leader, the people elects the President.

Yet the Supreme Leaders margin of victory in the council was narrow when he was appointed by it. Different factions on the council are aligned with different Presidential Candidates. So what we are possibly witnessing is candidates aligned with other powerful Mullahs on the council who themselves want to be supreme leader now bashing the supreme leader too with stories that have no source other than the websites of the opposition candidates that are then picked up by dubious news sources that don't stress the reliability of the story in reporting it, that then in turn go to blog sites like ATS where individuals start breathing their own emotions into the story giving it even broader legs.

World War III is going to be a huge Internet Propoganda battle for hearts and minds, and what we are seeing more and more from Operation Cast Lead onward is the war for hearts and minds being contested hotly by just average ordinary guys like you and me here on ATS as different people either lend credibility and social pressure to accepting one sides versions of events or challenge the credibility trying to achieve a majority to utilize social pressure then too. Israel started out Cast Lead with a moral high ground attack and had to cut the operation short it was getting it's propoganda butt kicked so badly on the Internet by average ordinary guys like you and me.

Winning he hearts and minds in a conflict is crucial and there has never been a tool like the Internet that has allowed for so much direct communication to the masses and between them.

Sometimes it only takes a spark to start a fire, some fires can be put out by pouring gasoline all over them and the Internet is ideal for both tasks.

Cyber Wars where repeditive motion injuries are the number one casuality!



posted on Jun, 22 2009 @ 10:43 PM
link   

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler

[...]

Iran has been bled dry since the 50's of it's brightest minds and biggest fortunes and the Islamic Revolution has simply not enriched the peasantry to the point they peasantry hoped.

In fact the attempt to do so might have been what has truly done them in, take a person off his hamburger diet to feed him steak and he is going to love you, take away the steak and stick them back on a hamburger diet, well lets just say you better be able to make the world's best chilli to put on top of it!

Beirut was the Paris of the Middle East before the Civil War and if they could rid themselves of Syrian and Iranian political and economic influences they certainly could regain that distinction but sadly as long as you have economic loss and hardship because of the wide ranging wars and disturbances througout the Middle East it's always going to leave open that door to jump start capital being brought in by foreign political ellements which usually just ends up leading to the next rounds of strife.

Iran is actually a peaceful nation, Lebanon is too, but when you get situations where the Shia and the Sunni start distrustring one another and then throw in a couple other elements like the Druze and the Christians and the Palestinians into a place like Lebanon with Israel, Syria, and Iran all trying to micromanage it from a distance you have nothing but heartache.

[...]

By the way, I researched all about the order of nuns your dearly departed wive's relatives belonged to, what a fascinating history they had.

[...]

It sure isn't just the Muslims who love to fight amongst each other!




Thoughtful of you to check out the Ursuline Nuns. My in-laws were from a prominent old French Canadian family. 14 kids in the family. Some were successful businesspeople, some academic geniuses, some were depraved lunatics. My aunt-in-law lived in a tiny convent basement cell with a table, cup, and book as furniture. Sort of reminiscent of the Middle Ages. She was extremely devout.

Lebanon is being drained of solid money and brain power too, sadly. A Lebanese guy did some work for me recently. His father is restarting life here in Canada. They're from a once profile Sunni family now on the outs with the assassination of Hariri. They think the country is finished. Insightfully they say the Shiites are on the rise in Lebanon.

Iranians are flocking to the part of Toronto where I hang my hat in droves.
I had an Iranian girlfriend for a while. They're incredibly warm and giving.
The first wave of Iranians was in the 70s and 80s. Now kids in their 20s are sent here with a cheque for a few million, told to buy a respectable house in an upscale neighbourhood, and get a business going.

Canada is seen as a lesser evil compared to the US. Bad weather, good medical system, economically and politically stable. A bit boring, but when you're from somewhere like Lebanon or Iran, boring is good.

But the mass exodus of quality human and financial resources from the Middle East does not bode well for region or the world.

Watch Egypt erupt sometime soon.


Mike



new topics

top topics



 
10
<< 1    3  4  5 >>

log in

join